Amy Kuhlman - Church Visit #2

Church Name: Lawndale Christian Community Church
Church Address: 3827 W. Ogden Ave. Chicago, IL 60623
Date Attended: 3/30/2014
Church Category: Significantly Lower Socioeconomic Demographic 

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
When we arrived, we were greeted at the door by a handful of people. We walked down a ramp into a gym with a square platform in the middle and chairs set up all around. After a little while the singing began. The music was mostly gospel inspired with enthusiastic participation all around. In the first section of music, the entire congregation sang along. Then, after a Bible reading, a Psalm, the choir sang two or three songs. The congregation watched, and also interacted with the choir, shouting out encouragement or singing along, standing at will. Although it was the time for the choir to sing, the entire congregation remained active. Then, a man did a solo music performance, which was also very interactive. There was hardly a moment of his song that didn't involve encouragement or engagement from the audience in some way. It seemed that many people knew both the man and the song, so although only one man was singing, the entire congregation was led to worship with him. I go to an Anglican church, Church of the Resurrection, so I am used to music always including everyone singing along. I was surprised to see the man sing a song on his own, and even more surprised to see how the congregation interacted with him. The entire service included a great deal of audience response. I am certainly not used to that. I am used to very specific times of organized response. Liturgy is built on the call and response idea. But this was different. The call was ongoing, as was the response. After the music, the sermon began. The pastor was passionate and funny, and his sermon took many different directions and included many anecdotes, ideas, and powerpoint slides. Response to the sermon as it happened was encouraged. That is most definitely not the norm at my usual church. Also, both the music and the sermon lasted far longer than I was used to. This church service turned out to be about two hours long. I am used to a service that tops out at about an hour and a half. After the sermon, there was an altar call. They said that they didn't usually do that, but this day was special. At Rez, there are always prayer ministers available during communion, but I don't think you would ever see Rez do an altar call. Also, there was no mention of communion  at LCCC.

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I loved watching the congregation interact interpersonally. This church felt like a very true community. This was especially apparent in the amount of response throughout the service. The people of the congregation were never afraid to personally respond to those on stage from a relational perspective, calling things out, answering all questions, reading along with verses, singing along with songs, and generally encouraging whoever was up front. This attitude made this a very welcoming room. I felt like I too was responding to the service just by being there. I felt like smiling and participating was important. I felt like I was an important part of the service because I was there. It is difficult to disengage at LCCC. The entire service felt firmly built on community and relationship. It also felt tailored for the people there. There was nothing one-size-fits-all about it, which seemed just right for the people there. This was all encouraging to me. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The service was long, and at times I felt lost by the speed of everything. The sermon especially was long, about an hour, and very fast-paced. There was so much information! This wasn't a bad thing at all, but I think I came out of it slightly overwhelmed and a little bit unsure of what exactly to take away from it. And, this was probably just my problem, but I got pretty hungry during the sermon. That probably affected my ability to pay attention and keep up with the pace of the pastor. 
Also, I always feel a little bit lost without liturgy. It felt odd in such a responsive environment to have little formal call and response. I suppose at this church it was more like the entire service was the call, and the congregation was welcome to respond in whatever way whenever they wanted. This aspect was very beautiful in its own right and fitting for the congregants, but I personally did not immediately feel completely at home. 
Also, I think I missed the sacraments. I loved the embodied worship that we experienced during the music section of the service, but the Eucharist is very important to me. I missed receiving communion, confessing sins, and raising my voice in prayer with the other people in the room. 
But still, none of this was enough to make me feel ill-at ease. The easy interactions in the room were wonderfully infectious. 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
This service highlighted joyful worship and clear fellowship for me, especially. I am not used to the clapping and dancing that LCCC did so well throughout the service. The worship songs I am more accustomed to are slower and more inwardly focused. This was very community oriented. Like, "God did this for me and now I'm singing about it with and for all of you" rather than "God, look at me and how much I love you all by myself." At no point did this service feel very individualistic. I think I felt very drawn to that idea. That could be because American suburban individualism has been on my mind a lot this year, or maybe not, but this church seemed to exemplify genuine Christian fellowship beautifully.
Also, at one point in his sermon, the paster expressed emphatically that LCCC "PREACHES JESUS". Now, I think that every church I've ever gone to would agree that they too "preach Jesus", but I'd never heard it said like that. The focus is on Jesus. All application for life only comes after Jesus has been looked at. Everything starts at Jesus because our salvation lives in Jesus. The entire service felt infused with that idea. The sermon was simple and focused on the basics of salvation. Even though salvation is very elemental for me, it is still important to think and talk about. So often, the churches I've attended have gotten very wrapped up in Christian Living types of sermon series, like "How to forgive" or series on Prayer, which are great, but they also assume that all of the basic salvation stuff is very "been there done that." I'm not saying that is a bad thing. It is very important to get counsel on Christian living. But it was refreshing to go back to the cross and talk about that elemental and essential stuff. Preaching Jesus.