Professional Documents
Culture Documents
3/1/11
This Sunday I chose to attend University Baptist Church on Dutton Avenue. I grew up in a very
traditional Lutheran (ELCA) church so going to a Baptist church was a very different experience.
First of all the building in itself is completely different from a traditional church. Instead
of a chapel or sanctuary, or a normal building with a steeple, UBC is more like a warehouse. As
you walk in the door, you are greeted by staff members and handed a bulletin. My church back
home has bulletins so that was somewhat familiar. Inside there are a lot of rooms for various
Bible studies that are all decorated with an eclectic feel. The main worship center is very dim and
lit only by candles and has plastic chairs rather than pews. There are not many visual signs that
give evidence of it being a place of worship other than a painting of “The Last Supper”. There
were drums and guitars set up onstage which led me to believe their worship style is most likely
contemporary. That is pretty different from my church back home in which we only have a
contemporary worship on the first and last Sunday of the month. On the other two Sundays of the
month we usually sing hymns accompanied by only an organ or piano. There is a game room
The first thing I noticed about the attendees that Sunday was how casually they were
dressed. Though there were some people dressed fairly nice, most people were wearing jeans and
casual shirts. At my church I always wear slacks and a button down shirt so I felt overdressed.
Even the way they acted was much different from a Lutheran church. People were just chatting
casually beforehand and the service started ten minutes late. The whole feel of the church was
very laidback and had an indie feel to it. All in all, the atmosphere of UBC was much more
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Tyler Anderson
3/1/11
The Sunday I visited happened to be UBC Kids Sunday. The children’s choir led worship
in place of the adult worship team. The sermon this Sunday was about Jonah and the whale.
After the usual pastor, Josh Carney, spoke for a few minutes about the purpose of having a
children’s Sunday being that there was a lot we could learn from the younger generations, he
introduced the guest speaker they’d brought in, YouTube star, Mary Margaret. She is famous for
her YouTube video in which she tells the story of Jonah. It was hard to judge what their normal
service is like since the teaching pastor didn’t preach but it still felt much more laidback than
After Mary Margaret recited the famous biblical narrative to much applause, they passed
around a basket for offering. This was the first familiar action to me, as we pass around an
offering plate every Sunday as well. I expected the Lord’s Prayer and communion to follow, but
neither did. Other than that the order of the service was pretty similar. It began with a greeting
and announcements, followed by worship, and then the message. At my church the message is
usually followed with another song and then the Lord’s Prayer and Eucharist. At UBC after the
message there was just an offering taken, followed by closing announcements and a benediction:
“As we approach this week, may we love God, embrace beauty, and live life to the fullest.”
Though I mostly enjoyed my time at University Baptist, the huge differences within the
Protestant denomination shocked me and made me a little uncomfortable. I felt very welcomed
and included, but I think I still prefer the traditional style of worship I’m used to.