My Church: St. Elizabeth Seton Church Family: Catholic
Church Visited: Ashburn Baptist Church Date: November 23rd, 2008
Location: 153rd & Wolf Road Church Family: Baptist
Orland Park, Illinois
In attending the Ashburn Baptist Church, I was surprised to find out that it has served the people in the Southwest corridor here in Chicago since 1951. In reading the brochure that was handed to me after the service, I learned that the church was led by Pastor Lyons and is the home for the Baptist Bible Institute, which offers 20 subjects in Bible and methods of Christian work. They have a preschool program for children ages 2-5 that is led by skilled Baptist people. They have separate Bible study programs for young adults, high school students, middle grade students, ladies and men.. The churches foundation is centered on the belief that you cannot save yourself. No religion can save you. It is only Jesus who died for us on the cross. Thus, their belief is that only through personal faith in him can you receive the gift of life everlasting.
As I walked down the isle of the church to obtain a seat, three different men forcefully shook my hand, smiled and greeted me. For me, it was a little overwhelming. Next, I looked around the church. I noticed that most of the men were dressed in suits, white pressed shirts and ties and most of the women wore dresses. Unfortunately, I was one of three people in the entire church dressed in jeans. At this point, I was a little uncomfortable. The worshippers were very friendly. They were shaking hands and it appeared as if most of the worshipers knew each other. There were a lot of families and several older women that were there by themselves. There were not as many young children in attendance as in my church. I don’t recall seeing a child under the age of 6. It was mainly adults. Most of them brought their own Bible. Their Bibles were written in and worn. You could tell they had been used...