If you had to change your denomination, which would you choose and why?

[Rob_BW]

I attended a Mennonite Church in Phillipsburg NJ and discovered the pastor is gay. This could only happen in Jersey...

Yeah. There seems to be a vast gulf between Mennonite churches. The one in Raleigh likely mirrors your experience in NJ. With the advent of the internet, I was flat out shocked at what all was going on in the denomination outside of my little slice of western MD and PA. I guess too many old hippies saw the pacifist designation, joined up, and ruined things.

Speaking of which, I did pass one by an hour west of here when I was riding my bike last December. It was the middle of the week, and a lady in the traditional garb watching some kids caught my eye. I looked them up online, looked like a very recent church plant.

 

[Adonia]

If I had to change it would be to the Eastern Orthodox faith tradition. They still hold true to what was taught from the early days of the newly emerging Christian Church.

 

[delizzle]

I've been away a while due to having flu and complications afterward, so I've fallen way behind on my responses to threads. I saw this thread and wanted to respond immediately.

I would have to eliminate baby-baptizing denominations, so around here that would leave only pentecostal, charismatic, and Church of Christ. Any of those would be difficult for me. I do believe in all the spiritual gifts, but not in a pentecostal interpretion of them.

I agree. I am charismatic, meaning I believe the gifts of the spirit are still present today. However, there is a huge difference between speaking in tongues (speaking an actual language that someone can translate that you did not know previously) and praying in the spirit ( groans when you don't know what to say). Neither of which are gallialia (I think that's how it's spelled) which is gibberish in my opinion.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I’ve tried my best to embrace churches in general but alas, not comfortable with a one of them. Maybe it’s because I don’t see any Holy Spirit moving in them (meaning the ones I have been to) or maybe it’s a church serving it’s own understanding without desipling, I don’t know

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I have toyed with many ideas, like going back to the Catholics......almost did but the HS convinced me otherwise. For a long time I would just walk my dog around the neighborhood and talk to people, ask questions like “ so how is God working in your life today?” You know, get them thinking. But people are lazy.

 

[Alcott]

If you had to change your denomination, which would you choose and why?

I always get 20's from the ATM; I'd prefer the option for 10's.

 

[Rebel1]

If I had to change it would be to the Eastern Orthodox faith tradition. They still hold true to what was taught from the early days of the newly emerging Christian Church.

I agree with the Orthodox on some key doctrines because these agree with the NT and earliest churches -- for instance, their views of the atonement. But I disagree in important areas, too, because of the divergence from the NT and earliest churches.

 

[Rebel1]

I’ve tried my best to embrace churches in general but alas, not comfortable with a one of them. Maybe it’s because I don’t see any Holy Spirit moving in them (meaning the ones I have been to) or maybe it’s a church serving it’s own understanding without desipling, I don’t know

I know what you mean.

 

[Darrell C]

If there was no doctrinally baptist church close enough to be faithful in attendance I would start one.

Great statement.


God bless.

 

[Jerome]

Evangelical Free is the only other one I'd consider at this point....so many here are open to the EFC...Must be a common discernment lens we are sharing here!

This was posted over the weekend in another thread:

joined an Evangelical Free Church as a teenager...20 years there...I was in the church every Wednesday, and twice on Sunday, not much church history was taught, so I remained ignorant of any ideas outside of the default Pelagian views of the average congregant and the semi-Pelagian views of the Pastor...Many things about the theology of the EFC bothered me...I was thankful freed

 

[atpollard]

Well, since at one time or another I have attended:
Catholic Charismatic
Church of God (Indiana)
Evangelical Free
Pentecostal
Calvary Chapel
Southern Baptist

... I would probably be hard pressed to find Christians that I could not worship with.

(and I am both a 5 point Calvinist and a Credobaptist in theology).

 

[Joseph shall add]

For he greater masses this kind of question could only be properly answered after a proper pot luck cook off.