It was September 11, 2011, the ten year anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center
I stood outside my building at ten minutes to nine, dressed in my Sunday’s best, a black suit, a white button down shirt and tie with black dress pants and black dress shoes, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. I did not know what to expect of the day ahead of me. We were going to be traveling into Saint Paul to attend Pilgrim Baptist Church
I was a bit concerned that I would be overdressed and stand out like a sore thumb. I felt this way for two main reasons first the other members of my group were only dressed semi-formally and second African Americans are typically poor, which might not allow them to have such clothing. There was a mix in clothing amidst attendees of the church. Many women had on dresses and fancy hats while many men had suits and/or button down shirts. A smaller number did have on things like Viking jerseys or a tee shirt and other less formal clothing. In this way, they were very similar to the clothing mix present in my home church. I was instead overdressed physically which helped be to understand why African American pastors have to wipe sweat from their foreheads. I always thought it was because they really got into their message and that might be some of the reason. The other part is that it was warm in the church. Many of the women were fanning themselves; some men had handkerchiefs to wipe sweat from their face. While I was not sweating, I did get a little light headed during the service. It was a distant cry from the air-conditioned sanctuary of my home church. The focus of my mind during part of the service was on my own well-being rather than worshipping God or noticing what was going on around me.
At 9:45 a.m., the church service began and to my surprise, a woman was leading the service. It is not that I am against women leading church services or speaking in church, it is more that every church I have ever attended a man has led the service. It showed a level of progressivity and liberalization for that church to take the step of allowing a woman to lead the service. Especially while so many other churches are dragging their feet to a degree in this regard, holding to a literal interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34. On this account, the church displayed an egalitarian stance by allowing a woman a place of leadership. She opened the service with a responsive call to worship. Again having experienced this in other churches, I was familiar with the process and it did not catch me off guard. In the call to worship was an emphasis on unity, an appropriate enough theme given the fact that it was the first day of a revival and the fact that it was on an anniversary of a traumatic event in United States
Following the Call to Worship was prayer. In this prayer is displayed a dependence on God, thanksgiving to God, praise of God, petitioning God to help those who are hurting remembering especially those who died in the World Trade Center. During the prayer, congregational members would respond and interact with the speaker with a variety of utterances. They were active participants within the church service rather than just onlookers as is often the case in Caucasian churches. Some congregation members would use nonverbal signals like pointing at the speaker to show support. One phrase in the prayer that caught my attention was the use of Mathew 5:37 “but let your yes be yes and your no be no” (NKJV). Amidst all the struggles that the slaves endured, was the struggle of masters lying to them. During the service, some people said, “tell the truth” all of which illustrates the importance of honesty in African American culture.
Following the prayer was the singing of hymns. Hymns were the only thing sung in my home church, and I have enjoyed listening to white gospel singers like the Gaither Vocal Band and the Cathedrals, so I was comfortable with the hymns. The first one, “Glory be to the Father”, I even knew. The second hymn “Revive us Again”, I was not familiar with but like all hymns it does not take very long to get the harmony. During this hymn, the leader would state the verse and than the congregation would sing it. I would imagine very similar to the time when many African Americans could not read and the leader said the words and the congregation would sing it. This allows the entire community to participate in the church service. There is also a call and response component to this as well. All of which shows the importance of their ethnic roots and ways in which they have sought to incorporate their history into the service. They therefore have in part a past orientation. Past orientation is the cultural trait that seeks to preserve the history and traditions through incorporation of them in the present. While Pilgrim seeks to preserve its rich heritage there are ways in which they have sought to progress and adapt to a changing world.
In one of the verses of “Revive Us Again”, it talks the cleansing of every stain. Indirectly this might have a greater meaning to them, as many of them were cleaners in the days of slavery and some I would imagine still are in hotels, upper class homes or at the very least their own homes. Stains are next to impossible to remove, as they know from experience. The God who cleanses the stains in the lives of His elect had to pay the ultimate price, His own life. Incorporation and identification with the teachings was something that was very important throughout the service and shows pragmatic influences within the culture. Pragmatism is the belief that things should be simple, straightforward, and practical; there should be a clearly defined problem and solution without the need for intense analysis.
