Coco O'Brien-Church visit #2

Church name: St. Petronille Church
Church address: 420 Glenwood Ave. Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Date attended: November 9th, 14
Church category: Liturgical church

Describe the worship service you attended? How was it similar to or different from your context?
The service was in a large. It was held in big and pristine catholic church. The stages of the crucifix were on the sides of the chapel in icon form. It also had extraordinarily large chandeliers and windows. I noticed that the church seemed to foster individualism similar to my church due to the pew seats being potentially distant from the pastor. I thought the priest was very clearly trained for his position because there were liturgical statements that he knew by heart and times when he would pause on purpose to switch to another activity or sacrament. The priests were wearing clothing that represented something about the liturgical calendar. The music in the sanctuary was loud and specific lead by youth, which was new to me. While my church does have leaders of all ages, there seemed to be a choir at this church that led music. There was also a difference in liturgy as the apostle's creed was said as a congregation.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

I was most interested in the decor of the church building itself and the preaching. For preaching, I was the entranced because the priest stood at a corner pulpit and spoke clearly to the large congregate. The priest was very heavily relying on the gospel message during his message, which was comforting.  As for the building, the sanctuary was well taken care of and modeled a sacred space (with statues, large areas, and items to create a sense of natural beauty). There were statues of the Mother Mary with Jesus, Jesus on the cross, and Peter. The windows behind the alter were very big and gave a sense of grandeur but also connection to the outer world. The worship service was appealing to me because there was a mixture of announcements, preaching, and singing. I was thankful to be able to come to this service because I learned a lot. I liked the children/youth singing. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
Something that was disorienting about the worship service was that the large number of people made it distracting. There were babies crying, which I liked, but also created some wonder about why the person brought a child. It was challenging to be in a church that is so beautiful and not wonder why all churches don't create such an atmosphere. Also, I was disoriented by how many people were there and hopeful that the church structure still allowed for friendships to happen there. However, I did have eye contact with the person next to me. The challenging thing about the worship service was also to note that there was a emphasis on commitment that I lacked because I was not planning to return any time soon. 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
I was astonished that the priest, whom I thought would talk about sin, gave a sermon on the Christian life centered around walking with Christ. He also focused on being his witnesses in the world. The sermon touched on theology of being thankful and learning from past fateful witnesses.