That title isn't exactly true, but our directors decided to take us to two church services this weekend so we all joked about being extra churched today. There's even a 5PM church meeting in our housing facility... so we could go three times if we wanted!
Both churches we attended this morning are ministry partners of ours; I guess we're trying to visit as many sites as possible before the summer really gets going. At the first church we'll be helping with a summer camp and at the second we're helping them clean up their facility, which they just moved into last year, so they can open some sort of community center (it's an old abandoned Christian school).
It was definitely a fun morning because both churches were African-American and quite different from Rock Creek and Wallace, my usual Sunday morning stops! I did attend an African-American church freshman year of college so it wasn't quite as much of a culture shock as it could have been. The services tend to be a lot more interactive with the congregation chiming in. People are also way more friendly. I think we all got hugged at least a dozen times per service. One of my friends claims you need eleven hugs a day to stay happy, so the CSM team is probably set for the week now!
There was significantly more music in these churches--anytime there's some kind of transition, the drums/keyboard (or organ!) start up and everyone sort of bops along in their seats. I love that. I seriously doubt I'll ever find a non-African American church with music that compares to that jazzy feel. My church from freshman year had really quality music as well.
God definitely took the opportunity to speak to us through the sermons. The first pastor talked about John 5 and the importance of wanting to be healed from hangups and bad habits and the second preached from Acts 2 about the "breath of fresh air" that is the Holy Spirit. I can see both applying to this summer--I am very good at becoming cynical about problems, which there are bound to be plenty of when we're living and working in the inner city with teens. It will take both a willingness to let go of my "right" to be annoyed, or tired, or frustrated, and a heavy dose of the Spirit to keep up my energy until August.
The second church threw us a barbecue after the service to thank CSM for their help in getting their building ready to hold services in. It was kind of funny because most of us weren't involved with that project, so we felt like we were taking credit on behalf of those who did dedicate their time. But they were a friendly bunch--as were the people from the other church--and I'm excited to bring groups to both this summer!
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