There was then what was listed as a praise period. Although the specific song is not listed in the bulletin, they sang “Because of Who You Are”. This song speaks of praising and worshipping God because of who He is; in essence, because of His status, reverence is required. This therefore plays a role in the unique dynamic of power distance or the respect given to those in authority in the African American church. While they seek to be egalitarian seeing God as a friend they also revere Him because of His stature. Along side the song leader, was a woman who was signing the words to the song. Following this song, the children came up for what they called a ‘Fine Arts Ministry’ and they signed the song “Praise on the Inside”. The incorporation of bodily movements in the worshiping of God was something that was new to me and is expressive of their holistic approach, worshipping God through word and action. Holism is the belief that there is unity between things, as opposed to a dualistic view that separates things into spheres like flesh and spiritual. The children had painted their faces white, which I assumed is a traditional African custom. Therefore, there was an appreciation of there African heritage and history. The song itself speaks of emotions that they cannot keep to themselves. Emotions were free flowing during the service from the congregation and speakers; therefore, the song seems to be representative of African American worship and the emotional nature of their lives and communication.
They then had a time for acknowledgement of visitors. During this time, they had all the visitors stand. As we stood, the congregation applauded. We were given visitor information forms to fill out. It was nothing out of the ordinary for a smaller church to have a greater level of community and objective of expanding while serving the needs of the congregation. While perhaps in a Caucasian church, they might not make them stand up but might have some level of acknowledgement, greeting, and information gathering that would occur.
The church choir made up of mostly African American men and women with one Caucasian woman began to sing. The chorus of the song was particularly identifiable for the African American community. “I’ve been through a lot. I had to press my way through. But I’m going with Jesus all the way.” Many African Americans lived amidst the poverty, racism, and other struggles. Endurance was required on a regular basis. In the end, they did endure and press their way through with Jesus, never losing the hope they have in Christ.
This endurance with Jesus embodied itself in the testimony part of the service. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson told their story of how the Lord comforted them in their time of need. Mr. Robinson’s foot was infected and they had to make the choice either take it off and have a fifty percent chance of survival or leave it and die. They were reliant on Jesus to keep Mr. Robinson alive. God did have everything in place for them, their daughter who had left the state for twenty years had moved back to the area recently and the surgeon was on hand. Mr. Robinson even had a dream telling him that he was going to live. Mr. Robinson did survive and was able to stand before the congregation bearing testimony to God’s unfailing love. Mr. Robinson also resumed many of his functions within the church and as he put it, “the Lord has put me back to work”. This was a personal story and therefore an exposure of vulnerability. My church does testimonies mainly at baptisms and before acceptance of prospective members for membership. For a few months when the Karen, who are Burmese refugees, began coming to the church gave testimonies of the persecution they endured in Burma
They then gave the announcements of upcoming events. The first was Sunday school. They handed out forms for each age group to sign up and rides were available to bring the children to Sunday school. They were very passionate about insuring that the children have a passion for the Lord. In this, there is some concern for even the young in the community as well as a future orientation insuring that the young maintain the faith.
The second announcement was for faith factor. This is a program to encourage healthy eating. The church is brining in a nutritionist to insure against as they put it ‘digging their graves with their mouths’. In this, there is an expression of the holistic qualities of the church; caring not only about the spiritual wellbeing of the individual but the physical as well. The announcement for the food shelf also shares a common concern for the wholeness of the person. Those who have plenty of food are encouraged to donate some to the food shelf to help those that are struggling.
Another announcement was for the revival that was starting in that service, led by Dr. Ian Bethel. He would be speaking in the evenings through Wednesday, the fourteenth. While the food announcements were the physical side, the revival is the spiritual side that makes it holistic. While at my own church there was a revival back when it was just getting started in 1873, however, it is something the church abandoned. The Caucasian church is in need of a revival like never before, as numbers dwindle, times are getting tough and half-hearted Christianity is on the rise.
