Church name: Concord Missionary Baptist Church
Church address: 6319 South Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637
Date attended: April 30, 2014
Church Category: lower socioeconomic status
Church Category: lower socioeconomic status
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
The service at Concord MB Church is, compared to my regular church service, very LONG. I actually attended this church for about two months in summer 2011, so I know some of the people there and they know me. The service lasts about three hours, and members always hang around afterwards to fellowship and eat lunch. All the church members are African American, most are older, and there are far more women than men. People dress up very nicely for church, and blue jeans would not be appropriate. Ushers guide people to empty seats when they come in, and the small sanctuary is always decorated with an appropriate color scheme for the season. The choir opens up the worship, and people usually get emotional. Unlike my church, Onnuri Church, there is typically a lot of dancing and some shouting and "talking back" to the pastor, Rev. Dr. Kenneth Phelps. After a lot of worship, not only with the choir but with a soloist, there were some announcements. Concord is holding a fun run/walk to raise funds for its youth ministry, so they are trying to get more people involved in that. I noticed that the announcements were about the larger community of Woodlawn, not just about the church; the church is concerned about the violence in the neighborhood. The sermon followed the announcements and was at least an hour long. Pastor Phelps speaks in a much louder and more animated way than I am used to, and it makes his sermons very engaging. Furthermore, the instrumentalists (drums and keyboard) will come in when Pastor is making a particularly important point. At the end of the sermon, he was more chanting than saying the words.
The service at Concord MB Church is, compared to my regular church service, very LONG. I actually attended this church for about two months in summer 2011, so I know some of the people there and they know me. The service lasts about three hours, and members always hang around afterwards to fellowship and eat lunch. All the church members are African American, most are older, and there are far more women than men. People dress up very nicely for church, and blue jeans would not be appropriate. Ushers guide people to empty seats when they come in, and the small sanctuary is always decorated with an appropriate color scheme for the season. The choir opens up the worship, and people usually get emotional. Unlike my church, Onnuri Church, there is typically a lot of dancing and some shouting and "talking back" to the pastor, Rev. Dr. Kenneth Phelps. After a lot of worship, not only with the choir but with a soloist, there were some announcements. Concord is holding a fun run/walk to raise funds for its youth ministry, so they are trying to get more people involved in that. I noticed that the announcements were about the larger community of Woodlawn, not just about the church; the church is concerned about the violence in the neighborhood. The sermon followed the announcements and was at least an hour long. Pastor Phelps speaks in a much louder and more animated way than I am used to, and it makes his sermons very engaging. Furthermore, the instrumentalists (drums and keyboard) will come in when Pastor is making a particularly important point. At the end of the sermon, he was more chanting than saying the words.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
One of the things I love about Concord is that the people are so friendly and welcoming. Everyone greeted me and wanted to know how I have been doing (if they had met me before). As a visitor, I felt very honored and special. I enjoy the energy of the worship and the message, and how involved the congregation is in the action of worshipping and receiving the word. Almost everyone holds some kind of position in the church, and it is not a passive activity of just sitting there and listening to the pastor. I also appreciate how the church is active in its community, to the extent that one of many small churches can be. If all the churches in Woodlawn partnered on an initiative, that would have far more impact, but I am not sure if something like that has been done before.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
At some points in the sermon I felt that the pastor was oversimplifying things and boiling the Scripture down to "God won't give you more than you can handle." The message was about perseverance even when things look hopeless, and I could tell that it resonated with the people at the church, but I wondered about all the people in the Biblical narrative who did not achieve what they set out to, and who were completely broken by God. I would have liked for the pastor to explain some of the verses more.
At some points in the sermon I felt that the pastor was oversimplifying things and boiling the Scripture down to "God won't give you more than you can handle." The message was about perseverance even when things look hopeless, and I could tell that it resonated with the people at the church, but I wondered about all the people in the Biblical narrative who did not achieve what they set out to, and who were completely broken by God. I would have liked for the pastor to explain some of the verses more.
What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
Worshipping at Concord reminded me that the Word of God is for the people of God and that it applies differently to different groups of people. I feel like Concord takes Scripture as a community and not necessarily as individuals; God's faithfulness to them (collective) is focused on a lot. Even though a lot of people in the community and the congregation are struggling spiritually and financially, they take the Word of God to have real meaning for their salvation not just for their souls but for their material situations on the earth. I realized that my church tends to be more individualistic and not emphasize that "we," as a church, receive God's Word and strive to be righteous in our actions. At Concord I was able to perceive more clearly that God cares about the things we care about: gun violence, poverty, incarcerated loved ones, paying rent, illness, obesity, and so many other issues.
Worshipping at Concord reminded me that the Word of God is for the people of God and that it applies differently to different groups of people. I feel like Concord takes Scripture as a community and not necessarily as individuals; God's faithfulness to them (collective) is focused on a lot. Even though a lot of people in the community and the congregation are struggling spiritually and financially, they take the Word of God to have real meaning for their salvation not just for their souls but for their material situations on the earth. I realized that my church tends to be more individualistic and not emphasize that "we," as a church, receive God's Word and strive to be righteous in our actions. At Concord I was able to perceive more clearly that God cares about the things we care about: gun violence, poverty, incarcerated loved ones, paying rent, illness, obesity, and so many other issues.
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