Austin Sahly – Church Visit 1, Socioeconomic

Church Name: New City Church

Church Address: Palmer Street, Grand Rapids, MI

Date Attended: 1/26/14

Church Category: Lower Socioeconomic Status (more than 10 miles away from Wheaton)

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

The church service we attended was held in them gymnasium of an elementary school. The physical setup of the service was fairly similar to my own experience, with greeters at the door, informational bulletins available as you walked in, chairs set up in three sections facing the front of the gym, and a makeshift stage with contemporary instruments already set up at the front. Coming from a nondenominational setting myself, I found the layout very similar, as well as the liturgy of the worship. We began with several contemporary worship songs, followed by some church announcements. The next part of the service, though, was definitely different from my experience. Because the congregation was so much smaller than what I am used to, the time for personal greeting was extended, as well as the following prayer, which involved a lot of personal prayer requests. Overall, this smaller and personal feel was maintained throughout the service, a theme I am not accustomed to coming from a big contemporary nondenominational church.

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

This personal and smaller feel was definitely appealing to me, as well as the much more diverse makeup of the congregation. Being situated so close to downtown Grand Rapids, the church drew a lot of people from a lower economic income context than I normally come into contact with. It was definitely a new experience for me to be worshipping in this diverse and poorer context, but the thing that was so appealing to me, I think, was the fact that these people brought with them an entirely different story of life, but that we were able to worship the same God together. Combined with the smaller and more personal context, this made for a much more real feeling of worship—that is the best way I can think to describe it. It was a relational community; authentic and genuine. I felt welcomed and engaged in the worship service.

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

At the same time, because this church was much smaller and more personal, as a visitor I felt as if I was unable to be at the same intimacy level as other members of the congregation. There was not as much of an effort, it seemed, to offer me a chance to get plugged into the church. Everyone in the church seemed to know each other very well and there was definitely evident that I was a visitor. At the same time, I do not think this is a knock on the church at all. They do an excellent job of providing a community for the members who attend, and an unfortunate byproduct of this can, at times, be that newcomers are unable to achieve the same level of relationship. Still, this is because it was my first time; I am sure that if I continued attending, I too would be engaged in the small community that exists at the church.

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 first thing that came to mind when I reflected on the visit was the early church in Acts. Reading through that period in the church, it is evident that they shared not only church together, but life together. Within my previous church experience, in a larger non-denominational context, I never really understood the sense of a community at church. It was easy for me to come and go and never really be noticed. At this church, however, the small and intimate community built in a lower income context really illuminated these passages for me. Going to this church has definitely increased my desire for my future church experiences to be more holistic, rather than simply show up on Sunday and leave. I want church to be a place of relationships, not just another event on my schedule every Sunday. 

Leya Petrovani- Church Visit #1

Church name: Nueva Esperanza  

Date attended: January 19th 

Church category: Different ethnic/racial demographic  

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

The worship service was mainly different from my own in that the service was in Spanish. Nueva Esperanza, or "New Hope" is a multi-ethnic latino church which meets in the World Relief building on College Avenue. The style of the church was very similar to other latino churches that I have been to, albeit different from my normal context. The entire service was in spanish, and because myself and another Wheaton student were there we definitely were clearly visitors. When congregants would address us, they assumed that we didn't speak spanish, or were at least more comfortable speaking in english, and would therefore speak to us in English. The sermon was much longer than what I am normally accustomed to, the pastor had a three point sermon, each of which could be separated into a sermon of its own. 

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

The pastor's preaching style was very comedic, and did an excellent job engaging the congregation. Though addressing the needs, worries, concerns of lives of those in the congregation, his sermon was broad enough to apply to a vast difference of individuals present. I was most blessed by the welcoming and hospitable nature of the congregants. Once the service was over, we had multiple people coming up to us, engaging in conversation with us, and even inviting us to women's bible studies and over to their houses for coffee and meals. It was a true picture of the open and hospitable nature of the kingdom of God.

