User:Pdellegrazie

User:Pdellegrazie

From The Peopling of New York City

Hey. My name is Pete

[www.google.com, Google]

Here is a recent journal entry of mine about my visit to an African Church

The bright sun was shining through my window as I woke up on Sunday March 9th. This day was highly anticipated by myself for quite some time, not entirely because of a visit I would be making to an African Church. March 9th kicked off the release of a video game that I had been waiting many many months for. I saw the African Church Visit as an obstacle in the way of playing the game I anticipated for so long. However after attending the service I realized that the visit was worth the time I spent there. Myself, Regina and Isabella all traveled together to an area of Staten Island we are not too familiar with. We found a parking spot and began to walk to the church. As we walked to the church many vans pulled up where many Africans and their families came out dressed to the tee. While on our way there we spotted some members of Professor Mitchell's seminar. They were also attending the same service. The church was located on a narrow street in the basement of what looked like an apartment house. Located across the street from little delis and businesses I would have never thought that this was a place of worship. We walked through a narrow walkway to enter into the church. Imagine someones house where they have a big open basement. This was what the inside of the church looked like. We entered and directly to our left was a small section in the back where we took our seats. The seating was made up of mustard colored soft chairs, but they also had many folding chairs if needed. Some members of the church greeted us very very warmly and told us how happy they were that we were attending the mass. The rest of the church was full. Complete with people of all ages and many small children. The people attending the service were dressed in native dress and also some in suits and dresses. Bright colors was the theme for what most wore. Some people looked at us with confused expressions, most with warm smiles. The congregation broke out into song in which the entire church began to stand and sing a long. This occurred for a while when all of a sudden the band began to play a faster upbeat song when everyone began to dance ad sway to the music. One section of the church was designated for the singers and band members. They had a wide range of instruments from the piano to bongos. The music was very catchy and sounded similar to music you would hear if you went on a Caribbean Vacation. Members of the church encouraged us to "get into it" and dance along with everyone which we began to do. This song lasted for a very long time. While this was going on a little girl decided to befriend us and sat with us. She was very friendly and we even took our pictures with her. She had a mischievous side to her as she would run to her mother, push her hair around and quickly ran away to make it seem like someone else did it. She was very friendly and made the experience even more enjoyable. After the singing, the minister, who was a female, started to talk about the power of the Lord. She told us a story of a member of the church who was in a coma and thanks to the prayers and thoughts of everyone he is now out of it. While she was doing this, the congregation let out their fair shares of Amen's and Hallelujahs! A male began his speech by introducing visitors and invited Professor Mitchell up the podium to say a few words. He told us that he was an alumni of C.S.I. He then began to bless us countless times. He then spoke about problems facing the church and the importance of donations, which led into more singing while the congregation gave their donations. The duration of the mass was very upbeat and positive, and it was easy to see that the members of the church really enjoyed being there. The entire visit was a very positive experience. The people were very welcoming and friendly. I am Catholic but actually try don't attend church as often as I should. If Catholic masses were as fun as lively as these were, I might go more often. In all honesty I thought the visit would be strange and weird. However my opinion has greatly changed and I am glad that I attended a service.