Samuel Jang - Church Visit #1

Church Name: St. Joseph Church

Church Address: 412 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187

Date attended: March 13th, 2016

Church Category: Orthodox Church 

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

    

    I meekly walked into the church 5 minutes before service and sat in the back, not knowing what to expect. There were only 10-15 people in the entire sanctuary initially, but this gave me the opportunity to look around freely without fear. The room was lit by electric candles on the sides of the room, but real candles in the front and in the back. I noticed that under each candle/light there lay an image of either Jesus, Mary or the Apostles. The front of the sanctuary was the most aesthetically pleasing, with images of Jesus in different forms, and three equally spaced, small crosses hanging above the images. There were two doors which altar boys(?), priests, and deacons were going in and out from. While I was watching a Priest (or Deacon) lighting the candles in the front, one of the Priests approached me and introduced himself as Father Joe. I was really impressed and thankful with how friendly he was. He gave me a book of liturgy for the service and asked me to follow along. Soon enough, the sanctuary filled up entirely. During the service, I felt a bit uncomfortable because I had never been to an orthodox church, but at the same time I felt extremely humbled and touched by the words spoken. We remained standing almost the entire service, and most of what was said was sung. Although Scripture wasn't read aloud much like I'm used to, the liturgy book and words recited were deeply Scriptural. There was something unifying about listening to the Priests and then responding together. 
    Growing up in a Korean Protestant church, the orthodox church experience was unfamiliar. I'm used to an emphasis on the preacher, with a semi-short worship session in the beginning that consists of guitar, drums, bass, and vocals. I've noticed that the churches I've been to are very individualistic. Although we worship together, the topics of the sermons focus on the individual: How one can change one's own life or how one can help another. But the in the Orthodox church, everything was done together, i.e standing, singing, and saying thanks before and after communion.

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

    I found the service to be insightful and eye-opening. What I mean by this is the orthodox church seems to hold a high view of tradition, where the church I grew up in didn't. It is eye-opening because I never really understood what Eastern Orthodoxy was until I had taken this class. The people in the congregation are exposed to hundreds of years of tradition, singing in rhythms that have been passed down. I never had an opportunity to be exposed to that tradition. It is humbling because it reminds me of how much I do not know and how blind I can be about certain things.

    What I really enjoyed about parts of the service was how they were praying for members of the church by name, the church around the world, and even the country. There, again, was a sense of connectedness, which in my church experience, hasn't been emphasized as deeply. We recited the Apostle's Creed twice, the Nicene Creed once, all in unison. 

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

     The worship service made me feel connected to Christians in the past and present. What really struck me was the atmosphere of the service. The whole service emitted a sense of awe and complete reverence to God. This experience was humbling because in contemporary circles we tend to approach God very casually, forgetting that He is so Other, and should be held up in majesty. Being exposed to a different way of worship and organization of service made me realize that every Christian branch has something to learn from one another. It confirmed the idea that I have so much more to learn. When approaching God, I feel like we must approach our practices to God with humility and a learning heart. We can all learn from each other so that we do not limit God in a restricted view of worship and practices. It would be foolish for myself to say that my way of worship and practice(s) are the only and true way to worship God.