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My church Journal
Different churches play different genres of gospel music in their worship. To explore the gospel music in one of the churches, I decided to visit The Ark Church, and join in the Sunday service. To get a second opinion, I took my friend with me, who also gave me the confidence to meet the congregation. This was the second time I visited a Christian church, but the visit seemed different compared to my last experience. Firstly, the church is smaller than the New Shiloh Baptist which has a big hall and colorful, bright glasses on the wall. Secondly, the order of service was a little bit different, and took longer.
However, I received the hospitality of these old people in the church whose smile made me feel welcomed. My friend and I felt warm and part of the congregation, just like I felt at the last time. In addition, I was impressed by the professionalism that the church assistants showed and the expertise of the leaders in guiding the congregation in the worship. I particularly noticed that in the church was using sign language to accurately translate the preacher’s message to the people with special needs and hearing problem.
Another impressing thing was the songs that the church sang and how they sang them. My friend and I were very impressed that they sang popular songs and hymns, some of which we joined in the chorus. We stood with other members and sang songs, which made us feel completely part of the service.
There are two unforgettable songs which really touched my heart. These are “How Great Thou Art” and “Prayer and Faith”. The two songs touched my heart and I honestly felt the worship experience engaging my spirit and emotionally appealing. Musically, the songs were slow in melody, and kept repeating the most important part of their message. For instance, in the second song, the lines “Keep praying, and believing, just pray it goes a mighty long way” was repeatedly appearing in its lyrics. This made me feel not only excited, but also inspired.
As the songs went by, all the people were joined by the message and united in the worship experience. During the preaching, I noticed the woman sitting on my right side humbly and devoutly on taking notes when the minister was reading the bible. I adored her attentiveness and respected her humble character, just like the way Christians do in my home country, China.
According to Olison (2011), there are different ways Christians use to express respect and devoutness, music being one of them. People in this church expressed this by being humble and attentive. However, Buddhists do it through actions like to donate and fast instead of taking notes and singing songs. I approve of those people who have their own religion to express devoutness from their own mind or body, even though I have no religion for now. The experience gave me a chance to understand how songs and hymns are used by the Christian churches to present their worship and express their devotedness to their God.
Reference
Olison, K. D. (2011). Music In Worship: An Examination of the Contemporary Music in the churches of Christ. Bloomington: Author House