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

Though not a central point in the Pastor's sermon, he made several comments about Christians from other traditions, such as Catholics, and Mormons. Essentially demonizing their worship and beliefs, though I personally may not agree with what they believe, particularly mormons, I felt uncomfortable with the ease with which he chastised their beliefs. It did remind me, however, of the blunt and extremely honest cultural value that most South Americans share.

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 emphasis of the global church was HUGE. Not only because the church itself was extremely multi-ethnic, American-born congregants, and congregants from all over South and Central America, but the church itself is in the United States. I often find that Churches in other parts of the world, or of other cultures here in the US are much more inclined to focus on the international nature and beauty of the body of Christ. Christ binds us, he unites us, and in him we celebrate what we learn and grow through the presence of our brothers and sisters. This focus has encouraged me to truly take part in the global church, and frankly, has been a huge flaw and deficit that I have experienced in much churches in the United States, including the one in which I was raised. In the United States it is very easy to forget that the majority of our Christian brothers and sisters reside among the poorest of the world, and focus inward. Our individualistic culture perpetuates this attitude, however, if we try to look outward, to the world, and to others than our image of the church will be much richer, fuller and very different from what we are often inclined to experience as the body of Christ.

Graham Schultze: Visit 1, socioeconomic

Church name: New City Church

Church address: 309 Palmer St. NE, Grand Rapids MI

Date attended: Sunday, January 26, 2014

Church category: Lower socioeconomic status

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

New City Church is my older brother’s home church back in my hometown. It is a church plant from my parent’s nondenominational (mega)church. Located about three miles outside of downtown G.R., it meets in an elementary school’s gym that seats roughly 150 people. A light breakfast (oranges, poptarts, coffee, etc.) was provided free of charge. Members of the congregation seem to come as they are for the most part—jeans and sweatshirts, jumpsuits, and overall not a lot of khakis and dress shirts or skirts and blouses. The service lasted about 2 hours (twice as long as my regular-attended church). Every week they break bread and drink the cup together as brothers and sisters in Christ—and part of what I love about New City is that it includes a diverse group of brothers and sisters. It’s not a church that you might walk into and think everybody’s got it all together. African Americans, white folks, Asians, poor, overweight, underweight, well-off, and everywhere in between gathered together to praise Jesus.

While those are all differences to my usual church, the one similarity that the sermon was strongly driven by scripture, tying Old Testament stories into the New Testament.

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

I suppose I alluded to this above, but I really love the diversity at New City. I attended a high school with a very diverse student population (my basketball team had as many black guys on it as it did white [a little different than Wheaton’s squad]) and I miss that here at Wheaton and at my church here. At New City there was such a grand smattering of races and socioeconomic groups represented that the service just seemed more well-rounded…I wasn’t surround by just a bunch of well-off white folks. The smaller size or the gathering place (an elementary school gym [a place I’m pretty familiar with] as opposed to a grand sanctuary) was very conducive to getting to know one’s fellow worshipers. After a few worship songs, we were given five or so minutes to mingle and get to know one another or catch up with friends—I loved that. Instead of simply shaking hands and sharing names, you got a chance to have peek at someone’s life and hear how God has been working in others’ lives (I met Michael, who got married this summer and was still so wonderfully excited about it [but his wife was working nursery today so I unfortunately didn’t meet her]).

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

There wasn’t a lot I found disorienting about the church—I had my brother and his wife, two friends, and my little sister down the row from me and I felt very comfortable. Also, the pastor at New City was an intern at my parents’ church back when I attended there in high school. What was challenging however was getting used to the informality of it all at first. Sitting on folding chairs, kids running here and there, young couple relaxing with the woman’s head resting on her man’s shoulder—it all started off as a little distracting to me. But eventually it hit me—church, the gathering of brothers and sisters, ought to be a place where kids can (to an extent) run free easy, where couples can express appropriate love to one another, and where the last thing that should matter is what kind of seat you find yourself sitting on. Maybe what initially challenged me was that everything was just very genuine and real…a little more down to earth than I’m unfortunately used to.

