going to a new church

NewCreation435

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On another thread I mentioned that our church didn't have services on New Years weekend because the pastor and leadership wanted to give the volunteers a chance to spend time with their families. I objected to this and sent a message to the pastor letting him know my feelings. They didn't have services and the pastor was unapologetic about this saying they have been doing it for ten years now.

So, I had convinced myself to keep going anyway. I turned the online services on at 10 am this morning and the first song the praise team does to start the new year is a secular song. After watching for 20 seconds I decided I probably was right to look somewhere else to go to church. Secular music in a worship service? How is that Christ centered?

So, I am not sure where to go. I went to a large Baptist church this morning. What type of church do you think I should try? Some of my doctrinal beliefs
I don't believe in infant baptism.
I believe the Lord's Supper is done in remembrance of Christ and his death on the cross
I believe that while being born again is an event it is also a process. We are called to walk in Christlikeness and that means surrendering our will to HIs daily
I would like to do communion at least monthly if not weekly
I like a service with a strong biblical sermon

I grew up Methodist, but also spent the last 33 years as Baptist
 

tango

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My first question would be whether the beliefs you have listed are all important enough to be showstoppers if a church were to do them. Would you refuse to attend a church if they baptised infants, for example?

My previous church did communion once a month. My current church does communion twice a year. I'd like to do communion more regularly but my current church makes much more of an event out of communion, such that it wouldn't really work to do it every week. If communion at least monthly were of particular importance to me I wouldn't be attending my current church, which would mean I'd miss out on its good points.

Hard to know what to suggest without knowing what's available in your area and how they work. I would suggest staying well away from anything even remotely associated with the New Apostolic Reformation because the chances are sooner or later you'll come across some really bizarre theology.
 

NewCreation435

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My first question would be whether the beliefs you have listed are all important enough to be showstoppers if a church were to do them. Would you refuse to attend a church if they baptised infants, for example?

My previous church did communion once a month. My current church does communion twice a year. I'd like to do communion more regularly but my current church makes much more of an event out of communion, such that it wouldn't really work to do it every week. If communion at least monthly were of particular importance to me I wouldn't be attending my current church, which would mean I'd miss out on its good points.

Hard to know what to suggest without knowing what's available in your area and how they work. I would suggest staying well away from anything even remotely associated with the New Apostolic Reformation because the chances are sooner or later you'll come across some really bizarre theology.

Infant baptism would be a no go for me. I don't believe in it and wouldn't support it. How often communion occurs is a preference and not something that would make the decision for me. The church I visited today is very large and I feel a little lost in it, but doctrinally it is solid. It is Southern Baptist. As far as in my area, there is several large communities within easy driving distance of me so there are literally hundreds of churches in this area of all sorts of varieties
 

Albion

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Hi, jsimms.

I would say that, judging by your list, the "right" church for you would be a Church of Christ congregation or, perhaps, a congregation of their more ecumenical and liberal cousins, the Disciples of Christ. I really doubt that any other denomination (or even the typical non-denominational congregation) would come closer.
 

NewCreation435

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Hi, jsimms.

I would say that, judging by your list, the "right" church for you would be a Church of Christ congregation or, perhaps, a congregation of their more ecumenical and liberal cousins, the Disciples of Christ. I really doubt that any other denomination (or even the typical non-denominational congregation) would come closer.

Okay, I'll look them up and see if there is one close by
 

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On another thread I mentioned that our church didn't have services on New Years weekend because the pastor and leadership wanted to give the volunteers a chance to spend time with their families. I objected to this and sent a message to the pastor letting him know my feelings. They didn't have services and the pastor was unapologetic about this saying they have been doing it for ten years now.

So, I had convinced myself to keep going anyway. I turned the online services on at 10 am this morning and the first song the praise team does to start the new year is a secular song. After watching for 20 seconds I decided I probably was right to look somewhere else to go to church. Secular music in a worship service? How is that Christ centered?

