Silly "church" rules

[NateT]

Thanks Laurenda,
we sit at the back anyway for that reason. We're usually the second closest people to the back door just so we can take her out if need be.

 

[Jude]

Originally posted by Laurenda:
I don't know if the standards at my church would be considered silly, but I would consider some of them to be rigid....


Men must have a "man's haircut" which means hair must not touch their shirt collar or the tops of their ears. (define "man's haircut. Here I would disqualify)

Ties are always to be worn with dress attire to services and when serving in a ministry. (here I too disqualify...I wear a collar.)


No movies (most aren't worth watching, but this IS narrow)

No dancing (frankly, I don't dance well, but will with my wife or daughters when I feel like it)

No drinking (gave it up a long time ago, but still narrow)

Music to be limitted to traditional christian, and classical. (zzzzzzzzz........)


Attendance to all service. On average there are 4 services a week. In revival weeks, or conferences this number goes up to 6. There are an allowed 3 absenses a year that must be for illness. Church should be notified of all vacations. (is this a Church or a Gulag???)

Mandatory soul winning weekly. (Define soul winning please)

Mandatory service in at least one but encouraged to serve in 3 ministries per person. (Choir, baptistry, usher, nursery, teaching, greeters, hospitatliy, care-group leaders, etc.) (phew, I'm tired!!!!!!!)

Tithing of at least 10% weekly plus special offerings to have children in the Christian school. (Does one have to bring in a pay stub?)

King James Version Bible only. (sorry, don't own one, never will.)

No clapping. Or hand raising. (clapping is allowed when children perform) No speaking in tongues. (emotion is sinful, eh?)

Woman are to be silent in the services. (singing is allowed, but no talking of any kind. (Is this a REAL Church...c'mon this is a joke)

No leaving a service once it's started except in the case of emergency. Once you leave you are not allowed back in. (My goodness, I wouldn't last in this Church for even a week).....

I simply cannot believe that any church has these kinds of rules. This is sad.

 

[Wisdom Seeker]

Originally posted by Jude:
"define "man's haircut."

is this a Church or a Gulag???

Define soul winning please

Does one have to bring in a pay stub?

emotion is sinful, eh?

"Woman are to be silent in the services." Is this a REAL Church...c'mon this is a joke

I simply cannot believe that any church has these kinds of rules.

I already described what is considered a man's haircut.

It's a church.

Soul winning is a Biblical principle. It typically starts with a meeting at the church for a brief time of training and Biblical teaching once a week. (about a half an hour) and then taking tracts into neighborhoods outlined by maps and handing out a tract and an invitation to church at every door on the map. Asking people when they seem open, if they were to die today do they know for sure if they would spend eternity in heaven or hell? and then leading them through the scriptures in the Bible that describe God's promise of salvation. Followed with their prayer for salvation that comes from their own desire and their own words. There are no repeat after me prayers. The whole process typically takes 3 hours once a week.

No.

Our I.F.B. is non-charismatic.

Woman being silent in the church is found in the Bible. Yes this is a real church, and no it's not a joke.

I'm sorry that you "simply can not believe that this church has these kind of rules". I appreciate your sarcasm and that you flippantly disregard my statements as being too sensational to possibly be true. But I am not a liar. Standards like these are very common in I.F.B. churches.

Laurenda

 

[LaRae]

Laurenda,

Is this a "Brethern" Church?


LaRae

 

[Thankful]

I don't think we have any silly church rules.

The pastor does not like the discussion of politics in a church service.

Our rules are love one another, be kind to one another, and praise the Lord. We are a Southern Baptist Church so we do follow their teachings, but we are not required to sign any agreements.

Deacons and Staff are asked to give 10% of their income, but this is on an honor basis.

We usually dress more formally (suits, ties, dresses or dressy pant suits) in the morning service, but evening service is very casual.

We do have choir robes for Choir members.

I love our church, our members, and pastor, and most of all our Lord and Savior.

 

[Thankful]

Opps, I forgot one: no food or drink in the sanctuary.

