Hannah Oury Church Visit #3

Church Name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church Address: 3827 W. Ogden  Chicago, Illinois 60623    

Date Attended: 11/2/14

Church Category: Lower SES

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

College Church has most entirely white families but the demographic of Lawndale was primarily black, with a few whites and an Indian woman in the worship band. The attenders seemed to be middle age or older families. I didn’t see a lot of little kids and I definitely didn’t see as many college students. There was also a lot of men.  I did notice a Sunday school in the windows above the court. There was no dress code. Street attire, what you had, seemed acceptable. Additionally, the length of the service was far longer than at College Church. Like College Church, there were songs at the beginning and end. However, the band wasn’t an orchestra and organ and there was clapping and hand raising. The band played gospel mixed with soul sounding Christian songs. There was a keyboard, cool drummer, and a projector oriented center stage for the lyrics (rather than a hymnal). The sermon didn’t feel long to me, but the welcoming greeting seemed to go on forever. Handshakes, hugs walking around instead of, what I’m used to, which is stiffly shaking hands and smiling at the three surrounding pew neighbors. 

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

The service was very none traditional. There was a time when people in the congregation could go up to the microphones and share a praise or prayer. They would refer to one another as “family” or “brothers and sisters.” It reminded me of a Church that the apostle Paul would be attending. The members would continue with what was on their hearts or request that the others pray for them. They all seemed to know one another or at the very least they weren’t afraid to talk in front of the whole church and share a praise for something like a great marriage(which many professed). The setting of the service was none traditional. Rather than the columned, banner-decorated College Church sanctuary, the Lawndale service was in the basketball court of the health center. I literally walked in through the door and on the right was the court. The building is across the road from a Lou Malnati’s which I heard is run by the men and women staying in the center.   

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

The service seemed to be focused on regular attenders, so since I didn’t go as often, I felt less connected than the members. But, one of the neat things I noticed was that in the bulletin, the church announced the birthdays of its members. I also noticed that the men and women came from a different context in life than myself.  During the sharing session, some of them spoke about hard times and trusting in God daily. Besides member retreats there was announcement for and AA recovery program. It was also weird for me being a minority as a person who is not black. The members refer to the pastor as “coach.” I learned more about this later on. “Coach” started a Bible study and was persuaded by the young men to go to seminary and become a pastor. 

What aspects of scripture or theology did the worship services illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

There were a lot of gritty examples in the sermon. For an example of selfishness he refers to sex as gratifying to human nature. Not how God intended it which is for marriage. We are selfish, objects of wrath and we want stuff for ourselves. In the middleish of the sermon, the pastor talks about Jesus’ offer of salvation and the idea of grace. He stresses that grace is undeserved and that nothing you do will make God Love you more or less. Faith and works is exemplified with a breathalyzer test.  One of the figures the pastor used in an example was John Newton, a slave trader who claimed that he would not be a slave trader if it wasn’t for demand.  He reminds that Pontius Pilate was also out for supply and demand. At the end, John Newton is reported having repented. He writes Amazing Grace. The examples used made me think about the context I was in and how examples of Jesus love and grace for sin transcend time and place because as humans we all share this.