Ebenezer Baptist Church

After waking up irrationally early for a Sunday morning, the Ebenezer Baptist Church service relaxed my tired mind. It was a new experience for me, but I was actually expecting the Church service to be more different than it actually was.

In movies, members of Baptist gospel churches seem to be very verbal—always shouting out phrases like “amen” and other exclamations showing emotion or agreement. Take this advertisement for a gospel TV show for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSAtvWEgR-c.

Ebenezer was much more laid back, less energized, and less vocal. There were only a few murmurs of agreement during the praying.

The gospel music coming from the choir, decked out in black and yellow, also seemed more pop than gospel. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the music and the beat. It made me want to start dancing, but it was just not what I expected.

Although I had expectations about the environment of the church, I did not know what to expect in regards to the service. Although I’m Christian, the church service was different from the typical services I am used to. The past four years I have attended countless Catholic masses, quite a few Presbyterian Church services on holidays, funeral and wedding ceremonies, and other various protestant church services. Ebenezer’s church service was distinct from all these services in that it was unstructured and included much more singing. The singing itself was very modern and the music was more than simply organ or piano.

Catholic masses follow a very strict order, every time. The other services I have been to always involve lots of audience responses in the sense that the congregation says phrases in response to what the minister says. They also always include interaction with the fellow church goers, usually in the form of giving the sign of peace. Yet, Ebenezer’s service seemed to consist almost entirely of singing and the short sermon. On another note, maybe because it was an inter-faith service, there was no communion which is usually given at the church services I go to. Also, the music was very entertaining but I think if I continued to attend the church services I would begin to miss the traditional and beautiful music sung at other churches.

Also, like this picture, all the other churches I have visited have some sort of cross facing the congregation. I thought it was interesting that Ebenezer instead chose to display a beautiful nature scene of a peaceful river. Perhaps the nature scene is in awe of God’s power to create? It removes the abstract quality of the cross which seems refreshing. At the same time, however, I am so used to seeing a cross that not seeing a visible one made me feel like I was not in a Christian church.

I have been pointing out all these differences, but overall the service was similar to other Christian services. The guest welcoming and shaking hands reminded me of other small-town churches I have attended. The service was very relaxing and a nice break from the day. The stained glass windows were breathtaking and the members were friendly. In the end though, I do not think the Ebenezer church services are for me.