Matthew Stanley Church visit #2

St. John Cantius Church
 825 N Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60642
May 4th, 2016
Roman Catholic

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

The worship service that preceeded it (which was a service petitioning St. Monica for people to return to the faith) flowed right into the Tridentine Mass without a strong separation or clear transition. The priest walked out, flanked by two attendants. He faced the altar the whole time. The only time he faced the congregants was to deliver a homily (in English), and to offer the bread to the congregants. He was the only one to drink the wine. Other than these actions, he mumbled in Latin to himself, moving between the cup and a propped up copy of Scripture on the altar. Luckily, the Church provided hand outs that explained what was happening. Some of the actions even said for the priest to perform "silently to himself." The cathedral itself was absolutely stunning. Unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It was a Wednesday night so it was largely empty, but there were some faithful individuals there. They stood and kneeled at the appropriate times. They all knew when, but it wasn't clear to me how.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

It left me feeling sad for many Christians for the past thousand years. I felt deeply grieved that this service was all that generations of Christians had known. How was a poor woman in France supposed to have understood the Gospel or participated in worshipping God if this same action was performed by the priest her whole entire life, from cradle to grave? It's conceivable that one could live in such a parish and never hear the Gospel once. She would not know Latin. She wouldn't even receive the wine. Some of the actions are even intentionally done silently to the priest. I am so blessed to hear the Gospel in my language, to be an active participant in worship, and to share in the wine as well as the bread. I realize that those who "celebrate" the mass with the priest pray silently the whole time. There is value in that. However, the idea of "celebration" does not seem to accurately describe what happens. Not because it's not fun and enthusiastic, but because it's not communal. The priest appears to exclude the people. At the very least, they are not necessary. He would carry on just the same if they were absent or present. It's a mechanistic rite to be carried out, and the people observe. This is the Reformer in me rising up. I'd love to discuss the mechanics of the rite with a priest.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

I do feel a greater sense of being Protestant. On the one hand, the cathedral was absolutely beautiful. It was ornate, solid, and timeless, whereas most Protestant buildings are chique, hip, and built of steel and glass. However, on the other hand, I was left un-edified by the service. I have to say, the Eastern Orthodox service was much more worshipful and edifying. The primary reason for this was participation. The people in the EO Church participated together, worshipped together, and were being lead along as they worshipped. They all partook of the cup and the bread. They all worshipped in the vernacular. However, the Roman Catholic Church requires nothing of the congregant beyond being a simple observer. The Priest murmurs between just him and God. The Priest alone partakes of the cup. The Priest, in the Middle Ages, would have delivered a sermon in Latin, not the vernacular. This makes me feel profoundly thankful of the blessings I have received. But it also reveals what I value as a part of my religion. First, the explicit words of the Gospel are vital. The sacrament alone is not enough, but the word and table need to both be present, illuminating one another. Second, I value the participation of the lay person. The active involvement and rejoicing of all God's people, and particularly in their own unique language which God gave them and affirmed at Pentecost. These things are core to my identity as a Protestant and how I conceive of the Church living in this world as the Church.

Sean Luke - Church Visit 2

Church name: St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church
Church address: 36 N Ellsworth Naperville IL
Date Attended: 4/17/2019
Church Category: Tridentine Mass

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

The service was a mix of beautiful and troubling elements. Like a Protestant church, there was a sermon, or homily--albeit it was about ten minutes. Most of the service was liturgy, and sung in Latin. The Liturgy itself was incredible for the most part. I really enjoyed the use of the creeds. I really wish more evangelical churches saw the value of connecting with the saints who have gone before us through the creeds. There was also prayer to Mary (always troubling for a Protestant!), along with the sprinkling of holy water on people in the pews. The architecture was so different than Protestant architecture. Roman Catholics really know how to build beautifully! The sanctuary was incredibly artistic and grand, with mosaics lining the windows and one portion of the ceiling. I was shocked to realize that some of the women wore head coverings! In fact, most women were! I was under the impression that head coverings had largely died out in Western churches in general.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?
It made me realize that if the creeds aren't just arbitrary add-ons in two of the great streams of Christianity, but are actually central to the service, then maybe these creeds are a lot more important than evangelicals realize for most Christians in the world. It also allowed me to see in action the fact that the people in the pews believe in the power of the priests. It seems as though the priests are vested with a power to "cast", as it were, blessings on people. This contrasts with a Protestant view of the Shepherding office of the church, wherein the power to bless is manifest more in prayer rather than in physical elements like holy water or incense. Hence, many traditions of Christianity throughout the world stress the goodness and mystery of the physical world a lot more than Protestant churches do.

