400 95th St. Chicago, IL 60628
09/25/2016
Church Category: Lower socioeconomic
Describe - Similar or Different
The worship service I attended was different from any I am accustomed to. My church background is quite varied. I have been a regular attendee at an AME church, a loosely-Baptist church, an African American non-denominational church, and a Korean-American Missionary Alliance Church. Trinity reminded me in some ways of my experiences in my grandmother's AME church in Denver, Colorado. The choir was probably 60 to 80 people and stood on bleacher-like rows behind the preaching platform. We arrived a few minutes late, so we walked in during one of the choir songs at the beginning of the service. While I am often in settings where the congregation stands and sings along with whatever group or choir is leading worship, at Trinity the congregation remained seated and some people quietly sang along, but most remained politely attentive.
We arrived on Elders' Sunday, so there was a few minutes in the beginning of the service where the male and female elders were applauded and people were asked to take "selfies" with the elders on their smart phones. The visiting pastor came from Detroit, Michigan. He is apparently a notable name in homiletics and preaching in African American churches. He spoke on the end of 1 Corinthians 13 and reassured the primarily Black congregation on the Southside that God has given them "all things."
Most Interesting or Appealing
The most interesting aspect of the worship service for me was the incorporation of extra-biblical allusions. Pastor Charles Adams referenced Shakespeare and Beyonce throughout his sermon. He at one point indicated that he was preaching not against religious bigotry, but against all bigotry. He seemed to want Trinity to understand that they do not "own" God's grace - they possess it. For Pastor Adams, possessing something is less narrow and less power-laden. As people who possess God's grace, they do not have a say over who it extends to; that would be ownership. However, they fully participate in and benefit from God's goodness and love.
Most Disorienting or Challenging
As a visitor to a church listening to a visiting pastor preach, I was challenged by my desire to understand the church. At one point, Pastor Adams mentioned the things he can gain from other faith traditions, including Islam, which I am not used to being discussed in a Christian church context. When he expounded upon it more fully, he mentioned that he wants to appropriate (my terminology, but here the context is not negative or disregarding) the daily practices of Muslim people (e.g. bowing multiple times a day, specific patterns of prayer). I initially had some tension with how far Pastor Adams' message of appreciating and desiring aspects of different communities reached, but I ultimately appreciated the sermon against bigotry towards other racial and religious groups. Especially with the election coming up, which Pastor Adams mentioned multiple times, I think the sermon he gave could be a powerful appeal to a large congregation on the Southside to appreciate differences, rather than reject or try to build walls (literally and metaphorically) to avoid them.
Aspects of Scripture or Theology Did the Service Illuminate
The sermon was one of the most powerful connections between the Bible and African American history and pop culture that I have heard. It was as if Pastor Adams was not afraid of society, and did not espouse a theology that rejects societal involvement, but instead encouraged the congregation of Trinity to engage in and appreciate aspects of society with the understanding that God gives all things. He acknowledged that "racism is yours," referring to the reality and presence of racism in society and in communities that members of Trinity live and work in. He then instructed the congregation to "end it." The sermon encouraged me (and the congregation) not to flee from reality but to fully engage with the negative and positive things that are part of human society. Working to change, unmask, and destroy the negative things is part of participating in society just as much as appreciating, creating, and encouraging the positive aspects of human life. Pastor Adams' sermon at Trinity encouraged me to do both.
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