Church Address: 310 S West Street, Wheaton, IL 60187
Date Attended: November 3, 2014
Church Category: Significantly more liturgical
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it
similar to or different from your regular context?
I went to the 6:30 AM Mass at St.
Michael's church. I wanted to go to the earliest weekday mass they had
mostly because I just thought it would be really interesting to see who would
attend. I don't know if it was the early hour or the worship context, but
people filed in silently and spread out through the room. A few couples sat together, but everyone else
sat separately in their own pew. The
service was less than thirty minutes and it was amazing to see how quickly they
breezed through the liturgy. Once the
pastor came in, he began quietly leading the group in call and responses. We sang a few songs and then after more
recitations, he led everyone through the Eucharist and then people quietly
filed out. It was very orderly and seemed
like everyone in the room had repeated the process many times.
What did you find most
interesting or appealing about the worship service?
Given that it was 6AM on a Monday morning, I will admit I
was practically giddy when I realized that I could slip into the back of the
beautiful building for quiet reflection before the service. The room was ornate and breathtaking with morning
light starting to creep in the windows and all of the icons and architecture of
the room was gorgeous. I liked the quiet
reverence and felt really peaceful and like it was a really lovely way to start
a week. I didn’t know any of the
liturgy, so I couldn’t fully participate in that, but even the act of standing
in a corporate group of people focused on quieting their hearts before God felt
like a really special act of worship. At
one point as he read scripture, they continued to echo the words “Have mercy on
me, O God” which is a phrase that’s
meant a lot to me, so I appreciated the joy of just repeating those words.
What did you find
most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The Father leading the service had a microphone, but it was
very quiet and people seemed to speed through the liturgy pretty quickly. So I missed a lot of what was being said just
because there were only a handful of people there and they were all talking
really quietly. I kept trying to listen
for at least phrases, but it was almost unintelligible at parts. It was also interesting how aware I felt of not
knowing the words. Each time recitations
were made, everyone stood. I was in the
back, so I’m sure few people, if anyone, noticed me. But I almost felt like I needed to at least
pretend to know what was happening. When
everyone went up front for the Eucharist, I decided to stay in my seat and
wondered what to do next, so I quietly just observed everyone receiving the Eucharist.
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 struck by how reverent everyone was. In the church I grew up in, being quiet in
church was always the expectation.
However, there was a different, deeper sense of quiet here. It could have been the early morning or the
small group. While Lawndale had a
noticeable sense of family and joy, St. Michael’s had a really meaningful
environment of peace for me. I’m sure everyone in that room had a million
things to do and worry about for that day and that week. But here we all were, quietly kneeling and
confessing adoration to our Lord. It was
a really great way to be quiet before God and to just wait for him to
speak. There was lots of space to just
sit and pray while still being involved in corporate worship. I don’t often get to experience that in my
regular church setting.
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