How did the worship service illuminate your personal identity as a Christian?
I came into the service with a pretty low view of the Roman Catholic Church. Coming out of it, I realize that there's a lot more light in the liturgy than I previously realized. While I knew there were brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic communion, I'm much more willing to embrace that fact now. It illuminated my own identity by allowing me to delight in the fact that I am "united by faith with those who believe", including the many brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic tradition. Nevertheless, it also made me realize that compassion and genuine grief rather than my cage-stage Calvinistic tendencies are essential in dialogue. There's a lot of twisted theology still present in the Roman Catholic tradition--justification as a process, and their views on Mary to name a few. I still believe that Trent's theology can very easily lead one away from Christ and into self. The Gospel is still distorted. Yet God is still good, still gracious, and still sovereign over His church in all traditions. To make progress in understanding the good news that Jesus Christ is the risen Lord, grief, patience, love, and joy in the Name we both adore is necessary.

Gwen Farber - Church Visit #2

Church name: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chapel 

Church address: 205 Fulton St. Elgin, IL 60177

Date attended: Sunday, March 20, 2016

Church category: Tridentine Mass 

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

The service I attended was very, very different from my regular context. It was held in a small room that had an altar and many icons and statues at the front which were covered in purple cloth for the Lenten season. The pries wore white robes with a purple and gold accent piece. There was lots of incense and bell-ringing throughout the service. The priest spoke in Latin and handed out palm branches to the congregation before we did a procession around the block. His back was turned away from us for a majority of the service, and many times he was speaking too quietly for us to even hear the words he was saying, much less understand him. Whenever someone passed the center altar area, they had to kneel quickly, as well as each time they came into or left the room. Women wore head coverings (which I grew up with in church, so that part wasn't super weird), but everyone sat in total silence the whole time, and the vibe was intensely conservative.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

This class seemed to be the epitome of what the Catholic Church must have looked like before the Vatican II. The service was conservative, quiet, and somber. The priest faced away from the people except when he gave the homily, which was focused heavily on the importance of works. Honestly, I felt like I had gone back in time for the brief period we were there, surrounded by men and women sitting in silence and kneeling over and over again. The Eucharist was there in its incredibly special place of honor, surrounded by gold and handled with care. Compared to the Protestant Evangelical churches I’ve grown up in, this church felt like a step into the past as I was surrounded by smells, sights, and sounds that could not but draw me into a completely different sub-culture of Christianity. 

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

I felt so incredibly Protestant as I sat through this mass service. Even in the Orthodox church service that I attended, I did not feel so out of place as I did during my time at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. It was off-putting to have the service spoken in Latin, as I found it very difficult to concentrate on the words that were actually being said while I frantically tried to follow along in the Latin. During the priest's long prayers, I found my mind drifting, and as he faced away from the congregation, I realized I missed the warmth that comes with a leader in the church who is a part of the people, not separate from them. The priest's homily was focused on the importance of works, not faith, and as I sat there listening to him and feeling like he was staring into my Protestant soul, I realized how thankful I was that I did not agree with him. My identity as a Christian is SO dependent on Christ's saving work in my life, and I was incredibly grateful that faith IS enough. My works are an out-flowing of the sanctifying work He is doing, but it is not necessary for the justification of my soul. 

Holden Thompson - Church visit 2

Church name: Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church
Church address: 180 S Russel Ave, Aurora, IL 60506
Date attended: 3/20/16
Church category: Tridentine Mass

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

The church building was large. Right by the entrance of the main sanctuary there was a big fountain with holy water in it. All the pews were made of wood, and the backs of them had pads you could pull down to kneel on. Along the sides of the sanctuary were beautiful mosaic windows portraying different scenes from the life of Jesus, as well as pictures of certain Saints. Unlike the Greek orthodox church I visited, there were not many golden objects at the front of the sanctuary, nor were there a ton of priests. Everyone was fairly well dressed who was attending, and many of the women wore cloths on top of their heads. This service was much shorter than the orthodox service, and it seemed to revolve around holy week. Many members of the congregation had been giving palm leaves, which the priest assured them had indeed been blessed. Of course the service was in Latin, and we were given pamphlets to help follow along. I still had a rather difficult time being able to tell where we were at in the service, but it was interesting to note how the more experienced church goers knew exactly when and how to respond to the priest. Their were black drapes covering 3 or 4 statues near the front of the sanctuary, statues of Jesus and Mary presumably. I was wondering if they remain like that for all of lent, and then are unveiled on Easter. Towards the end of the service the congregation was invited to participate in communion.

