Lower Socioeconomic Demographic: Elise Lopez- Church Visit No. 1

Lower Socioeconomic Demographic: Elise Lopez- Church Visit No. 1

Iglesia Evangelica Emanuel

5018 W Armitage Ave Chicago, IL  60639

9.18.2016

Lower Socioeconomic

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

This church is actually the church I attended for a long time when my mom first moved to Chicago, so it is my home church and the church I became a Christian in. However, I have not attended a service here for a long time and it fit into the category for this assignment so I took this opportunity to visit.

The service was a mix of Spanish and English songs, as well as contemporary and old school Latino songs. The service is actually very different from the church I go to in Wheaton because I go to a black church but there are also many similarities outside of the general ethnicity of the congregation. The worship is very passionate, hands are raised in worship, and there were people speaking in tongues during worship.

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

What I found to be most appealing and comforting was the familiarity with the physical place and being surrounded by people who shared the same ethnicity as me. It has been a while since I have attended a Spanish service so singing familiar songs and hearing a preaching style that I am comfortable with was really nice.

The message style is very biblically based, there was a lot of referencing to the passage, and the stories were actually relatable for me, I felt like I could connect to what the pastor was preaching about versus feeling like the message is not necessarily for me, since I am not white or black and struggle with different issues. I still really appreciate the churches I’ve gone to in Wheaton but there was a strong connection at this church.

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

I found that not making comparisons to what I have been exposed to the last couple years was pretty hard. I definitely believe that different churches function differently and support their congregation in different ways and that is how it should be, but I felt a strong connection to this church. It was a bit discouraging that none of the people I knew from when I went to church there were attending the church anymore, but I knew that most of them were gone already.

It was also a bit discouraging to see how not diverse the congregation was when it came to age range, I think that there’s huge value in having mentors and elders that are experienced and a bit more wise. I think that that is something we had more of when I attended church there as well.

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

The message was on Jesus and how he had experienced persecution, racism, imprisonment, love, healing, and how through his time on Earth he understands what we go through. It was encouraging to me especially because it related to what is currently going on in society and I knew that there were people in the congregation who had experienced many of the things the pastor was talking about, including myself, and how it encouraged us to know that Jesus endured the same things as us and he loves us so much that despite our weakness he is strong and our lives are His.

It may seem really basic but I also think that the way the pastor illustrated his points and spoke about his own experiences as a Latino man who has experienced racism, issues with police, and family issues made the message more real and that is something that I often find difficult to find in churches in Wheaton.