well, i wanted to post something for you musees, but i've got auditing to do, so i dug up this story for you. it's about me, happened in Chicago.... mmm .... 2 or 3 years ago? i sent my friend Cindy the story in email and recycle it here, with very few changes. anyway, i hope you enjoy it.
sunday morning i went to church. i had looked up a church on the internet, the only church of Christ that appeared to be close enough to where i was staying. note i said APPEARED to be close enough. so i took the train to downtown and walked about 10-13 blocks in uncomfortable shoes, then i took a cab the rest of the way to this church. as we got closer, i realized it was in the hood; in fact, as we got closer to the church building, there were small gatherings of folks standing around on street corners, and they ALL looked at me like, "what's she doing here?". when the cab arrived at the church building, the cabbie turned around to me and said, "uh, ma'am? do you want to stay?" "of course i do. have a nice day." then when i got out of the cab, i realized that it was a black church; i knew i was in for an interesting treat and was looking most forward to this, as i'd never worshipped at a black church before.
i was the ONLY white person in the entire building, i'm not kidding. everyone was really nice, of course, and during a "fellowship break", which i thought of as "intermission", several of the young black guys came and introduced themselves; i have a big butt, so i guess i was their type.
so. worship began, and we sang for at least an hour and a half before the preacher ever got up to preach, which was totally cool, because we know i LOVE to sing, especially in worship to God.
so the preacher got up, and he decided that the church was too dead today, so he suggested we sing some more. so we sang a few more songs at people's requests (ladies next to me were yelling out that they wanted to sing Our God, He is Alive, everyone was shouting their suggestions. i was just standing there looking white.). then finally the sermon, and i was sure that i was mistaken when i looked at a man's watch and it was almost noon. i knew that had to be wrong, because it didn't seem like we'd been there for almost 2 hours. church started at 10:15.
after the sermon, they had 10-15 responses, 1 baptism. now, in a good month at the churches i've traditionally attended, there would be one response to the Lord's invitation, and maybe a baptism every few months. sad, but true. and here at this church, i was getting a year's worth of responses. very awesome. now. if you respond to the invitation, they hand you a microphone and you get up in front of everyone and speak your piece. tell the church you've sinned, repented. ask for prayers for your surgery. whatever. this was also new to me, as we generally crouch down in the front pew, write something on the card and let the preacher read it for us, you know what i mean. oh! i got to clap after the baptism. woohoo!
then the offering. no, wait, 2 offerings. they passed the buckets once, then they decided they would pass them again. that tripped me out. i didn't give the second time. i later learned that the 2nd one was to pay the guest preacher (who knew? well, everyone but me.).
then the communion (smart, have it after 3 hours, so you can't take communion and then leave, like if you want to get home to watch the cowboys game).
then the preacher asked all the visitors on the left side to stand up. i was the only one, but before i ever stood up, every eye in the place was looking at me. they knew i was a visitor; wonder what tipped them off? see, normally, if they ask the visitors to stand up, i can twiddle my thumbs, whistle innocently, slink down in the pew so as not to be noticed. i know y'all will be shocked to hear this, but i'm quite shy in a crowd, unless i'm singin'.
so i stood up, glanced around and waved, still wondering where the white people are hiding, and sat back down. the preacher motioned for me to get back up. uh, ok. so i stood back up. THEY BROUGHT ME THE MICROPHONE so i could say something. i didn't want to take the microphone and say "women are supposed to be silent in church, and I'M SHY!" and give it right back, and i doubted they wanted me to bust out in a celine dion impersonation, so i introduced myself, said where i was from, said i'd looked them up on the internet, uplifting worship, gave a nervous laugh, handed the microphone right back, sat down real quickly to the collective "awwwwww" that swept the congregation. sweet little white girl.
when we got in the car to leave (a nice lady had introduced herself during the intermission and offered to give me a ride afterward back to the mall, where i intended to shop), i noticed that it was 1:30. The worship had lasted over 3 hours! The great thing about it was that it didn't seem like that long, because i was worshipping, and no one was looking at a watch wondering about the pot roast in the oven or the football game that they were missing.
it was quite the experience, and aside from those services at church camp, it was the most "worshipful" i've ever felt.
The cab driver never said anything about the neigborhood you were going in to?
Posted by: jason of avoca | Monday, June 28, 2004 at 10:35 AM
Great story! My wife and I attended a black church in Indianapolis before settling in a suburb. We went there for about a year and a half and we were 2 of maybe a half dozen whites in the entire church.
(White) people who have never attended a black church, you don't know what you're missing. They don't mess around with their praise. They're loud and proud with it and it just energizes you and makes YOU want to be loud and proud. Glad to hear you had such a positive, uplifting experience.
Posted by: Skerdog | Monday, June 28, 2004 at 05:21 PM
Cool story. Going to a different church when traveling can be a nice experience. My sister and her Family are coming to stay with us in a week or so (they live in california now.) I had planed to bring them all to my church on Sunday. Reading your story is helping me with our vacation planning schedule
Posted by: red donga | Monday, June 28, 2004 at 05:36 PM
LOL!
That so kicks pinkytoe!
I've been a big fan of black church services ever since I found out that the Blues Brothers scene wasn't all that far off.
Posted by: krakatoa | Monday, June 28, 2004 at 09:12 PM
Never been to a 'white' church.
slinking away now...
Posted by: Mahatma | Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at 08:35 AM