Aafke Loney- Church Blog #3

Blog Title: Church blog #3

Church name: Immanuel Anglican Church

Church address: 900 W. Wilson Ave Chicago IL, 60640

Date attended: 8/21

Church category: Significantly more liturgical

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

My mother was raised in the Christian Reformed Church so I have often been to very liturgical church settings. I do not attend an Anglican church at Wheaton or at home, so it was relatively different than where I normally go.  At Wheaton I go to college church, but Immanuel had more liturgy in terms of standing up, sitting down, and reciting scripture and creeds as a congregation. There was an aspect of community engagement during this service. Participation was expected and without the bulletin I would have been very lost. I wasn’t sure if the other members knew what to do the whole time, but I was definitely following everyone else.    

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

I appreciated the structure of the service and the way that it was set up.  We were in an open auditorium in a local high school so the congregation was arranged in a semi-circle. I liked the open-ness and the ability to feel like I was engaged with other members of the church while I was there.  The presence of Scripture was very apparent throughout the service, since the message was about the Psalms.  The sermon came specifically out of the Bible, instead of the sermon being focused on felt needs. They also had quite a few different people from the congregation involved in the service, which was refreshing. Not only did they have a worship team, but also there was a Scripture reading team, and they introduced other people from different ministries in the service.

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

The service was challenging for me, because of how liturgical it was. Since I am not used to these kinds of services it felt very strange and disingenuous.  Although I understand that liturgical settings are helpful in remembering the truth and purpose of the Scriptures, sometimes it can feel very forced and rushed through. It does not feel like a very personal environment to me and I did not meet any of the actual members of the church while I was there. I think it could be relatively easy to blend in to that congregation if I went there. I also noticed that most of the congregation was white, which seemed strange because of the community that it is in.  Uptown is a relatively diverse area and having a congregation that does not reflect the area speaks to whom the church is appealing to.

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

The service reminded of the importance of incorporating scripture into my prayers and every day life. I realize that I don’t include scriptures, especially the Psalms when I pray and the Psalms were made as a way for us to express what we’re feeling with Scripture. Sometimes in my other contexts the sermons can be very topical and scripture can feel unimportant.  I was reminded of the importance of praying for the city of Chicago and the events that are occurring. It can often feel like my prayers don’t really matter, but remembering that we are called to prayer and there are prayer in the Scripture for us was encouraging. We also took communion, which I had not been able to partake in for a while and I really appreciated that part of the service.