Jason Kircher - Church Visit #2

Church Name: Church of the Beloved
Church Address: 1443 W. Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL
Date Attended: Saturday, May 29th, 2014
Church Category: Lower Socioeconomic Demographic

Describe the Worship service you attended...

I regularly attend Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, so going to Church of the Beloved was a pretty different experience for me. The biggest difference is the trip to get there - it takes a good hour to get there depending on traffic, and so going somewhere that isn't close by, "out of town," really makes a difference. Service is held in a fairly random building; the only markers of it being a church were the temporary signs out front. The setting was sparse relative to Church of the Resurrection. No baptismal, no icons, just a number of chairs, a projector, a podium, and some instruments. There were some similarities though. A solid group of students from Wheaton attend there, so I saw familiar faces. Unbeknownst to me, Dr. Jerry Root was preaching that day, so a large part of Wheaton's area and experience was there. We sang songs I knew and that are played at chapel and Church of the Resurrection. Lots of college students attended, of different ethnicities, and for sure some people were not living at the same standard as Dupage County churchgoers.

What did you find most interesting?

There was a lot of freedom and flexibility in the service. The liturgy definitely is close to many non-denominational churches I had been to before (song, announcements, sermon, song), but even here there was a genuine sense of freedom given to the congregation. We were given minutes to talk to people around us. During prayer, we had time for quiet reflection. This may be in part because the majority of attendees were college students from Rush and UIC, as well as from the surrounding neighborhood.  The most appealing part was that a meal was provided at the end of service. Everyone stayed to have a bite to eat and talk and fellowship - I met multiple people, networked for a job in marketing, and caught up with friends (all in my first visit to the church). I felt like part of a family there, welcome completely to share with them, even though it was my first time. That rarely happens at Church of the Resurrection for me, for a number of reasons - but for sure the expectation and desire at Church of the Beloved is to stick around and be together. An attitude of "in this together" exists, and partly because members are of a different economic background, not completely self-serving.

What was challenging?

While the flexibility was great in some respects, people came in and out during service. I sat near the doors, and this as distracting. Also, since the service meets in one large room, the food was brought in a good half hour before service ended and we could all smell it. While I give great kudos and thanks to the chefs (pulled pork sandwiches, I'll never complain about that), it did keep me from being able to focus at all on the sermon or the last couple songs. Prayer was especially hard.

While the sermon was good, I didn't really participate much in the service. I could sing along, and pray silently. But there weren't moments of corporate response or opportunities for one-on-one prayer ministry. Especially challenging for me is not receiving communion. We did not take the Lord's Supper together - but in essence we did share in a table of some kind over food. Still, missing out on a means of grace like communion that so defines a Church gathering is difficult for me.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the service illuminate for you?

The sermon was on evangelism. Experiencing and reflecting on it out of my comfort zone, in a context where large numbers of non-Christians live and work and study made it that much more relevant. While I believe Wheaton and the surrounding areas need the Gospel just as much, other neighborhoods and non-Christians need the Gospel in a special way. I also sensed a feeling of togetherness that joins the church. Even at Church of the Resurrection, where most everyone is very local, it's hard to feel connected to the body. But here, because of the size and distance, the people who attend have a committed sense of unity and vision that is harder to come by in a very local context. In the suburbs it can be easy for a mindset to develop of consumerism and individualism. But the nature of a spread out church who draw people from all different backgrounds and income levels really shows dedication to a community of Christ.