J.T. Doty

Lawndale Community Church

3827 W Ogden, Chicago, IL 60623

October 23rd, 2016

The style of worship at Lawndale Community Church was a reflection of the culture in the Christian African-American community in Chicago, so many songs had “Gospel” roots, complete with a church choir and band. Although there were occasionally other songs more associated with the CCM movement, there was still a main worship leader who focused on singing rather than incorporating her instrumental skills with the band. So nevertheless, this style of veneration was vastly different from my home congregation, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, which uses the liturgy to express God’s glory. Additionally, this style of worship might be more acceptable to my small parish, as most of my community is very frail. In contrast, LCC has a prominent position among Protestant churches in the West Side, and had a fairly diverse age and racial demographic, though predominantly African-American in racial make-up.

The most interesting aspect about the service was how the worship setting was in a basketball gymnasium. While this physical location would be abhorred by Orthodox, Catholic, and indeed some Protestant circles, for being too secular-minded, such criticisms forget to note how sacredness may easily be incorporated into the game of basketball for the Black community. Much admired sports superstars such as Dwayne Wade and Derrick Rose were able to make a fortune and escape the violence. As a result, Wayne was called “coach” and not “pastor”, and there were championship banners celebrating the accomplishments of the church. In addition, the matching blue shirts of Hope House graduates are similar to crowds representing their home team at games. Brilliantly, LCC has been able to use the cherished institution of basketball to advance the Gospel in a community where such connections would be well understood.

It was very hard hearing about the four deaths in the congregation, two of which were due to gun violence. The event does not deserve to be summarized into a blog post, but demands a pause in work to lament. Nevertheless, I remember seeing an older woman, likely working with the garden ministry, crying and weeping while a sister came and comforted her. I also saw an older man, simply freeze, as if recalling his own memories of pain. Clearly, the wounds expressed by the congregation were personal and devastating, and a reflection of systematic injustice against African-American in our country. And being a man of color, I too was hurt, realizing that easily could have been me. While the service continued, this incident replayed in my mind over and over, and I thought about how my mother and civic community might respond if I too, were to suffer a similar tragedy in a suburban context.  

For me, the service served as a confirmation of my suspicions that I am a modern day free black,  separated by the confines of a wealthy suburb where the traumatic experiences of gun violence are only distant childhood memory from my upbringing in St. Louis. This geographical barrier fosters environments where the affluent white Christians send their kids to private school (such as Wheaton College) while the poor are hungry and must seek shelter through charitable homeless ministries. In many ways, the cities of Wheaton and Chicago serve as a chilling reminder of what happens when Christianity whores itself to conservative political ideals which ignore the plight of the underprivileged, and what happens when the federal government declares a war upon the poor rather than seeking their well-being. We do not need prayers and supplications for racial reconciliation, but relational and financial reparations for communal empowerment!