The final announcement was a golf tournament to benefit the Mission
The children then gathered in the front of the church for a children’s sermon. Again, this shows the importance the church places on children as members of the community and for the future of the church. The children’s sermon was on the two greatest commandments but it was a rather strange way of teaching it. The leader had left his bag in the pew and asked the kids the best way to go and get it. The children wanted him to just walk in a straight line towards it and pick it up. However, he felt the best way was to go in the opposite direction out the sanctuary through the choir to the other side of the sanctuary retrieve the bag and go all the way back the way he came. Therefore, he raced one of the children, he going his way and the child going their own. The child won easily. The point was that simplicity is better than complex. Therefore, remembering the two greatest commandments love God and love your neighbor is what is important because all the other commandments fall under this. In this it also illustrates the keep it simple mentality of African American Christianity. They did not have complex philosophies and theologies as is present in many Caucasian churches[3]. They do not question how three can be one or how Jesus can be both God and man, but accept it based on faith. There is pragmatism within this approach to Christianity that is representative of their culture. Being more analytical I can both respect the approach and at the same time cannot understand why there is not a push to learn more, growing in knowledge of God. Following the children’s sermon was a prayer then the children left for their own service.
The congregation then sang the chorus of “Have A Little Talk with Jesus”. I knew this song via the Oak Ridge Boys rendition of it. This song was not listed in the bulletin showing a willingness to adapt to the spirits leading. The song itself expresses a close and intimate relationship with God. In the song chorus, a conversation between God and man occurs, where man tells Him all about their troubles, God hears their faintest cry and answers the prayer. With the understanding that just a little talk with Jesus makes it right. It would seem as if God were just a genie in a bottle, giving them all the desires of their hearts. At the same time, there is an intimacy between the communicator and God with the hope of God continuing sufficiency amidst struggle.
Before the offering, the leader read from Psalms 92:12-15, which speaks of the righteous flourishing. She was using scripture as a tool to elicit emotion from those who attended in an effort to encourage the giving of money. Scripture was used throughout the service to elicit emotion this was one of those occasions where I wondered about whether it was ethical to elicit emotion for the giving of money to the church.
As we penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of worship, the choir began to sing. W The song spoke of God as a cleaner of the church, cleaning this house, sweeping this house and other things in which many of them could identify with, they personified God and made Him similar to themselves. God comes to embody some of the same struggles they are going through but has the power to clean the church so to speak using the indirect communication in the song. Therefore, we see an awe and reverence given to God as well as a personal nature applied to God in His dealings with the church.
As the offering concluded, the church sang, “Praise Him from whom all Blessings Flow”. The congregation then stood for the reading of scripture. Standing for a scripture reading is a practice that a year ago, I would have found to be strange but since learning of the Jewish practice and having it incorporated into my home church, am beginning to understand it. The standing during the reading of God’s word is in reverence, honoring the status that God and His word have in the church. It would be liken to rising when an elder walks in the room in Asian cultures. The scripture verses came from John 13:1-17, which is the washing of the disciple’s feet.
Before, Dr. Bethel delivered his message on the text. “Lift Him Up” was used as a meditation hymn. It was certainly the most up beat meditation hymns I have ever heard. The message of the song comes from John 12:32 where Jesus says that when he is lifted up from the earth he will draw all men unto himself. The verses speak of living Christian lives, in essence, being good examples, as the sermon would emphasize. Another verse spoke about not exalting the preacher or pew but preach the gospel simple full and free. This verse has imbedded in it an egalitarian stance of not exalting the preacher, a stance for honesty in preaching the gospel, but also being pragmatic in its preaching.
Doctor Ian Bethel came with a musician Antwan Carter from New Beginnings Baptist Tabernacle. This was a bit strange for me that a preacher would be traveling with a musician. Music played an important part in every aspect of the service including the prayers. It never really occurred to me for a musician to travel with the pastor. The music during the sermon and service established a particular emotional reaction that went along with the words. I find it hard to believe that it is just coincidental that they line up. However, Costen, in her works on African American worship emphasized the leaning on the spirit for especially prayers[4]. It would seem as if the church has moved towards preparation for the service and coordination between the musician and leader for the purpose of the establishment of a particular emotional reaction.