Hows did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

This question is harder for me to answer than it was for the Greek orthodox church, because I could understand the words being spoken at that service. However, even without understanding the words, it was easy to sense a higher level of reverence for the worship service than my regular context. I think this level of reverence is actually the norm for Christians around the world. People were dressed well, and kept a certain solemn demeanor as they participated in the service. Also, they bowed when exiting the pew towards the front of the sanctuary. I'm not sure if them bowing is a sign of reverence towards God, or the priest, or both, or something completely different. But the ritual and tradition of the church fathers was much more important to them that it is for me. Once again, I think this is also true of the church at large around the world.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

Having grown up at a Bible church, I never really considered the traditions of the historical church as important to me. However, since coming to Wheaton I have been challenged by my professors to consider the value of looking to and practicing the traditions of those who have come before us. This worship services once again made me consider that perhaps I miss out on something when I neglect the traditions of the historical church. At the very least it would seem that I lack a reverence for God that in hindsight seems very appropriate to have for the creator of all that is seen and unseen. The early church would have considered it a pleasure and a joy to worship God, and I think the beauty of Catholic churches, and the intricacy of the rituals and services reflect this joy at their core. This service was all about worshiping God, and bringing honor to him. Many services I've been to have just been about taking away three main points that will help us live better lives. But the joy of serving and worshiping God seems to be sucked out of these types of services. I want to be a Christian who finds it a pure pleasure to worship God freely, not one that is trying to get something out of God when I go to church.

Trevor Strang - Church Visit #2

Church Name: Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Church Address: 36 N Ellsworth St, Naperville, IL 60540

Date Attended: March 20, 2016

Church Category: Tridentine Mass

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

     The first thing I noticed as I entered the cathedral was the incredibly high vaulted ceiling.  It gave the Cathedral a sense of weightlessness and space. The walls were primarily white, with renaissance style icons across the walls depicting the passion of Christ and his resurrection. They had various statues that were covered by violet shrouds for Passion Week. Initially, the service was hard to follow, but eventually, I was able to get ahold of it. Aside from the service being in Latin, it was very different having the priest interact with the altar and the elements to the extent that he did. He faced away from us for most of the service, interacting mainly with the incents, altar, and large Bible. It was strange watching the Priest perform his rituals without fully understanding the significance of his actions. The service had far more in common with the Eastern Orthodox service I attended than the protestant one I usually frequent.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

     It was interesting seeing a service that has been around, relatively unchanged, for hundreds of years. I felt a sense of connection to the early church and its traditions. It was also interesting seeing the various forms of veneration being performed – for the altar, communion elements, Bible, and the Crucifix. It helped me visualize why the seventh ecumenical council was a necessary discussion to be had. The service also helped to illuminate historical views of Communion. The amount of veneration of the elements showed that to those of the Catholic faith, communion is more than just a symbol – it is the body and blood itself. I could sense the reverence the congregation had for the Lord’s Supper.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

     It was great being able to witness traditionally based Christian worship. Once again, my vision of Christianity was expanded beyond what I saw at the average American, protestant service. I saw elements of the service, and the decorum that were very unfamiliar to me, yet were still presented as a humble offering to Christ. There were times where I felt disconnected from the service – like I was just watching some guy dressed in a weird robe performing strange actions in front of this table - but that didn’t prevent me from being able to resonate with those seeking to worship God. It’s always beautiful seeing the diversity of Christianity’s practices and services. I believe it is important going to services like the Tridentine mass in order to foster an atmosphere of understanding, care, and dialogue between Catholics and Protestants. It is my hope that the frequency of such dialogues may continue to increase as we as the body of Christ seek to grow in fellowship with one-another. 

