Hannah Marie Roop - Church Visit #2

Hannah Marie Roop - Church Visit #2

Church Name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church address: 3827 W. Ogden; Chicago, IL 60623

Date attended: March 23, 2014

Church category: significantly lower socioeconomic demographic, more than 10 miles away

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

The worship service at Lawndale was similar to my regular context in its order. The service began with worship in song and announcements, then special music performances by the choir and a solo singer, followed by the sermon. However, each element of the service was a bit different than my normal context. The seats in the space of worship (a gym, now part of Lawndale’s community center/clinic) were set in a circular formation around a small stage in the center. During worship, there was a person singing at each corner of the stage so people sitting in every part of the congregation would be able to follow a worship leader. The words of the songs weren’t displayed, but they were simple, repetitive, and easy to pick up. Most of the songs were ones I recognized from my time in Wheaton’s gospel choir, not ones I worship to in my church. The solo singer, Theo, (Dr. Li introduced us) got lost partway through his song and asked for the track to be started over (more below). The pastor’s preaching style was different than what I was used to, though equally biblical and convicting. If I had to sum up the difference, I would say his sermon felt more personal and less professional than sermons I’m used to hearing. 

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

One of the things I found most interesting was the pastor’s sermon opening. His topic was forgiveness and he began with a story about the difficulty of forgiving men who had brutally assaulted him. This story gave forgiveness issues an added dimension. In the pastor’s situation, forgiveness was literally a life or death issue. Not all of his examples were so weighty, but I couldn’t help thinking about the difference between the way I think of forgiveness in my safe suburban life compared with the way the pastor and the congregation thought of forgiveness in a neighborhood where assaults and kidnappings happen regularly.

                Another part of the service that I found interesting and appealing was Theo’s song. If this happened in my church at home, there would be a lot of nervous tension. The singer would have been frustrated and apologetic, or wouldn’t even have asked to start over, covering the mistakes with a smile. But Theo appeared comfortable asking to start again, especially with the congregation’s sincere and enthusiastic encouragement. I felt no tension in the room. When Dr. Lee introduced us to Theo after the service, he received our praise about the song without shame, but also told us he was going to look over it again for the next service. Lawndale’s congregation seems to be one that knows how to embrace struggle and cheer on transformation, and Theo’s song was just one example. Dr. Lee told us that much of the congregation (and the leadership) was made up of men who were coming—and had come—out of addictions and prison backgrounds, and many of the congregants had difficult life stories.

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

I think it was difficult for me to think about my place in a context like Lawndale’s. I understand so little about what most of the other members of the church have experienced and I wonder how I could have anything to offer spiritually to a church in a lower income area. Also, attending Lawndale and witnessing the deep struggles people face there made me question the validity of my own struggles and experiences. Does God care about the hurts of the rich? Does God listen to the comparatively small struggles of the people in the oppressor class/race?

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

Theo’s song and the lives of the Christians at Lawndale gave me a different picture of the Christian walk and process of sanctification. The Christian life is not about giving a perfect ‘performance’ or trying to hide mistakes, tendencies I see in myself and in many of the Christians in my usual context. I am learning that it is much more about admitting our shortcomings, allowing Christ to take our shame, and working toward positive change, not perfection. Lawndale manifested this for me. The service at Lawndale also illuminated God’s provision for us and through each other in ways I do not see in my context. One of the songs the choir sang, “I Need You to Survive,” spoke about the necessity of the church community in providing for needs. It included the lines: “I need you, you need me. We’re all a part of God’s body,” and “It is His will that every need be supplied. You are important to me; I need you to survive.” I had heard this song when I was in gospel choir and it confused me. But on Sunday I understood a little more; that God’s will is for the people in the church to care and provide for each other, as demonstrated by the churches in Acts 2.