closer2fine,
I am not a member of any religion, but I do attend religious
services in a variety of Christian religions.
I choose the most liberal and least controlling of the bunch.
Which means they are okay with people thinking for themselves
and not believing every doctrine they teach.
Religioustolerance.org is one of the best places to do
research on this topic.
Try:
* http://religioustolerance.org/chr_divi.htm
It says in part:
=================================
The most common method of arranging Christian denominations is from the most
conservative to the most liberal. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on the specific
order. In 1979, D.R. Hodge had 25 religious experts sort denominations by this
criteria and produced the following list: 5
Assemblies of God (the most conservative)
Seventh-Day Adventist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Church of the Nazarene
Southern Baptist Convention
Churches of Christ
Presbyterian Church in the United States *
American Baptist Churches in the USA
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America *
United Methodist Church
Episcopal Church
United Church of Christ. (the most liberal)
* These two denominations merged in 1983 to form the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.)
Following the recent conflict within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) between
fundamentalists and moderates, the SBC has probably moved upwards in the above
ordering.
The Unitarian Universalist Association would have been the most liberal. However, it is no longer generally considered a Christian denomination. The UUA currently recognizes many sources of beliefs among its members: Judaism, Christianity, Humanism, and Earth Centered traditions, including Neopaganism.
=============================
I would also recommend checking out the websites of the
various denominations. Here are a few I have bookmarked.
I would recommend that you find the websites for your
local denominations as well since that will often give you
an idea of what the local area denomination is like.
United Church of Christ (My Favorite)
* http://www.ucc.org/
United Methodist Church
* http://www.umc.org/
Unitarian Universalist Association
* http://www.uua.org/
Presbyterian Church, USA
* http://www.pcusa.org/
Although the Quakers were not listed above, I would
also suggest checking them out.
The Religious Society of Friends
* http://www.quaker.org/
Hope this helps.
Quester
