Hannah Marie Roop - Church Visit #3

Hannah Marie Roop – Church visit #3

Church Name: Iglesia Del Pueblo

Church address: 27W500 North Avenue, West Chicago, IL 60185

Date attended: 4/6/2014

Church category: different ethnic or racial demographic

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

                The worship service at Iglesia del Pueblo had a very similar structure to worship services I’ve experienced in my regular context. It began with singing worship songs (one of which I recognized as a CCM hit with Spanish words), then we took communion with the sermon following (prayer came between each section). The service ended with a final worship song, prayer, and benediction. However, the timing of the service was quite different than what I am used to. The service started at 11:00, but I would say that most of the congregation arrived during the music worship time. People didn’t stop coming until after the first three songs had been sung. Possibly because of this, we sang more worship songs. The service was also much longer, by an hour at least, than what I am used to. The bulk of the service was the sermon.

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

                One of the things I found interesting about the worship service was the pastor’s preface to communion, the “holy table.” I studied abroad in Costa Rica last semester, and I had known about the idea of transubstantiation before going, but I didn’t know how integral it was to the Catholic faith before living with a strongly Catholic host family. Having this background, I noted the pastor’s description of the evangelical view of communion; that Jesus is not literally in the bread and juice. The pastor went on to say that Jesus’ presence is with us as we take communion, but not in the elements of communion. He also described why this is significant: that the most important part of communion is the condition of our hearts as we take it. I didn’t question the pastor’s sincerity, but I wondered if the emphasis on this point came from Wheaton Bible Church’s role in Iglesia.

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

I found the length of the sermon challenging! I felt lucky to have the language experience to follow most of it, but listening to a less familiar language is difficult and my mind wandered easily. Even so, the pastor spoke with a lot of emotion and was very engaging. His style reminded me of speakers I’d heard in my youth group in Texas. I have come to be a bit suspicious of this dramatic style, because I feel that the message comes across as less genuine. But the positive side of this is being able to visibly see a passion for God and for the Christian faith.

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

                For me personally, it was refreshing to worship in a different language. Having to focus on the words more than usual impressed their meaning on me more deeply, especially as we were singing in worship. I thought about how encouraging it must be for the Spanish-speaking congregants to be able to come to a service where they could understand what was being said and participate fully in the service. It is always mind-boggling to think about the ways that God is fully present and active in every culture and language, and that he also manifests himself differently in those cultures and languages. Singing songs and reading scripture with those around me gave me a sense of unity as a global, cross-cultural church. But cultural differences were also evident. For example, the pastor’s sermon dealt with Christian faith as so much more than being ‘nice.’ His example of a nice person was someone who takes care of their parents, especially their mom. While someone from my church context would definitely not disagree with this example, he or she probably wouldn’t emphasize it as much. The service was a reminder that differences in cultural values can reflect different aspects of God’s nature and teach us more about Him.