 

[Wisdom Seeker]

LaRae, No it's an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church. (I'm sorry, I am not familiar with "Bretheren Church")

Betty, we have that rule about food and drink too.

And I left out the one about no chewing gum too.

 

[Gwyneth]

In the church that I attend - the women have to sit on the opposite side of the aisle to the men There is a very small congregation and there are only two of us with husbands, the rest are either widowed or single..... about 12 attend on a regular basis, I don`t much like sitting at the opposite side to my husband.

 

[3AngelsMom]

Laurenda,

I was in an IFB church before. I went to HAC too.

What church do you go to?

5000 members!

Sounds like First Baptist in Hammond.

God Bless

[ February 26, 2003, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: 3AngelsMom ]

 

[donnA]

I guess I feel very fortunate, we don't have any of those rules. We count on people to manage themselves and not have to be told what to do and not do.

 

[3AngelsMom]

I keep trying to think of silly rules we have, but I can't think of any!

I don't know for sure if the deacons HAVE to wear suits, but they usually do.

One of them has slightly long hair so I know that isn't a rule.

There are kids who get to eat in our services (babies and all) so I know that isn't one.

People can ask the pastor questions and comment during the service (women too) by raising their hand.

We have women deacons and elders and in some larger churches women pastors. They are mostly for counselling women though. Last time I went to a church that had a woman pastor, she was an associate pastor and she was never at the pulpit, and all she really did was counsel, and visit people.

There is no dress code, but everyone usually dresses modestly and appropriately. There are a few teenagers who need to get smacked out of their tight pants, but other than that, I have no complaints.

We don't have a nursery, but we have a 'baby cry room' in the back of the sanctuary where mothers can sit in a sound proof room that has an audio feed of the service in there. People with whiney kids are usually polite enough to use it.

We do teach a standard of no jewelry but don't require anyone to adhere to it to get involved. I have seen several Sabbath School teachers who wear small earrings. Some wear wedding rings, some don't.

I really can't think of anything that we have as a RULE that is silly, or that isn't scripturally founded.

hmmmmmm

I'll be thinking.

God Bless

 

[Alcott]

Originally posted by Thankful:
Opps, I forgot one: no food or drink in the sanctuary.

Finally-- here is a 'rule' that my church has and which I agree with! I knew there should be one if I read this thread long enough.

Most of the 'rules' discussed here show nothing but how superficial people-- church people-- are. I'm still expecting poster(s) to justify these dress rules with a statement such as "We should give God our best." Fortunately someone has alrady quoted, man look at outward appearance, God looks on the inside. All these dress and groom rules are for being seen by men (and women)-- or else you don't agree that God sees us all the time. And as for men making so many rigid rules about what women wear, that again is an inside problem for the men involved, not an outside problem for the women.

The KJV-only topic has been mentioned in the middle of all this, and that is another example of the looking at the outside-- it's sound, inflections, phrasing, and familiarity are all churchy, like coats, ties, and mid-length dresses and hose.

As for the dictatorial rules-- no movies, no music except hymns and 'classical', even having to ask what you can buy-- these are just cultic. Is the JW's were to get into the mind of a kid brought up in a church like that, that kid wouldn't be able to see too much difference in the local 'KIngdom Hall' than in his old church.

BTW I agree with the "No food or drink in the sanctuary" rule primarily because of spills, with distractions being a distant second.

 

[Bob Farnaby]

Originally posted by Jeff Weaver:
Wow, I am completely amazed.

I am a PRimitive Baptist, and we have no rules for dress, etc. Ladies wear pants if they want. Men can have their hair a little long - no problem. Lots of us have beards, including me.

If you want to come to meeting and ain't naked, come on.

If you need to get up and stretch, or go to the restroom, go ahead.

If you kids get fussy, take them over to the fellowship hall, come on back when you are ready.

If you are intoxicated, come on in, and as long as you are respectful, that won't be a problem either. We do have a couple of men in the community who are alcoholics who come once in awhile. We are the only church in the community that will even talk to them. We try to get them sober, but that's another thread.

We have one rule, be respectful, other than that, we expect folks know how to dress and behave in church and in the world at large. We make no rules about it. If your church doesn't trust it members to do the right thing, why have them on the books?

