Timothy Chung – Church Visit #1

Church name: St. Michael Catholic Church

Church address: 310 S West St, Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: January 19, 2014

Church Category: Significantly more liturgical

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

            The mass at Saint Michael’s was significantly different from my regular Chinese non-denominational worship service. Being used to a plainly decorated sanctuary, the sanctuary of Saint Michael’s with stained glass, a pool of holy water, and a large crucifix caught my attention. At my home church, worshippers simply take a seat in sanctuary chairs before worship, but at Saint Michael’s, worshippers crossed themselves and kneeled facing the crucifix before entering a pew. A woman accompanied by an organ lead the congregation in hymns instead of a praise team. The priest conducted the worship service and sacraments via chanting and the congregation was very involved in the service compared to my home church. The Eucharist was given in a precise manner and worshippers were able to choose to partake in one or both of the elements. The collection of tithes was practiced in a similar fashion to my regular church context.

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

            The most appealing aspect of mass at Saint Michael’s was the orderliness of the service and the unity among the worshippers necessary to achieve it. From the procession of the priest, deacon, and alter servers to their recession, every detail of the mass was carefully coordinated and executed. While a bulletin outlined the order of events in the mass, I was amazed by how the worshippers participated in the service by responding liturgically to the priest at specific times not mentioned in the bulletin. The laity contributed to the efficiency and established structure of the mass. The participation of the laity and orderliness throughout mass created a greater sense of the authority of the Catholic Church and Scripture by clearly establishing a hierarchy of roles. The priest represented the authority of the Catholic Church to the laity while the laity received from the priest teaching and the Eucharist.

  

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

            While the liturgy of the Catholic Church is beautiful and integral to mass, it was also very disorienting. It was very difficult to feel a part of the congregation because, being unfamiliar with the order of mass and the cues of the priest, I was unable to follow the Missal. As an evangelical, the difficulty of following the mass bothered me. In my opinion, a church worship service should be sensitive to visitors of the church who might be seeking to know the Lord as their personal savior. During mass at Saint Michael’s, I was worried that nonbelievers may be turned away by the high liturgy and I also felt more distant from my brothers and sisters of the Catholic Church. However, I can now understand how mass unites all Catholics through its distinct traditions, theology, and practices that are observed worldwide by the Catholic 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 theology that the church is necessarily diverse and united was illuminated for me during my visit to Saint Michael’s. I was struck by how Roman Catholics officially believe in the same doctrines, hear the same readings on a given Sunday, and participate in the same structure of mass around the world. In this way, attending Saint Michael’s gave me a glimpse of the incredible unity that the Body of Christ is capable of. The unity of the Catholic Church allows it to be more effective in sending missionaries around the world, in sustaining its local private schools and parishes, and in participating in humanitarian efforts on a much larger scale compared to protestant denominations. I believe that the Catholic Church provides an excellent example of unity that evangelicals should strive for in order to more efficiently and effectively spread the Gospel while caring for the needs of the oppressed.