Taking into account our many and varied current views on faith, religion, and spirituality, we as a house have agreed to be open minded about different pathways to God and different interpretations of religion and spirituality. This week, we decided to travel together to St. Sabina Church just outside of the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago. Since one of the housemates will be working with Catholic Charities at St. Sabina and 3 others will be working at a school in Englewood, we decided it might be an interesting place to start. We had heard from some Amate alumni that it was an interesting and engaging place to go, so we were anxious to check it out for ourselves.
We made the twenty minute drive this morning and arrived in plenty of time to attend the 11:15am service. As we walked toward and into the Church, we were greeted by many smiling faces and kind words. Person after person greeted us with "Good Morning" and "We are so happy you are here." No one seemed to mind that we were an awkward group of 11 white kids in a church full of hundreds of African Americans. They genuinely took joy in welcoming us to their community and family.
As we entered the main worship area of the Church, we were greeted by this image ( I snagged this actual picture off of Google images) :
Yes, that's a gigantic painting of Jesus in the palm of God's hands. And, yes, that's a large, neon yellow, light-up sign that says JESUS hanging from the ceiling.
The Church was huge, with upholstered pews and beautiful hand-carved artwork all over the wooden walls. As we settled in and made friends with the people around us, we were getting excited for what we anticipated would be a fun Mass. It was certainly lively, and at times very powerful, and most certainly it was LONG.
To spare you, I will give you the highlights. The music was beautiful - upbeat, sung by beautiful voices, and accompanied by liturgical dancers. The sermon was probably over an hour long, and contained a lot of talking about the devil and his bad influences. There was a lot of "Amen" and "Yes sir" and "Go on, PREACH!" I don't think I ever heard the Creed, the Gloria, or any other exclusively Catholic prayers, but there was an Our Father thrown in there somewhere. There was a point where the priest called up all of the young men and blessed them, thanking God that in the previous week the neighborhood had gone one whole night without a shooting, and praying that the gang violence would come to a halt all together. There was also a blessing for all of the young men and women heading off to college, that they would one day come back and be beacons of hope for their neighborhood. Overall, it was a 3.5 hour long mass that was technically Catholic in nature but felt like a strong Baptist service.
While it was a great cultural experience, and a powerful reminder of the reality that many people in Englewood face, I couldn't manage to connect spiritually with the service. I tried to open my mind and my heart, but something just wouldn't jive. I don't regret that I went, and I can't say I won't try it again some day, but I don't think it will be my regular parish. So, on goes the journey with an open mind and an open heart to the next faith experience.
If you want to learn more about the faith community of St. Sabina or it's super controversial/radical pastor Fr. Michael Pfleger (or as the parishioners affectionately call him, "White Boy Preacher"), check out:
http://www.saintsabina.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pfleger
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