Maddie McGinnis-Church Visit #2

Tri-Valley Baptist Church
8385 N. 1990 East Road
Bloomington, IL. 61705
Sunday March 23, 2014
Significantly lower socioeconomic demographic

1. Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
-My visit to Tri-Valley Baptist Church was extremely different from my regular church experience in my home church in many ways. This church was a tiny Southern Baptist church in the middle of a rural farming community in central Illinois, and while almost everyone in the 28 person church was white, this absolutely falls into the category of a lower socioeconomic class, due to the nature of the people there. Most of these church goers were farmers who lived in the middle of nowhere and were very modest and sweet people. The service was exactly what you would think a stereotypical southern baptist church service would be (and I feel comfortable making that statement because I am from the south and am very acquainted with this denomination even though it is not my own). The service followed a similar program to what my home church usually follows, with worship then a message and then more worship, this service lasted over an hour and a half. Another huge difference was the the average age among the 28 person congregation had to have been at least 65 years old.

2. What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
-There was no doubt that this congregation was a living breathing functioning family. From the moment we walked in every single person at the church spoke to us and were so excited to have visitors. The pastor even made it a point to meet us before the service and welcome us by name from the pulpit. It was encouraging to see people in community like that. Everybody in the church had a specific role, from the little kids to the worship leaders who also served as the greeters. Everyone either was in charge of prayer, offerings, or some type of encouraging "word" for the church. It was a neat picture of how the church as the body of Christ can pick of the slack where money doesn't necessarily pay for everything and how they can make up for lack of resources through volunteering their gifts or even their warm personalities.

3. What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
-I was actually really challenged walking away from this particular service. It was hard knowing that for an hour and a half we were welcomed in like long lost family and that once we left we would very likely never return. It felt deceitful entering into such a tight-nit family only for an assignment and then leaving knowing that they would hope all week that we would be back again. They told us repeatedly how much they loved having us there and how they knew their church was small, but how they knew it was also growing. I think I understood form the moment we walked in that we were probably the first new faces to be there in months and that they were essentially trying to convince us to come back and be a part of their family. The tiny 28 person church was so different form anything I have ever been used to, and I know that because most all of them live on farms, their biggest source of community is at church on Sundays, so it felt weird entering into that knowing it would probably be the first and last time.

4. What aspects of Scripture of theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

-I think a good takeaway from this service was the importance of reading all passages of scripture that describe or speak to the same event. We looked at the story of Peter cutting off the ear of the soldier and the pastor did a good job of looking at all four gospel accounts to see what they had to say about it. I think sometimes pastors spend a whole sermon looking at one singular passage about an event, which is good and helpful and healthy, but t is important to seek out the rest of the passages that talk about that topic to get a more well-rounded view of the meaning. Also, the fact that they referred to everyone in the congregation as brother or sister was a good reminder that we are indeed brothers and sisters in Christ.