Jeff.

Not a Primative .. But this just about sums up our church
Regards
Bob

 

[Thankful]

Originally posted by Gwyneth:
In the church that I attend - the women have to sit on the opposite side of the aisle to the men There is a very small congregation and there are only two of us with husbands, the rest are either widowed or single..... about 12 attend on a regular basis, I don`t much like sitting at the opposite side to my husband.

Gwyneth, that is how my husband announced to the church that he was seriously dating me was to switch from the piano side where he usually sat to the organ side of the church to sit with me.

(The organ side because that is where I sit because I play the organ)

I would not like being separated from my husband either.

 

[donnA]

Some of these are so silly an unbiblical, I'm not sure why anyone would put up with them. I wouldn't be held by unbiblical laws just for church membership in a particular building. Isn't pressing these kinds of laws on peopl unbiblical anyway? And why do they feel as if they have to make laws, can't people take care of themselves?

 

[Wisdom Seeker]

3 Angels Mom, No my church is Lancaster Baptist Church in California. And aside from the way they go about getting people to obey the standards, they are in every other way a very good church.

Katie, you mean they trust you to make your own spiritually lead decisions like an adult? (sarcasm)

As far as I'm concerned... I think I am capable of being trusted to make good godly decisions without contracts, telephone calls, letters, visits...but I've never been given the chance. And that has made me bitter and rebellious...and that is a dangerous place to be. When you make standards something you have to obey, instead of something you want to do...it completly robs a person of the pay off of joy.

Laurenda

 

[Hardsheller]

I am the pastor of our church and I only have one rule.

If you win the lottery - don't give your tithe to the church. Don't want to tear up the fellowship.

Make that check out to me!

 

[Wisdom Seeker]

Gweneth, as I understand it, that is how church used to be...and they were also seperated by a veil? I didn't know that any churches still observed that gender seperation. I hate to go to church without my husband, and I can't help thinking that must be what it feels like. Do little boys sit with their fathers and little girls sit with there mothers too?

In America they used to segregate the races that way in church too.

 

[donnA]

Laurenda

As far as I'm concerned... I think I am capable of being trusted to make good godly decisions without contracts, telephone calls, letters, visits...but I've never been given the chance. And that has made me bitter and rebellious...and that is a dangerous place to be. When you make standards something you have to obey, instead of something you want to do...it completly robs a person of the pay off of joy.

Your right, it must be done out of love for God, not because it's manitory to belong to a church building. If it's forced and hounded, then it isn't love. I'm sure you are capable, thats why you have the Holy Spirit, He enpowers you, and He keeps you in line with the word of God, people can not, as hard as they try take His place. It ought to be out of love, not fear of men.

 

[ONENESS]

Originally posted by 3AngelsMom:
I keep trying to think of silly rules we have, but I can't think of any!

I don't know for sure if the deacons HAVE to wear suits, but they usually do.

One of them has slightly long hair so I know that isn't a rule.

There are kids who get to eat in our services (babies and all) so I know that isn't one.

People can ask the pastor questions and comment during the service (women too) by raising their hand.

We have women deacons and elders and in some larger churches women pastors. They are mostly for counselling women though. Last time I went to a church that had a woman pastor, she was an associate pastor and she was never at the pulpit, and all she really did was counsel, and visit people.

There is no dress code, but everyone usually dresses modestly and appropriately. There are a few teenagers who need to get smacked out of their tight pants, but other than that, I have no complaints.

We don't have a nursery, but we have a 'baby cry room' in the back of the sanctuary where mothers can sit in a sound proof room that has an audio feed of the service in there. People with whiney kids are usually polite enough to use it.

We do teach a standard of no jewelry but don't require anyone to adhere to it to get involved. I have seen several Sabbath School teachers who wear small earrings. Some wear wedding rings, some don't.

I really can't think of anything that we have as a RULE that is silly, or that isn't scripturally founded.

hmmmmmm

I'll be thinking.

God Bless

Where do you go to church? I have always wanted to raise my hand and ask questions...LOL