CCUC

I visited Chinese Christian Union Church in Chicago's Chinatown today (wow, a lot of C's). It was the first time in a long time where I put myself in a social scene where I was very unfamiliar with. I suppose it gave me a glimpse again what it meant to be the new kid.

"Hi, my my name is Rich....I'm new."

Then the guy I talks to tries to act cheerful, but is taken out of his normal relaxed self because now he has to be nice to the newcomer. I'm not offended as much as I am realizing how I do this also when I meet new people at Christian events.

Anyway, as for the church itself, it's sort of what I expected.

I like Pastor Peter's sermons better, although this is a little hard to beat, since I might even say I like Pastor Peter's sermons over Francis Chan's.

For the music, I actually liked NewCom's better CCUC. I didn't expect this, but over the past few years I have realized how talented the musicians at NewCom truly are.

Community - I probably met more people going to CCUC once than I have going to NewCom in 3 years. I did go with Josh Hsu and meet his friends, so that helped, as opposed to NewCom I've just gone with Northwestern folk who only talk to Northwestern folk after service. I did sort of expect this, despite my initial awkward encounter.

They also have different missions. CCUC is very much about being in the community of Chinatown, whereas NewCom is more about Logan Square and the larger Chicago.

I don't know. I didn't want this comparison to be ringing in my head during the service, but it did so that sucked.