Basye Peek- Church Visit #1

Basye Peek- Church Visit 1

Church name: Lawndale Christian Community Church

Church address: 3860 W. Ogden, Chicago IL

Date attended: 09/18/16

Church category: Lower Socioeconomic

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

            I attended the last 11am service at Lawndale this past week, just a week before they transitioned to a one service with preceding bible study schedule. It was similar to churches I have been in previously in that I was certainly in the racial and socioeconomic minority. The churches I attended in New Delhi and in Abidjan were both congregations in which I was quite obviously not a member of the majority. Since moving back to the United States, however, I have been in churches where my race and monetary wealth reflected that of the majority. It was a familiar sense difference to be back in that environment this past week, and I certainly enjoyed the nostalgic feeling of comfort in it. The physical space of the service was different to any church I’ve been in previously, which all had a sort of front, stage-facing seating arrangement, unlike the centered stage surrounded by chairs.  

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

         I enjoyed the lack of pageantry at Lawndale- the worship felt genuine, and while there was spectacular talent in the worship, it didn’t feel out of place or self-serving, as smoke machines and video feeds and full orchestras can often feel to me. I also appreciated this different seating arrangement, as it allows the congregation not only to look at the pastor or worship leaders but at each other, which silently communicates a sense of community and involvement in each other’s spiritual formation. In the same way, I enjoyed that the kids of the congregation worshipped with their parents before heading out to their own activities. This is not an uncommon model, but in the mega-churches I’ve attended throughout the U.S. it seems this is increasingly rare. I love the choice to prioritize families worshiping together and letting children see their parents in praise, rather than most time efficient and quiet-sanctuary friendly kids programs.

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

            Perhaps the most “challenging” aspect of the worship service this past Sunday was Coach. After CCDA, I have been reflecting on the virtue of organic leadership, of bringing up leaders within communities that replace those who perhaps kick-started development, as a model of sustainable and need-sensitive growth. This model was really praised at CCDA, and it was often said that no person should be irreplaceable. It seems almost counterintuitive then, that after 40 years in Lawndale, a pastor from the community would not have taken over or started leading sermon series. Of course, as someone who does not attend Lawndale regularly, I can’t say whether Coach preaches every Sunday or if this happens to be a time when he is preaching the series, but it was something that didn’t quite sit well with me this Sunday.

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

            My visit to Lawndale was the first time I’ve ever heard a pastor preach Black Lives Matter from the pulpit, and I would have to say that it was a theological argument I hadn’t perceived clearly in my regular context. Coach gave a sermon entitled “My Life Matters,” wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt. The sermon went through a number of points from ‘God made me’ to ‘I am precious’ as biblically based illustrations of the fact that each of our lives matter. On the surface, the message seemed theologically basic and pretty straight forward. In fact, I can remember many Sunday School lessons from my childhood that had almost identical themes. But it would have been a gross mistake to dismiss this message as basic or juvenile from my context, when Lawndale was the context this message was being delivered in. The importance of a message as basic as “your life matters” takes on a huge amount of weight and significance in a community of African-Americans consistently shown through the lack of investment in their public schools and the consistent structural racism of the policing system around them that their lives don’t matter to the people and city around them. In this context, a message as seemingly simple as “your life matters” takes on a whole new significance.