John Daigle - Church Visit #2

New Community Covenant Church
2804 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
March 2, 2014
Different Ethnic Background



Describe the Service, was it similar to your regular context?
I LOVED THE SERVICE. We walked in on one of my favorite songs to sing in Church, "I love you Lord today/My heart is filled with praise". Literally one of the three songs that I worship to alone on the piano is the song we walked in on the whole congregation singing. I was immediately in love with the place. The Worship pastor had panache but also a meekness that really appealed to me. And he was black! I know that is a strange thing to say that sounds vaguely racist but seeing a man who brought a different culture of worship than my white Wheaton worship culture was terribly refreshing. The pastor wasn't young which I loved because I love hearing from a guy who has been around the block. He was firey and throwing down careful but passionate words from the Bible. And he was Korean! It was so nice to see a racial blend from the pulpit and in the congregation. I was feeling good about it.
Was it similar to my regular context? This is a complicated answer for me because I now have two regular church contexts. I have my church back home in Pittsburgh and my church here in Wheaton. I have had a lot of trouble over 3 years of finding a church home that I could really dive into. I'm from the city and city church has everybody socioeconomically and racially. This church gave me city church again and I just flat out loved it.



What was most interesting/appealing about the service?
I mentioned a lot of the things that were most appealing in response to the first question. The fact that they were playing a song that was very privately meaningful to me as I walked in just really turned me on to the place. Worship was much more geared toward African American culture of worship which is what I was raised with so I was feeling very in my element. But I was feeling like it was special to be in a multiethnic church surrounded by all different types of people. I think this may be a departure for Dr. Lee's Vision for the Different Ethnic Background church visits because I did not visit a “black” church or a “korean” church. But maybe it fits great because I was reminded of how much I value city church where you see everyone! I have been tired with a lot of Wheaton Churches because they are full of one kind of person too often. I just like seeing everyone at church. This is what I want in church and its the primary reason I've had trouble finding a church that I could really connect with at Wheaton. I think the big thing for me is that Wheaton has always been the place where I have encountered people who were a lot like me. I like learning at Wheaton with likeminded peers who come from a similar eccumenical and evangelical context as me. But Something about encountering that in church really turns me off. So being at this city church just felt right to me.
What was most disorienting or challenging about the service?
I visited this church with my girlfriend and her brother. Her brother is almost 30 and is a musician and just generally a “badass” but he is also shockingly kind and gracious. So I was genuinely interested to hear his thoughts about the service, especially because my experience was so overtly positive. He said he liked it. He liked that the pastor taught from proverbs, but it also provided a fear for him. He told us that he likes his church back home because they are in the habit of telling the gospel every week. Now it's not that they have an altar call every week but they are still committed to reminding their congregation of the fact that Jesus died for their sins and has set them free from the power of sin and death and has ushered them into right relationship with God. He said that is something he really needs to hear over and over again. He feared that this church in teaching from proverbs might have been willing to forego the gospel message. I think it is an interesting thing to watch out for. He was right that once you remove the gospel, the church doesn't have to stand on. And I think this church could have been more focused more on being centered in the gospel. That being said, it wasn't something that makes the pastor a heretic or makes the Holy Spirit absent in their ministry. But it was a good thing to think about for me and the gospel is very important and I agree that it should be the crown of any church.
What aspects of Scripture or theology did the service illuminate for you that you didn't get in your regular context?
I think it was big for me to hear my girlfriend's brother's musings, that really helped illuminate the importance of the gospel to the teaching of any church. I also want to be like him in being sensitive to that, I think I have a lot to learn from that man. But less about him and more about the service itself! It was cool that the pastor made me think hard about decision making. I thought I knew this passage too well but he brought some new life to it for me: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths/ he will make your paths straight. The pastor said that in decision making you can trust in the Lord by stepping back and asking the practical question of, “Are there any areas I'm considering outside scripture?” This means that we can trust in the Lord by looking to his word for council rather than our own perceptions of what we think God would say. In that there is a willingness for uncertainty and rest not in myself but in God that that dude just made very practical for me. He also talked a lot about entering into mentor relationships with grown ups. And I have been really blessed with mentor relationships in my junior year. He gave some helpful questions for me to ask my mentors about to help me with my personal growth.