Hannah Marie Roop – Church visit #1

Church Name: St. Michael Catholic Church – Wheaton

Church address: 310 S West St., Wheaton, IL 60197

Date attended: 1/19/2014

Church category: significantly more liturgical than my regular experience

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

                I would describe the worship service (mass) at St. Michael as structured. There was a clear plan for the service and the service moved from one step to the next. In services I am used to, the sermon is the main part of the service and whatever surrounds it is important, but peripheral. Worship and communion frame the sermon. As I have understood a church service, worship prepares our hearts to hear God in the sermon and communion (if we have it) or more worship is our response to God based on how we have heard His truth in the sermon. But at St. Michael, I felt that every part of the service was equally significant, or if there was a main part of the service, it was communion. There wasn’t much in the service that I would describe as casual, spontaneous, or personal. I think these have all been characteristics and even values of my usual church context. The many ritual elements of the service were different from my usual context. For example, worshippers dipped their fingers in a fountain and made the sign of the cross when they entered and left the service. There were many memorized readings and the scripture readings in the service were decided based on the calendar, not on the priest’s personal decision.

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

                For me, the structure of the service was appealing. I recognize that this could be because I’m used to a less-structured worship service. But I enjoyed moving from one portion to the next. The liturgy was an appreciated reminder of the foundations of my faith, and I wonder if I would be a more grounded Christian if I were to say the Nicene Creed every time I went to church! I also appreciated the way songs were spread throughout the service and the way the priest chanted many of his prayers. I enjoyed that each part of the service was equally rich—the hymns, scripture readings, and brief message. All of these things made the service feel like something holy and apart from everyday life—a time to really reflect on God’s beauty and holiness and grace, to worship. The part of the service that was especially moving to me was when the priest prepared the elements of communion. To me, it seemed as though his love for Jesus was evident in the honor and care with which he treated the bread and wine, even bowing before the table when the elements were ready. It brought tears to my eyes to see physically such respect for Jesus and His sacrifice.

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

                I found the presence of the image of Mary challenging. It made me uncomfortable to have the image of someone other than God in the place of worship. I don’t quite understand the Catholic view of Mary or why she is so central. I also found the inaccessibility of the service challenging. It was hard enough for me to follow the order of the service, and I understood most of the Christian language and concepts. I can’t imagine a person from a totally different religious background, or a non-religious background, coming into such a service and feeling welcome or able to learn about Christ. Because the service is so structured and, for lack of a better word, impersonal, I think that it would be easy to come to such a service, leave, and not allow one’s self or life to be affected by it. I realize that this has been the criticism I have most often heard of the Catholic Church—the existence of many nominal Catholics.

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 think the supernatural character of the Christian faith was more evident to me in the Catholic service. As mentioned above, the elements of ritual, liturgy, and images all reminded me that God is holy and set apart from our everyday life in the world. He is worthy of us just coming to a service and worshipping Him without necessarily having to take away a practical application. I think the catholic nature of the church was also more evident to me during the service. It was amazing to me that it was possible for all of the Catholic (and Anglican) churches all over the world to have been using the same order for the service that morning. And again, the structure of the service and even the similar appearance of the church to many of the Catholic churches I’ve visited across the country and across the world gave a tangible picture of the church’s unity.