Week 1: Exploring Worship Diversity with Familiar Faces at Good Shepherd

Observation Week: May 13th-20th, 2018

Nearly a year in the making, this project has captured my attention for months. The stages of research stretch back into the dead of winter as I sat in my apartment at Hope College, reading about the churches of Naperville as snow swirled outside my window. Now, with the blossom of spring and the promise of a warm Chicago summer looming on the horizon, I trek across my hometown in search of answers.

Answers to questions burning in my mind. Questions that stem not only from academic interest and intrigue, but also personal and spiritual ventures. My individual theologies on corporate worship are scarce and undeveloped, yet I know that this project is more than an academic pursuit.

When I first arrived in Holland Michigan nearly three years ago, I was expectant and hungry for spiritual growth. I went to Hope’s Chapel and Gathering services, grasping and clinging to the structure already set in place. Yet I knew I needed something more.

I found myself attending a very contemporary church alone every Sunday morning, trying to get back into the same mode as my life in Naperville. The funny thing was, while I claimed to seek spiritual growth, I acted as if I was content being spoon-fed biblical truth and worship, the same way I was at my church back home.

None of this is to say that the services and programs I was attending (both at home and in Holland) were not wonderful and Spirit-filled. I was the one who insisted on being in a familiar place, and with that familiarity came complacency and a lack of personal and spiritual growth.

Like many, my freshman year was hard. I struggled and turned away from the church, which pains me to admit as I anticipate attending seminary after I graduate. But I emerged out of that year of struggle with a clearer and sharper mind, ever the optimist, with hopes of continuing on a path of growth.

Instead of remaining at that contemporary church, I found myself sitting in the pews of Pillar, singing out of hymnals and reading liturgy out of the worship folder. It was different from my upbringing, different from my constant contemporary experience, but also entirely what I needed.

Pillar Church has provided me with both a church home and a firmer understanding of my perspective on worship. The truth of the matter is, many (including myself) get so mixed up in finding that perfect place that we forget about the one we are worshiping. It isn’t about lights or stages, or what kind of music is being played. Its about the one whom we are all gathered to celebrate.

I grew up with contemporary worship, and it still has a significant place in my heart. I enjoy the services at Chapel and the Gathering, but I also relish in the tradition of hymnals and organs. I personally desire both, and am glad to have the opportunity to pursue that desire every weekend.

That being said, when I came home from this experience I had a hard time connecting with the contemporary worship I grew up with.

It was out of that very discomfort that I developed an interest in worship theology and church structure, and an even deeper desire to understand why churches worship the way they do.

I won’t bore you with the long planning process, but when I arrived at my very first week of research, I had butterflies in my stomach. So much anticipation was built upon that first observation, the opening of the first hymnal or the raising of my hands in worship. I am a passionate person, a person motivated to both understand and help others understand, and I didn’t want to get things wrong.

You see, the very first church on my list was my home church, the very place where I had a hard time reconnecting. So those butterflies in my stomach were a bit more than typical nerves.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has grown and changed significantly since my family became members twenty years ago. It has gone from a modest building with its sanctuary, nursery, and a few classrooms, to a multi-worship-venue center. By some definitions, it could be considered a megachurch, but in comparison with other churches in Naperville and the surrounding Chicago area, it doesn’t quite fit the mold.

This church has been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s where I’ve watched all three of my younger siblings get baptized, where I met my boyfriend of six and a half years, and where I discovered my calling into ministry.

  

It’s a place that has given me life-long friends and taught me how to be loving servant of Christ. Without Good Shepherd, I would not even be a Hope College student! So to say that this place holds a special place in my heart is probably an understatement.

Despite all of those things, I was still incredibly nervous as I walked into the sanctuary not knowing what to expect.

With its multiple venues, Good Shepherd offers six services on any given weekend:

8:00 and 9:30 on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary are both traditional services with slight variations.

11:00am on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary is a more recent development at Good Shepherd, with an interactive and ancient-future approach to the worship service.

5:05pm on Saturdays in the worship center are informal and incredibly contemporary with a variation of instrumentation in the worship band, while

9:29 and 11:01 on Sunday mornings in the worship center are contemporary with a full band. This is the type of service I grew up attending.

With all of the different options, there was not enough time on one Sunday for me to go and observe them all. Thankfully I could break up the experience over two weeks.

Experiencing both the traditional and contemporary services at the same time gave me a new and unexpected perspective. Just as I attend both in Holland, the ability to do the same at my home church left me expectant and desiring more. I was no longer uncomfortable or disconnected, but engaged. On a personal level, it seems that I value both experiences equally and seem oddly unbalanced without one or the other.

However, the most impactful portion of the entire experience was the interview process. In addition to my observations, I met with both the traditional and contemporary worship directors, along with the senior pastor (who is the one pictured above that has baptized all of my siblings). It was through these conversations that I gained a clearer idea of what Good Shepherd was all about, and how clearly and intentionally they valued worship.

To watch these leaders’ eyes light up at the opportunity to talk about how much they love and value the worship experiences they so meticulously plan is a sight to behold. These people work together to plan and execute 6 worship services every week, and they do it so seamlessly that they make it look easy! Yet they also do it through constant prayer and devotion, all the while focusing on the one who created all things.

Good Shepherd’s  passion for worship and compassion for the community is evident through these leaders, but also through the small interactions you have with the people in every single room of the building. Its in the small groups, in VBS, and the Cornerstone Cafe. Its in the fact that they embody worship diversity in a single building.

Its so rare to find a place like Good Shepherd, and while I am in a new and different season of my life than I was as an active member, I come away from this week with a burden of discomfort lifted off of my shoulders.