For the first service, I joined the Youth Group to help out as a sort of guest leader. There was worship, a message, and then we broke out into small groups. I joined Borra in the group for 11th graders. They were all really cool, albeit a tad shy. It's an English speaking church, so most of them were from the United States or Canada originally. One girl was even looking into going to George Fox! That was pretty cool. I really like the kids there and hopefully I can help out on a more permanent basis.
After first service, a group of us went out to lunch. The group included mostly the adult leaders from the Youth Group, but a couple of the kids came with us, too. It was so fun! Everyone is so welcoming.
For second service, I went to the adult service. It was so interesting to compare it to my church back home! The service was held in largely the same way, but there were definitely some differences since it was a Korean church. For example, the pastor was much more animated than pastors in the States. They also say the Apostle's Creed, Lord's Prayer, and sing the Benediction at each service. But I think the biggest difference was in how vocal the congregation was. People could shout their "amens" whenever they wanted during the service, although it definitely wasn't overdone. But there was also a time for prayer when everyone prayed their own prayers... but out loud. At the same time. It was a very unique thing to hear!
Korean churches also cultivate a very close community. After the service, tons of people went up to the church coffee shop to get coffee and hang out. Oh, that's another thing!! The church building was very nontraditional. There are some churches here that fit our stereotype perception of a church, but this one that I went to was part of another building. A school takes up the first two floors of the building and the church takes place on floors three and four. It was very odd! The layout still confuses me. But back to the church community... I spent probably an hour following Borra around while she talked to a bunch of people in the coffee shop. She's so popular! Every time we were about to leave, her husband would come up and say, "Oh, so-and-so is looking for you!" But finally we made it out of the coffee shop and Borra, her husband, another couple, and I went out for smoothies. It was really fun! They are all super cool. We drank smoothies and competed in this game on Borra's iPad. Even after that, they were all going out to dinner and then to see one of the church members who was sick. But I had had a really long day and was ready to come home, so I left a little early.
Overall, "going to church" turned into a 7 hour event! But it was really fun and I'm excited to go again next week!
That's awesome!
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