LETTERS FROM THE LIVING
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
I finally managed to attend a church service on Sunday morning! Amen. (Just posting this to assure all of u out there I’m not attending Tom Cruise’s Church of Scientology ok? ) Dawn (fellow GIP mate) and Wenyu (her contact, thanks for the ride dude!), Timothy, Andrew and I, a group of 5 went to the Atlanta Chinese Christian Church and what an experience it turned out to be!
The early service is an English worship service, so the attendance (about 50-70) paled in comparison to the Chinese language service later (approx. 200). Those who attended were mostly college students and young working adults just like YAS, as well as the occasional ang moh who stay nearby or have friends here. Besides getting in touch with a Christian environment, I met more Asians than any other time I had in Atlanta thus far. ABCs, ABKs, ABJs, PRCs, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, Malaysians and Singaporeans – you name it, they are all here.
The place has a modern-day chapel look and the interior reeks of the good-old cathedral design [Culture shock factor #1]. (No photography allowed, but managed to snap a quick one during the sermon!) They began by singing a couple of hymns [Culture shock factor #2] and next come the sermon (they have preaching series too! This time its on praying…) and you’ve guessed it, an Asian pastor for the day! The preaching is quite similar to Trinity, but it ended in less than an hour. The pastor wraps up with a prayer but there is no altar call [Culture shock factor #3].
[Culture shock factor #4] was impressive. After the prayer, the celebration host IC (who recognized us at the entrance as first time visitors and spoke to us before service) became the emcee and made announcements. “Today, we are delighted to welcome so and so from … missionary, and …, Raymond Chua, and my GIP mates’ names, they are a group of exchange students from Georgia Tech.” We were actually introduced to the entire congregation, froze in our seats but managed a feeble wave to the entire crowd and a couple of warm handshakes.
After the benediction, which was the Lord’s Prayer [Culture shock factor #5], we headed to the canteen for a Meet and Greet session [Culture shock factor #6] for donuts and Chinese tea [Culture shock factor #7]! It’s basically a like the Meeting Place for fellowship and catch-up between members of the church. It’s so embarrassing, apparently everybody were intrigued by the “exchange students announcement”, and no less than 10 people came up to us and did some introduction and small talk. This is despite the fact that they were in their own cliques, but took the initiative to know us [Even more impressive Culture shock factor #8]. The preacher, Pastor Thomas, also came forward to welcome us.
It doesn’t end there mind you! We were then invited to join the rest of the people (everybody!!!) to attend Sunday school (not the kids kind where u just talk about bible stories or explanation of the bible) [but still…Culture shock factor #9], and today we learnt about meditation and prayer. It’s like a Tenet class at Trinity, where there will be like a workshop lecturer and practical session where we tried to apply the meditation techniques.
However, this is a more conservative church, and they don’t raise their hands in worship, nor did they speak in tongues and neither did they mouth out their prayers! [Culture shock factor #10,11,12]. I learnt that they are less of the Charismatic/Protestant denomination, but more of the Evangelical kind.
The last bit of the church visit was the highlight of the day! [Culture shock factor #13]!!! They serve lunch like a community, like those in temples in Singapore. Adult members will put $2 in the offering box while the children $1. As for us, since we are first-time guests, we got a free lunch. They serve food like army cookhouse style where they just have rice and a meat dish – which was amazingly delicious! It was indeed an interesting visit!! It left me thinking: Are they really so vibrant and proactive or is it just their nature friendliness??
Here's the spycam shot!
Verdict: Vibrant Atmosphere? Yes and no... but thou shalt not judge!
Laid to Rest at 8:27 AM;
