Church Name: Willow Creek- Dupage Campus
Church Address: Wheaton Academy, West Chicago, IL
Date Attended: February 16, 2014
Church Category: Significantly Less Liturgical
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
The entire service was a lot more contemporary than what I am used to, beginning with the music at the start of the service. They sang a lot more songs at the beginning, which I liked. However, I found it strange that they took some of the songs and only sang a verse or two before moving right along to the next song. Additionally, there was no organ or grand piano for worship, and instead 9 people on stage with guitars, a drumset, and electric piano. At my home church, we typically sing one or two hymns with the organ, and we sing all the verses. I really like worshiping with song, so I do wish my home church had more music before the sermon. The stage was set up with these hanging abstract shapes and lots of lights like a concert, as opposed to the traditional look of my home church. The attendees of the church wore clothes that looked more like street clothes instead of dresses and skirts. Finally, the method of preaching was a little different than I thought. Instead of a live pastor at the pulpit, it was a video of a pastor from the main church, as it was a satellite campus. An importante similarity in this church and my own church, was the fact that they had a series: an overarching theme covering many consecutive weeks of the service. However, as opposed to having a scriptural theme such as "James", Willow had a topical theme, currently entitled "Belief."
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
Something that I really liked about the church was a new service they were creating for their Spanish-speaking neighbors. As opposed to having a translator, or Spanish text on the screen of an English-speaking pastor, they were taking the videos of the service and dubbing in Spanish at the exact time the pastor was speaking, to make it most like a normal service. They officially began the service the day I attended, and the rest of the church body seemed to be very excited. The Spanish video was well executed, as they played a clip in church. As stated previously, I really liked the amount of songs they worshiped to at the beginning of church. Additionally, I also like it when a few songs are sung after the preaching, as they did, as it brings your heart back to focusing on God before leaving. In an attempt to bring the large numbers of Willow Creek members closer together in community, they were doing this "get to know you" handshake. When you greeted someone sitting around you, they asked that you figure out not only their name, but hometown and occupation, and try to remember it for next week when seeing that person again. I thought that was cool, especially at a place like Willow Creek where there are thousands of attendees spread over a handful of campuses and services. It was a very intentional means of creating a closer and friendlier community.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
Probably the most disorienting thing for me was the satellite pastor. It felt like we were just in a theatre watching a film. This setting made it awkward for me to clap, laugh, and join in prayer completely because it seemed a little less real. It also bothered me that they would only do a verse or two of the worship song before moving on to the next one. It was challenging to fully be engaged in song, when they kept changing. And for the songs I knew, it threw me off a little because we were skipping around. The church met in a fine arts building as part of the Wheaton Academy high school. The seats, then, were individual seats much like a theatre as opposed to a church pew. There were no Bibles or hymnals around to use for reading along with Scripture. I also noticed that not many people brought their Bibles or were even taking notes on the service, something I am not used to. The service itself was very basic, divided up into worship, announcements, offertory, and preaching. During the offertory was when the satellite pastor gave his announcements. I thought that was strange as I am used to songs being played or someone performing a classical piece during this time for entertainment.
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 church is currently doing a series called "Belief." After attending the service, it was clear to me that this church focuses more on getting the unchurch people to attend, as opposed to strengthening members who have been going to church for a very long time. Something that was illuminated for me, was the different style of presenting a message. Instead of simply analyzing a few verses in a sermon, this pastor had a theme where he pulled verses from all over Scripture, but primarily from Romans and 1 Corinthians. It was interesting, especially in 1 Corinthians, how he pulled various texts from the book in an ordered method, without seeming like he was taking the verses out of context: something I have witnessed at other contemporary churches. Though I do like my home church better, as I am more comfortable there and do not prefer topical messages, attending Willow made me think about the purpose of churches. I think places like Willow are very effective at drawing in the un-churched crowd as it is a much less threatening environment when compared to my own church. For someone who has not been to church before, lots of Scripture and deep theology may go over their heads and turn people away from going to church at all. It is easy to become prideful as seasoned Christians in a more liturgical context, and consider yourself more intellectually inclined to Christianity than others. However, parts of the universal church need to focus on those less "intellectually" inclined to the faith, as Christianity is a religion for everyone. I think Willow Creek has been effective in their mission.
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