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 pastor of New City has been leading his congregation through a study on idolatry. At first I thought this was interesting…thinking, “Not many of these folks have enough money to make things idols.” Though I might have been correct in that statement to an extent, by making such a statement I was proving my uneducated state in regard to idolatry. I was reminded throughout the sermon that idols come in all shapes and sizes and are not necessarily directly connect to finances. The pastor went on to explain how Abram, in agreeing to Sarai’s plan of conception via Hagar, demonstrated idolatry through acting pragmatically as opposed to acting faithfully to God’s promise. That is something that is so easy to do, regardless of how much money is in your bank account. Time and time again, I have sought to act most efficiently, logically, or wisely by my own standards instead of patiently waiting on the Lord. This service illuminated the idolatrous mentality behind such actions. 

Marissa Jensen, Church Visit #1

Church name: St. James Catholic Church  

Church address: 428 N. Second St.Rockford, IL 61107 

Date attended: January 19th 

Church category: Socioeconomic-ly different from traditional context   

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

This worship service was very different from my regular context in many ways. It was a denominationally different and socioeconomically different. The overall style of the church was very different from normal context. There were a few similarities, but they were primarily theological. The sermon overlapped a lot with some of the teachings of my home church. It was on why we were created and Jesus' function in our life as our Savior. The priest elaborated on how we are made to love God and be loved by him and also how we are to serve others as Christians. Most of the sermon was theologically similar to my own beliefs. But there were many differences, one of the biggest differences was the immense diversity of the church. There was almost an even 3 way split between caucasian, latino, and asian populations. Also the church was economically very different from my home church. Most of the congregation seemed to be a part of the lower middle or lower classes. But I personally felt like the church was much more focused on personal aspects of the service and the community rather than being fixed on finances or the financial status of the congregation. I thought that this was really fantastic. The service was also much more liturgical than my home context, which is Nondenominational. But I also really enjoyed this part of the service. I think that there is a lot of value in liturgy. 

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

I really enjoyed the liturgy during the service. We recited both the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed. I felt like this brought the congregation together and also solidified the core beliefs of the church. I also loved reflecting a bit on the purpose of reciting these creeds every week, beyond their theological context. It is very unique that the Catholic church has a special unity in their belief and practice through regularly reciting these two creeds. I love that every Sunday the church has these two reminders that they are a part of a much more global community of believers.

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

I feel a bit shallow being honest with myself about what was the most challenging for me during the service and I think that it was the economic status of the congregation. I felt very out of place being so dressed up for church and being in a congregation where some individuals were comfortable in their PJs. When I walked in I felt like I screamed upper middle class. Going to this church I was unsure of what the socioeconomic status  would be. It was in Rockford and was a different tradition than my own so I wasn't sure which of our three required categories I would use this visit to fulfill. But honestly, I am glad that I was surprised in this way walking in. It made me think a bit about how visitors in the lower middle class or low class status must feel walking into my church, which reflects a different economic congregation. But I don't think that my experience is anywhere near as difficult as a visit would be for someone on the other side of the spectrum to visit my home church. 

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 emphasis on the global catholic community was surprising to me. A large portion of the service was spent elaborating on the role and purpose of functioning within a large community of Catholic believers. This was a very different source of emphasis than my church historically has embraced. I definitely thought about how a church can be more globally connected beyond mission trips and global service. There is definitely something to be said about the role of the congregation to feel connected to global believers in Christ. I think that my church attempts to achieve global unity through international mission trips, which is great! ...But I think that there are other ways in which a church can encourage global connectedness through other believers internationally. 