Doctor Bethel emphasized that Jesus set an example in the sermon text. Therefore, Christians ought to be an example of the saviors love. Jesus loved even of those who betrayed him and disowned him. Therefore, Christians ought to love unconditionally, even when it seems impossible to love a person. He argues that often Christians like to choose the capacity and people that they serve. Instead, Dr. Bethel argues that as Jesus humbled himself to wash the disciples feet likewise Christians need to humble themselves. Finally, he looks at Jesus example of servant leadership. He argues that no one earns the right to lead until he/she has learned to serve. The servant is not greater than their master. Here he establishes an egalitarian connection between humanity, disregarding status within society and rejecting power structures in which the leader is not also a servant. He ended the sermon with a lot of energy and repetition. He continued to repeat the verse before each of his sermon points. Repetition was a way of emphasizing the point that the speaker was making. The high level of energy also established an emotional response from the congregation.
Throughout the sermon, Dr. Bethel
Following the sermon was an alter call. A young boy and middle-aged woman responded to the call and came forward to receive the Lord. The deacons of the church prayed with them and took their information to get them signed up for classes and baptism. The church applauded as they came forward and voted to accept their call without dissent. The community gathered around them as they took this step of faith. Alter calls have not been practiced in my church for some time and when they were practiced I do not know of anyone that responded and came forward.
As the service came to a close the whole church joined hands in prayer. This illustrates most of all the community and standing in solidarity with one another. Symbolically, the whole church was linked to one another, boldly approaching the throne of God. Second, it also illustrates a tactile cultural component to the African American worship service. Holding each others hands, embracing one another, and many other forms of touching were accepted as it brought them together and connected them. Too often in Caucasian churches people worry about if the person sitting next to them have germs or simply do not want to be touched. Hence, they attend church with bubbles of comfort surrounding them, unwilling to get close with those around them. However, for two prayers at Pilgrim the church joined hands. Before church hugs and kisses were exchanged, touching each other through affectionate means seemed to be an essential part of what brings them together as a community. As we left the sanctuary and church, congregation members invited us back and greeted us. They were very accepting of us and welcoming of us regardless of our race or creed
Pilgrim had a unique blend between contemporary American culture and traditional African customs. They have moved towards a great degree of planning in their services but have also incorporated hymns, African face painting and bodily movements into their worship service. Too often churches are caught in their own traditions and are slow to adjust to a changing world. Pilgrim is an example of how to balance a deep history and culture with contemporary worship. Another important aspect of church worship is community. In an era when churches are getting extremely large, congregations are getting impersonal with each other. Community, as displayed in the example of Pilgrim Baptist, must be a central element of any church service.
We entered the heart of worship at Pilgrim Baptist church and met a culture different from our own. In this culture, we participated in their holistic orientation, communal orientation, egalitarianism, indirect and emotional communication, pragmatic, tactile, and task orientation. These cultural traits were displayed in a variety of ways throughout the service. Many of these traits were present within my home characteristic but there were also some definite differences. Nevertheless, the common faith bonded us together in Christ. For that one church service, our ethnic and cultural differences did not matter. We were one in heart and mind, participating together in worship.
Bibliography
Bethel, Ian. “Revival Week”. Sermon, Church Service from Pilgrim Baptist Church , Saint Paul , MN
Cone, James H. The Spirituals and the Blues. Maryknoll , New York
Costen, Melva W. African American Christian Worship, 2nd ed. Nashville Tennessee
Gudykunst, William B. Bridging Differences: Effective Intergroup Communications, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks California
Jandt, Fred E. An Introduction to Intercultural Communications: Identities in a Global Context, 6th ed. Los Angeles California
Lingenfelter, Sherwood, and Marvin Mayers. Ministering Cross Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids Michigan
Matson-Daley, Richard, Gerald Dodd, Denise Loving, and Aaron Rupert. “Pilgrim’s History”, Pilgrim Baptist Church
[1] Matson-Daley, Richard, Gerald Dodd, Denise Loving, and Aaron Rupert. “Pilgrim’s History”, Pilgrim Baptist Church
[2] Cone, James H. The Spirituals and the Blues. (Maryknoll , New York
[3] Costen, Melva W. African American Christian Worship, 2nd ed. (Nashville Tennessee
[4] Costen, Melva W. African American Christian Worship, 2nd ed. (Nashville Tennessee
