Susannah Saylor
Church Name: Antioch Community Church
Church Name: Antioch Community Church
Church Address: 311 Seminary Ave, Wheaton IL
Date Attended: February 9th, 2014
Church Category: Liturgy variation
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar or different from your regular context?
I attended Antioch's Sunday morning service because it was less liturgical than what I was accustomed to. As soon as I stepped into the halls, I noticed many differences than my home church. It was located in a local elementary school, whereas my church has its own building. People are also very charismatic and energetic at the entryway to welcome you to the service. My church doesn't have people welcoming church goers at the entryway and emphasizes more of a reverence during service. The programs for the service focused more on small group attendance than the sermon at hand. The service largely consisted of worship, corporate prayer and the sermon. There was a worship band that played, which was very different than the usual hymns accompanied by an organ at my home church. Worship also lasted a lot longer than my home church--about 45 minutes opposed to 10 minutes. People expressed their joy in greeting the Lord by singing, lifting up their hands and even dancing at times. At my home church, we don't even clap at the end of a piece. The congregation and pastor were also my casual in dress--aka there were a lot of jeans. The sermon was good, but wasn't based in scripture as much as I was used to. Definitely emphasized the pathos in rhetorical speech. Very motivational, but didn't fit with what I view Sunday morning service to be. Overall, it was a vastly different experience than what I was accustomed to, which made it very interesting and broadened my horizons.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I enjoyed many aspects of the Sunday morning service at Antioch Community Church. The energy and charisma was a breath of fresh air compared to the reverence that usually greets me at my home church. It was awesome seeing so many people on fire for God. Especially during the worship, there was a noticeable difference in the way the congregation sang for Jesus. That was very cool to see. The sermon was also very user friendly. At times, the academia of my home church tends to be a little convoluting or the pastor gets overly verbose and tends to repeat himself. A sermon that pleases the ears and gets right to the point was appreciated. The intentional community was very encouraging to witness. The corporate prayer, although a little disorienting and uncomfortable to me, was inspiring. Hearing everyone pray out loud was a neat experience.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
Less liturgy is a different experience. I'm accustomed to a very liturgical, traditional church service, so Antioch was definitely difficult to transition to. The general casual atmosphere was a little disconcerting. Although I enjoyed the energy, I appreciate the reverence at my home church. The elongated worship got a little challenging after a while, especially since I didn't know most of the songs. Also, although it was cool to see people on fire for Jesus, it also was a little disorienting to see people dancing up and down at a church service. The sermon was good, but left me wanting more. I appreciate the academia emphasis at my own church. I also noticed how I had come to rely on a strict itinerary for church service. Antioch has less of a structured service and that was also a little disorienting for me. Despite all these differences, I was still able to enjoy the service.
Less liturgy is a different experience. I'm accustomed to a very liturgical, traditional church service, so Antioch was definitely difficult to transition to. The general casual atmosphere was a little disconcerting. Although I enjoyed the energy, I appreciate the reverence at my home church. The elongated worship got a little challenging after a while, especially since I didn't know most of the songs. Also, although it was cool to see people on fire for Jesus, it also was a little disorienting to see people dancing up and down at a church service. The sermon was good, but left me wanting more. I appreciate the academia emphasis at my own church. I also noticed how I had come to rely on a strict itinerary for church service. Antioch has less of a structured service and that was also a little disorienting for me. Despite all these differences, I was still able to enjoy the service.
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 sermon was about tithing, which is usually a sensitive subject in most churches. At my home church, usually the congregation tunes out and pays less attention to the sermon because "they are just asking for money". Every church has sermons like these, and I think it is difficult to really engage the congregation on such a sensitive subject. The pastor approached it with care, and I actually didn't tune out. He made some very good points and was able to relate to the congregation. He mentioned that people invest in things they believe in or care about such as children, homes, cars, education etc. The church should be one of those things, which makes sense. No one had been able to relate it in that way before. There wasn't much theology, but it was an effective sermon. Approaching the topic with a lack of Scripture actually proved to work. The pastor did mention the story of Cain and Abel as a foundation for the sermon, but worked more off of scenarios that the congregation encounters in daily life. My home church is very liturgical and usually bases the sermons solely off Scripture, and at times it is hard to follow. I appreciated the user friendly approach of Antioch. I later learned that Antioch emphasizes small group interaction by associating membership with attendance of these "life groups" instead of Sunday gatherings. Makes sense why these Sunday mornings are a lot more causal.
The sermon was about tithing, which is usually a sensitive subject in most churches. At my home church, usually the congregation tunes out and pays less attention to the sermon because "they are just asking for money". Every church has sermons like these, and I think it is difficult to really engage the congregation on such a sensitive subject. The pastor approached it with care, and I actually didn't tune out. He made some very good points and was able to relate to the congregation. He mentioned that people invest in things they believe in or care about such as children, homes, cars, education etc. The church should be one of those things, which makes sense. No one had been able to relate it in that way before. There wasn't much theology, but it was an effective sermon. Approaching the topic with a lack of Scripture actually proved to work. The pastor did mention the story of Cain and Abel as a foundation for the sermon, but worked more off of scenarios that the congregation encounters in daily life. My home church is very liturgical and usually bases the sermons solely off Scripture, and at times it is hard to follow. I appreciated the user friendly approach of Antioch. I later learned that Antioch emphasizes small group interaction by associating membership with attendance of these "life groups" instead of Sunday gatherings. Makes sense why these Sunday mornings are a lot more causal.
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