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.