Parker Roth - Church Visit #3

Church name: Iglesia del Pueblo

Church address: 27w500 North Ave, West Chicago, IL 60185

Date attended: 10/26/14

Church category: Different Ethnic or Racial Background

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

         The church I attended was all Latin American accept for my friends and I. So it was very different for me being white, because I am not used to being the minority. That is the most obvious difference. A few other differences from my home church were cultural. The Latin American culture is known for they’re large close families and their extraverted energy. Iglesias del Pueblo reinforced these stereotypes and I loved them. The church was more welcoming and close than my large Baptist home church. The energy during the actual worship was more exciting and animated and of course in Spanish. I am only is Spanish 101 so I did not pick up as much as I would have hoped to during the worship. The type and style of worship was contemporary and that is very familiar to me. The audience participation seemed more enthused. I found this enthusiasm to be very contagious.

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

         The most appealing thing about this worship service was how welcomed I felt. From the moment I entered the doors until I left I never felt unwelcome. During the worship there was a greeting time that lasted probably lasted anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. During this time I was approached by a few people some who did not speak any English and was welcomed to the church with a smile and a hand shake. One older lady who was sitting behind me introduced herself and then tied to teach me some Spanish phrases that many people around me were greeting each other with. This lady teaching me was very special. People’s languages are very close to their heart and culture. This was just another level of her welcoming me into the church and her culture. They could have ignored me because I could not even communicate but they taught me instead.

        

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

         The most disorienting thing about the sermon worship was the culture and language barrier. There were two things that were very general and would happen in any Spanish church not just this one. The first is I had no Idea what was being said for the majority of the time. My friend who was there with me was fluent so he helped as much as he could without being distracting but that only went so far. The second was that in the Spanish culture they call God, Senor. This is the same word used for sir. It shows respect but for me calling God sir shows disconnect in the relationship. Yes it is respectful but I prefer referring to God as Father. Again this is just a language/cultural barrier that was a little disorienting for me.

        

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

          

            The part of the worship that was illuminated for me was how welcoming they were towards me the minority who did not even speak their own language. My home church is not like this and I want it to be like this. There are a few minority families in our church and their has been minority visitors before and from what I can remember they were not welcomed as well as I was. Even for both minorities and non-minorities my church needs to do a better job at welcoming people. My whole experience at that church was positive and I could barley understand the message. It was positive because of the way I was treated. This was a huge clarification for me. Some who goes to church for the first time may have no idea what the pastor is saying or what the scripture means but if he or she feels welcome I believe they will come back or try and figure out what the message means.