Korean Baptist Church Experience

The church that I attended was a Korean Baptist church. I was invited to participate in one of there young adult / college worship and fellowship services. It began around 6pm on a Friday night and was not concluded till around 10pm. Going into this experience I was not really sure what to expect, however what I took away from it will be a key reminder for me many years to come when discussing other cultures faith and devotion to Jesus.
I arrived at the church and was greeted with big smiles and hand shakes as I entered what appeared to be both a fellowship area and childcare area. Across from this room was a very small kitchen, where there were five Korean women preparing a meal. I was welcomed to have a seat at a table near the kitchen for a dinner and fellowship before worship. I was well aware that I was the only one in the room not sure what was going on, however the Korean’s treated me as one of there own. I could tell I was not at a table full of people use to traditional United States dining etiquette as I watched people grab food from large dishes with their own personal utensils. Where as in our culture here in the U.S. that might be …show more content…
This is where I really saw a difference in culture. As the pastor lead a prayer from the stage, a majority of the people in the room began standing up and crying out to God in their own words where they were sitting in the congregation. Now growing up in a United Methodist Church background, and marrying a Southern Baptist I knew this was not common for either of those particular denominations. So for this style of worship in prayer, had to be somewhat tied to the Korean culture and traditions. It was such a beautiful thing to see people from a different culture all crying out to God, their specific prayers and petitions all being brought to the Father as a cooperate body. After the prayer time was over, there were a few announcements, and the evening came to a