My husband and I love to travel through the Ozarks. We simply enjoy finding a county map, and driving those old dirt roads across the back of a mountain, down in a holler, and back up many hills, only to find ourselves lost, but content there for the time being.
That is how I would describe our current situation; "Lost but content".
Now, before anyone takes this out of content; our souls are not lost. Just our way. We have been looking for a church for a while now. But your talking about two very different people with different concepts of how a church should be. So many churches are divided over issues that would have never been considered a line of division, even 30 years ago. Many churches are catering to the commercial desires of their congregation with Starbucks available beside bookstores. And some churches are catering to a type of Christian, such as *Cowboy's*.
I don't think any of these churches are much of a fit for Scott and I. We don't fit the profile well.
The best fit for us is; a smaller congregation of balanced Christians and a Preacher who preaches the whole Word of God. I'm not coming to hear what I want to hear. I am there to hear about what is important for me to learn and accept, and lastly; practice. Sometimes this is an uncomfortable sermon, but needed none-the-less. I want fellowship with people who feel like family. But I also want to be accepted not only for who we are, but who we *were* before we knew Christ. We hope to be able to reach out to those who feel unreachable someday when the situation arises. But before we can get there, we have to find the right church.
So far here is the consensus between Scott and I:
Baptist: Problem with *just saying that prayer and then it's all good*... OSAS, not so sure of.
Evangelical Lutheran: We do not want to be members of a church that supports actively gay ministers.
Mennonite: Neither of us are comfortable with uniform dress, and do not see this as a biblical requirement. It is a bigger distraction for Scott, but it seems to create confusion for us as a couple. Additionally, we have the whole D&R business that puts me on pins and needles. But we love the fellowship.
AOG/Pentecostal: Neither of us see tongues as a requirement for salvation, or even something that should ever happen in church without an interpretation. We do like the groups conservative nature, and the fact that modesty is practiced.
Non-Denominational: Lack of structure and accountability. Many (not all) just sort of make up the rules as they grow. I prefer a doctrinal statement to be established.
Now, this is what we've investigated so far. I know at some point you just have to go and serve and let God deal with the details, and that's what we are doing so far. We have several churches in our area that we frequent. But it sometimes feels like we are not gaining a foothold spiritually and seem to only be treading water.
And like everyone else; we are limited to what is available in our area.
So, how did you and your spouse come to the agreement over which church to join?? How long did you search? What was your criteria?
I am open to any suggestions. I am also considering not covering at church, but only in personal prayer time. This is just something I'm kicking around. It seems that since I've started covering (13 years ago) that this puts a wedge between us and the congregation, unless of course I'm in an Anabaptist Church. I do not see it as a salvational issue, but more one of reverence and obediance. It is a desire of mine to cover...but in the end, I can't let that stand in the way of us worshipping as a couple.
And I want to add that we do have several nice congregations that we visit. We have no complaints, just trying to come to terms with the finer details that seem to keep us from commiting to just one church.
I'd like to hear some thoughts on this and others experiences. Seems we've all bee there at one time or another.
Blessings,
Kelly
Kelly
4 comments:
Hello, again. I am happy in my AOG church, and just want to share a few thoughts. Although it may not be clear in some congregations (or even in the minds of some pastors), speaking in tongues is certainly NOT a requirement for salvation. And yes, it is to be interpreted when given before the Church body. It is my understanding that this particular vocal gift is for speaking to God, and the interpretation should go along with that so that the worshippers can "judge" it--and agree, "yes, that is in my heart toward God too."
I was not reared in this worship tradition, but came along later. I got really hung up on the "tongues" issue, and a dear, gentle brother said, "Don't worry about it being the 'sign' of anything. It is a wonderful help in personal prayer. Ask God if He will give you a prayer language." That was so very helpful to me.
You need a place to worship, and God will lead you to the right one where you can also contribute your abilities. MM
Thank you Sister! I appreciate the positive reminder. It doesn't bother me if someone speaks in tongues, nor does it bother my husband. It bothers us when it becomes a priority for others to push it on us.
I believe it is indeed a gift for private worship. I've been blessed with it, but it has never even come into play in a worship service. My husband is open to it, but frankly, it's probably not his gift.
Our experience with AOG and most charistmatic churches is that people with attention-seeking personalities use this as an avenue to draw attention to themselves too often. Not to say that's always the case.
I will remain open-minded and check out a few in this area. Perhaps if I explain my feelings upfront, I can avoid the whole issue altogether??
Blessings,
Sis Kelly
Wow can we relate! I read this posting to my husband tonight and it was like a reflection of our lives. I have been practicing covering for services since this summer and I enjoy this greatly. My husband is very supportive of this as he agreed that there was an obedience issue with covering that I needed to recognize and follow the word of God. It has been hard looking for churches as a covering woman because heads are definately turned by it in this community. The fact that I was previously a well known teacher in the area also played a part in this and I felt a great judgement was upon me from others in the church that were members of the local educational community. Now, I often switch back and forth between a white veil and a brown or black lace covering that does not draw as much attention.
As far as church searching go we walked out of an Church of God church after being there for four years because we too wanted the smaller congregation with greater fellowship between believers. In other words we wanted supportive God fearing people around us that would make sure we didn't want to get lost in the shuffle. We have been to a great number of churches in our area including AOG, Baptist, Calvary Chapel, and Mennonite. I was very much interested in the Mennonite church for a long time and I too developed a bit of an obsession researching both the roots of the religion and that of the Amish. In the end we have attended the Conservative Mennonite church in our town only twice and each time my husband's main issue was that he didn't want to wear a "uniform to church". I personally loved it all. I homeschool my oldest daughter with Amish and Mennonite curriculum and enjoy Mennonite publications often so this was all normal to me except turning around to kneel to pray. That was a first for me in a church. Either way I would have liked to continue going and maybe we will go again someday but for now we are bouncers going from church to church trying to find someplace to fit us. So, really I have no advise than to keep the faith and keep looking until you too find someplace that will work. Blessings!
Holly it sounds like we've both been down similar paths! My husband is anti-uniform-wearing too.
The church I attend now (Mennonite) allows the women to wear what they want, and have *guidelines* for members. Each person chooses their own modest style of clothing. Some have kept the cape-dress, and others have gone to a more progressive look with 3/4 length blouses paired with skirts. Kind of the *Cato Fashion* look, and less *homespun*. Either one is fine to me as long as it's modest.
Oh, and the turning to kneel and pray? That was new to me too with the Mennonites. I like it. It's so humble. Kind of hard on the back and knees.. but you get accostomed to it.
Blessings,
Kelly
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