For those of you who attend a church

closer2fine

I was raised a JW & left when I was 19. My husband went to a few different churches growing up (Catholic, Methodist etc) but he doesn't really consider himself a member of any particular denomination. He considers himself a Christian, although he isn't sure what he believes or if he believes in the Bible as God's word.

I have run from any type of organized group that is controlling. I'm not sure what I believe either. I don't know if I believe in God, or the Bible as anything more than a series of stories with life lessons in them.

We have a child & would like to introduce her to some sort of higher power. My questions are these:

1.) What church do you attend?

2.) How did you decide?

3.) What is required of you as a member?

4.) Do you believe in all of the teachings? Do you have to?

Thanks so much for your anticipated responses.

Oh - I wanted to add that part of the reason we are also looking for a group is for social reasons too. We move frequently & it would be nice to have a way to meet people.

closer

Mean People Produce
Little Mean People

Yerusalyim

Me, I'm Catholic
While born and raised Catholic, at the age of 23 I challenged all of my beliefs about the church and decided it was the right one for me.
What is required as a memeber? See "The Catechism of the Catholic Church"
Yes, I believe all doctrines and dogmas of the church, though I may understand them differently than some. The CORE doctrines (Eucharist, Trinity, etc) are the important ones.

YERUSALYIM
"Vanity! It's my favorite sin!"
[Al Pacino as Satan, in "DEVIL'S ADVOCATE"]

individuals wife

closer.... interesting questions.... the exact same ones I've been asking myself lately - any more ideas from anyone? I do not want my kids to grow up with the twisted concept of religion that the JWs have left them with, I want them to be interested in exploring their beliefs and have inquiring minds as to the meaning of life, God, religion and everything. I want them to realise that spirituality and faith are not something just reserved to the organisation.

I for one sometimes miss the companionship that a congregation gives you and the spiritual conversation that goes with it but I am not prepared to compromise my own beliefs and go along to a church that I cannot endorse - like Closertofine said - do you HAVE to believe all that they teach or are all religions as rigid and inflexible in their belief systems as the JWs? I have attended both the Methodist and Baptist Churches before I was a JW and found both to be 'not my cup of tea' - where to go next? Or do I NEED to go anywhere??

JeffT

I go to a large independent (non-denominational) church. I feel very free to make up my own mind on any number of subjects.
If you want to take a look the website is www.occ.org.

drahcir yarrum

closer:

While I'm not a believer myself, I do attend church on Sunday's with my wife and three children. We attend a Presbyterian church. I find the sermons to be tolerable and the music to be outstanding. From time to time we have soloists sing who are very talented. The music in general is very contemporary with some of the old time protestant hymns thrown in.

The main reason I insist that we attend is for my children. They enjoy the hour of Sunday School each week with kids they go to school with. The church also gets involved in a number of charitable works and missions that truely do help people in need. The children participate in that as well. I believe that this type of mainstream religion can teach children some moral lessons as well as the importance of being part of a larger community for promoting good, not preaching the bible. That appears to be the assigned task of the ministers in the church.

Good luck in your decision.

Drahcir bin Yarrum

Pubsinger

1. Anglican

2. It is actually the nearest to our home. We believe we were led there because it is a genuinely Christian congregation.

3.To believe in Jesus as Saviour.

4.No I dont agree with all it's "official beliefs" child baptism being one, but no we are not obligated to accept them. Our difference of interpretation on that particular issue is respected ( just as we respect those who do accept child baptism). We are certainly not the only ones who disagree with certain bits. But the Church is united in its faith in Jesus as our saviour and ransommer.

MegaDude

1.) What church do you attend?

Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas (claims to be Southern Baptist but comes across as non-denomination extreme.) The minister doesn't wear a suit, he encourages everyone to dress nice casual (shorts are fine.) and the music is mainstream Christian to heavy metal Christian.
Took some getting used to but I could never go back to those Kingdumb Melodies. LOL!!!!

2.) How did you decide?

I was looking for a place that had good Sunday school Bible studies, inspired me to stay on my spiritual walk, and to have community with people with a similar mindset. I wasn't disappointed.

