Parker Samelson - Church Visit

Blog title: Parker Samelson - Church visit #1

Church name: St. Joseph Orthodox Church

Church address: 412 Crescent St, Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: October 2

Church category: Greek Orthodox

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

The church service took the approach to worship seriously.  The entire service was guided by a thick pamphlet.  The liturgy was completely made of musical approaches to all aspects of the service.  Everything was sung: the chants, creeds, Scripture.  I found this aspect of the service profoundly beautiful.  It was definitely different from my regular experience in many ways.  The sermon at the end of the service was limited as the primary focus was mainly on the Eucharist.  I was not allowed to take the Eucharist, which is something that I was not used to.  The altar was completely separated by a wall from the congregation.  Most of the Scripture was sung only by the priest.  I have been to Orthodox services in Greece, but this was different in ways that the congregation was more involved by singing the majority of the service.

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

This type of service certainly highlighted certain aspects of Christianity that protestant churches usually do not.  For example, the front of the church was covered with beautiful iconography.  The priest of the church was actually the iconographer as he also wrote all the music for the service.  This illuminated the ways that much of the global church puts an emphasis of the visual portrayal of Christ in icons, while it also illuminated for the ways that a priest can be a servant for the church in multiple ways.  The Orthodox service also took the Eucharist much more seriously than any service I had experienced. 

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

After the service, the entire church joined together for a free brunch.  With nowhere to rush off to, I was able to sit and talk with people from all walks of life about their personal experiences with the faith.  This affected my identity as a Christian in ways that I was assured of the vitality of a community within a church.  This experience of visiting this church was refreshing as I was blessed to experience a different aspect of the faith.  I completely enjoyed singing through the scriptures, and sharing a meal with the members of the church after the service.  This church was within a stone’s throw away from my home church, but I was shocked at how radically different it was.  I was refreshed by this wonderful different avenue of worshiping the Lord and sharing communion.