Dr. Lee - Church Visit #1

Church name: Church name

Church address: Church address

Date attended: Date attended

Church category: Church category

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

magnus es, domine, et laudabilis valde. magna virtus tua et sapientiae tuae non est numerus. et laudare te vult homo, aliqua portio creaturae tuae, et homo circumferens mortalitatem suam, circumferens testimonium peccati sui et testimonium quia superbis resistis; et tamen laudare te vult homo, aliqua portio creaturae tuae. tu excitas ut laudare te delectet, quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te. da mihi, domine, scire et intellegere utrum sit prius invocare te an laudare te, et scire te prius sit an invocare te. sed quis te invocat nesciens te? aliud enim pro alio potest invocare nesciens. an potius invocaris ut sciaris? quomodo autem invocabunt, in quem non crediderunt? aut quomodo credent sine praedicante? et laudabunt dominum qui requirunt eum: quaerentes enim inveniunt eum et invenientes laudabunt eum. quaeram te, domine, invocans te et invocem te credens in te: praedicatus enim es nobis. invocat te, domine, fides mea, quam dedisti mihi, quam inspirasti mihi per humanitatem filii tui, per ministerium praedicatoris tui.

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

et quomodo invocabo deum meum, deum et dominum meum, quoniam utique in me ipsum eum vocabo, cum invocabo eum? et quis locus est in me quo veniat in me deus meus, quo deus veniat in me, deus qui fecit caelum et terram? itane, domine deus meus? est quicquam in me quod capiat te? an vero caelum et terra, quae fecisti et in quibus me fecisti, capiunt te? an quia sine te non esset quidquid est, fit ut quidquid est capiat te? quoniam itaque et ego sum, quid peto ut venias in me, qui non essem nisi esses in me? non enim ego iam inferi, et tamen etiam ibi es, nam etsi descendero in infernum, ades. non ergo essem, deus meus, non omnino essem, nisi esses in me. an potius non essem nisi essem in te, ex quo omnia, per quem omnia, in quo omnia? etiam sic, domine, etiam sic. quo te invoco, cum in te sim? aut unde venias in me? quo enim recedam extra caelum et terram, ut inde in me veniat deus meus, qui dixit, ‘caelum et terram ego impleo’?

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

capiunt ergone te caelum et terra, quoniam tu imples ea? an imples et restat, quoniam non te capiunt? et quo refundis quidquid impleto caelo et terra restat ex te? an non opus habes ut quoquam continearis, qui contines omnia, quoniam quae imples continendo imples? non enim vasa quae te plena sunt stabilem te faciunt, quia etsi frangantur non effunderis. et cum effunderis super nos, non tu iaces sed erigis nos, nec tu dissiparis sed conligis nos. sed quae imples omnia, te toto imples omnia. an quia non possunt te totum capere omnia, partem tui capiunt et eandem partem simul omnia capiunt? an singulas singula et maiores maiora, minores minora capiunt? ergo est aliqua pars tua maior, aliqua minor? an ubique totus es et res nulla te totum capit?

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

quid es ergo, deus meus? quid, rogo, nisi dominus deus? quis enim dominus praeter dominum? aut quis deus praeter deum nostrum? summe, optime, potentissime, omnipotentissime, misericordissime et iustissime, secretissime et praesentissime, pulcherrime et fortissime, stabilis et incomprehensibilis, immutabilis mutans omnia, numquam novus numquam vetus, innovans omnia et in vetustatem perducens superbos et nesciunt. semper agens semper quietus, conligens et non egens, portans et implens et protegens, creans et nutriens et perficiens, quaerens cum nihil desit tibi. amas nec aestuas, zelas et securus es, paenitet te et non doles, irasceris et tranquillus es, opera mutas nec mutas consilium, recipis quod invenis et numquam amisisti. numquam inops et gaudes lucris, numquam avarus et usuras exigis, supererogatur tibi ut debeas: et quis habet quicquam non tuum? reddis debita nulli debens, donas debita nihil perdens. et quid diximus, deus meus, vita mea, dulcedo mea sancta, aut quid dicit aliquis cum de te dicit? et vae tacentibus de te, quoniam loquaces muti sunt.