3.) What is required of you as a member?

I haven't joined in any official capacity. Can't say I ever will.
Don't feel any need to.

4.) Do you believe in all of the teachings? Do you have to?

Absolutely not. There are a number of traditional church doctrines that after years of studying I still can't accept because I don't believe the Bible teaches them (i.e. eternal hellfire for the wicked, once saved always saved) But nobody really cares because there isn't a rigid standard of belief enforced. The main thing they care about is that you have accepted Christ as your savior. I find the atmosphere there very free after the JW experience. Of course, you can run into churches (especially Southern Baptist) where you will meet fundies who will remind you of Dubs. I ignore these types.
Avoid churches where the minister is of the same mindset.

The main difference I cannot stress enough is that going to church is enjoyable in contrast to the excruciating bordom of JW meetings.

You may have to shop around some to find a good one.

"Hope is a good thing... maybe the best of things."
Andy's letter to Red in the Shawshank Redemption

Princess

There is a baptist church behind my house. We have decided never to attend it.

How did we decide not to attend? Easy, they are the loudest, most obnoxious neighbors in the neighborhood. We have to go there frequently to shut them up late at night.

What is require of us as a neighbor? Know how to dial 911

Do we believe the teachings? Probably not. We have respect for our neighbors, they do not as my husband pointed out the last time he had to shut them up.

That is the extent of our experience with a church. We have never taken our kids to the KH (left upon the birth of number 1) and we teach them about God with out the "God box" as a friend called it. I have lots of friends who go to church but I can't get rid of the nasty taste left over from the last religion. My five year old son doesn't understand why some feel the need to go to a building to talk to God when we can do it at home. My brother attends an Assembly of God church but it is another organized religion like the dubs, better music though.

Princess

tdogg

I dont know why exactly people feel the need to belong to an organization to worship. I imagine we could discuss that forever without any resolution.
I will teach my children to find the answers for themselves. My daughter has attended LDS church with her grandparents on occasion and has a basic concept of Jesus and God. But when she starts asking questions I point out what different people believe and that all people do not believe the same way. I dont tell her which is the correct way because in all honesty I dont know and neither does anyone else.
I guess this doesnt qualify as a response to your post because I dont attend a church but not attending is not such a bad thing. I think going to church for the sake of "going to church" is wrong. Only go if you buy into it.

GentlyFeral

1.) What church do you attend?

A Unitarian Universalist church in the next town. About 150 members, middle-sized for a UU church. Very friendly, smart, compassionate. Some of us are a little neurotic but it doesn't stop us from doing good and having fun with it!

2.) How did you decide?

Realized I wasn't strong enough to be an atheist when it was time to DA. Promised myself I'd DA as soon as I could find a church that didn't require me to believe a lot of bullshit, especially not hellfire, the trinity, the immortal soul, or knee-jerk political conservatism. Thought UU might fit the bill, and http://www.uua.org showed I was right.

3.) What is required of you as a member?

Be kind, be honest, live, love, laugh. Encourage the people around you to do the same.

4.) Do you believe in all of the teachings? Do you have to?

There's a shortlist of ethical principles that are damn near non-negotiable. Belief in God is not one of them.
( http://www.uua.org/principles.html)

The denomination has an adult-education course called "Building Your Own Theology," which is precisely that. It's all about discovering exactly what you DO believe, and why -- in company with a group of friendly people who probably believe way different stuff. When I took it, the atheists in the room were fascinated by us pagans, and very sweet about it.

I believe in all the "Seven Principles" of our church. I don't believe in all the "Six Sources of our Living Tradition" -- the Bible, especially; and though I trust it, I'm not very good at "Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science." I'm something of a magical thinker, though I take that with a grain of salt, too.

I didn't mean to evangelize so much, but no two UU's believe quite the same (nor are they expected to), so I thought I'd better give my personal take on it.

Before I forget: going to church "for social reasons" is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, especially if you have kids. Many UU churches do "the social thing" very well. Even if you decide it's not for you, they won't hold any grudges or shun you if you leave. It's part of that "drawing from many sources" thing.

Gently Feral

For those of you who attend a church

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