Reed Bartley - Church Visit 2

Church name: Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church

Church address: 180 South Russell Ave, Aurora, IL 60506

Date attended: March 20th, 2016 

Church category: Tridentine Mass

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

To begin with, when walking into the church service we were given a palm branch which the priest made sure to make clear had been blessed ahead of time. After passing the holy water, we sat down at a pew in the back of the sanctuary. At this point, the facts that the palm branch had been blessed and that there was holy water were already different than my regular context. The sanctuary had beautiful stained glass windows all around and the Eucharist was front and center. Everyone was seated until the priest entered the sanctuary and began to read in latin while facing away from the congregation. We listened to him and read along in the bulletin that was handed out, and the members of the congregation would occasionally respond with a couple of words before the priest would continue reading. There were also times when the entire congregation fell on their knees and continued to listen to the priest as he prayed. The priest then gave his homily. After this the pattern of the priest reading in latin continued until there was a long period of silence when the priest consecrated the Eucharist and would turn and show the elements to the congregation. After this the congregation partook of the Eucharist. The entire worship service was very different than what I was used to, even apart from the latin. There was no sung worship and the congregation had basically no participation in the service outside of the Eucharist. The priest faced away from the congregation for most of the time and the people mostly sat in silence. 

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

The service really helped me to see why the vatican would have changed the latin requirement of the service because it was really impossible to know what was going on. Beyond this, it helped me to realize how important the protestant reformation was in that it it really is significant when you consider that Jesus is the great high priest and there is not an authority needed on earth for people to commune with God through. This plays a huge role in a person's experience of God and how they are able to know him and his love. It is also really enlightening to see how people worshipped for over a thousand years, since my modern evangelical worship service seems so alien to what I saw at the Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

The service really helped me to greater understand the significance of what it means that I am a Protestant and that I get to commune with God personally through prayer and worship and I don't need a priest to forgive my sins and serve as a proxy. It also helped to illuminate how much I take my worship style for granted in my identity as a Christian, in that I seem to assume that sung praise in a modern American way is pretty fundamental to the way I experience God at times, particularly during a worship service. This is particularly striking when I realize that I take communion also, yet for me it seems almost parallel in importance to praise and worship, when for Roman Catholics the eucharist is the primary way in which they experience God's presence and grace.

Joey Miser - Church Visit #2

Church name: Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church

Church address: 180 South Russell Ave, Aurora, IL 60506

Date attended: March 20th, 2016 

Church category: Tridentine Mass

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

The Tridentine Mass I attended stood in stark contrast to any typical church service I have ever experienced. Other than my visit to the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem and other various church visits, my entire life consisted of Sunday mornings where the closest thing to liturgy was trying to find the right, isolated pew seat and singing the same old hymns. The Mass I attended, however, represented millennia of much more sacred and holy traditions. As I entered, I noticed the Catholic motif that characterized every aspect of the church. From the distinctly simple, yet ornate, architecture to the hundreds of dark wood pews and presence of icons, I knew immediately I was in a context unlike my own. During the worship service, the aberrations from my norm continued to compile. The priest in the distant, distant front of the massive chapel stood alone with his back to the shockingly sparse congregation and performed the service while speaking only latin. The liturgy he was performing was interrupted by a short, ten-minute sermon, or “homily.” In addition, this message was seemingly focused on right living instead of the power of the gospel. The congregation interacted with this liturgy only when they stood, knelt, prayed, and crossed themselves. In short, this service was different from my normal context in that it felt removed and frankly unwelcoming.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

As I eluded earlier, the service showed me how deep tradition has formed part of the global church. The procession and the liturgy, as well the theology included in the homily, did not make sense to me and did not draw my mind, like I imagine it does for millions across the world, to our Heavenly Father. However, whether or not it made sense to me, it showed me the reverence and awe that so many approach God with. It challenged me to view those whom I so incorrectly thought of for so long in a new light—trying to see them in light of how God sees them. They are, like I, His children whom He loves. It broadened my understanding and encouraged me to once again contemplate the broad-reaching global church.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

Coming into this environment with little to no expectation, I felt like an outsider viewing a strange procession that really did not seem appealing. I felt like my worship was inhibited. However, I was forced to examine my upbringing and compare it to the rich past of the catholic church. Where I differ in experience and understanding, I stand with my catholic brothers on the most foundational aspect of our faith: Jesus Christ. What I appreciated about the unique architecture was the huge presentation of the cross (covered with a black sheet for Holy Week) at the forefront of the chapel. This drew my mind away from the beautiful icons and the other symbols that highlight our differences and instead to the most crucial part of our shared faith. In a context in which I felt alienated and slightly uncomfortable, the remembrance of Christ’s work on the cross and my relationship with Him drew me back to what matters the most.