So, I am not sure where to go. I went to a large Baptist church this morning. What type of church do you think I should try? Some of my doctrinal beliefs
I don't believe in infant baptism.
I believe the Lord's Supper is done in remembrance of Christ and his death on the cross
I believe that while being born again is an event it is also a process. We are called to walk in Christlikeness and that means surrendering our will to HIs daily
I would like to do communion at least monthly if not weekly
I like a service with a strong biblical sermon

I grew up Methodist, but also spent the last 33 years as Baptist
So now I’m curious as to what song they were playing :confused2:
 

faramir.pete

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Shakes his head sadly,

JS I think you really need to examine your motives here, you have been upset by your last church when they refuse to change their plans for worship service at New Year, and because the worship group play a secular song. Then you set out your beliefs and ask for help to find a new church.

All churches wherever you go will disappoint you, some will preach wrong, some will play the wrong music, others will support women priests, others will support gay marriage and any number of other issues. So why exactly are you swapping one disappointing church for another? If you follow your obviously intelligent line of thought to it's obvious conclusion- all churches will disappoint and they only solution is to give up attending church and seek God's guidance for how He wants you to be His follower.


Pete from Peterborough UK
 

NewCreation435

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Shakes his head sadly,

JS I think you really need to examine your motives here, you have been upset by your last church when they refuse to change their plans for worship service at New Year, and because the worship group play a secular song. Then you set out your beliefs and ask for help to find a new church.

All churches wherever you go will disappoint you, some will preach wrong, some will play the wrong music, others will support women priests, others will support gay marriage and any number of other issues. So why exactly are you swapping one disappointing church for another? If you follow your obviously intelligent line of thought to it's obvious conclusion- all churches will disappoint and they only solution is to give up attending church and seek God's guidance for how He wants you to be His follower.


Pete from Peterborough UK

I guess you don't know me if you think I haven't done some soul searching about this and considered my motives. I have. The sad thing is that this kind of garbage happens in the church and nobody says anything like it is okay.
 

faramir.pete

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I guess you don't know me if you think I haven't done some soul searching about this and considered my motives. I have. The sad thing is that this kind of garbage happens in the church and nobody says anything like it is okay.

You are right, I do not know you, but if you believe moving to another church for the reasons you quote will resolve your issues, then you will be disappointed again and again.

You do not need a different church, you need to listen to God's will for your life. That may mean staying in your existing church and finding a way to forgive them for not doing as you expect, or it may mean moving or it may mean many other things. But be sure that your reason for whatever you do is that you are following His guidance not mine nor any other human, except Jesus!


Pete from Peterborough UK
 

Imalive

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Look on internet. I searched for a church a while. I google on prayer. If they're too lazy to get the lost in and pray, don't bother going.
I found one here btw when I googled prayer. A mosque.
My goodness.
 

Albion

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You are right, I do not know you, but if you believe moving to another church for the reasons you quote will resolve your issues, then you will be disappointed again and again.
I cannot agree with that. It COULD BE that a seeker could move and then be disappointed again, but there are plenty of people in JSimms' situation who do look around, find another church...are quite satisfied and stay for decades if not forever.

I've seen it many times myself and, interestingly enough, I thought what you did in the case of many of these people only to be proven wrong. Plus, there's the question of what the person is looking for. If it's something that almost every church is going to have (some quarrelsome members or financial needs, for example), then the new church might not work out well, but OTOH, if it's something else--the result has every possibility of being different. If the list of doctrines that JSimms posted s important to him in addition to the other issues already mentioned, the church he has been attending is not as good a fit as some he could choose instead.
 

Imalive

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On another thread I mentioned that our church didn't have services on New Years weekend because the pastor and leadership wanted to give the volunteers a chance to spend time with their families. I objected to this and sent a message to the pastor letting him know my feelings. They didn't have services and the pastor was unapologetic about this saying they have been doing it for ten years now.

So, I had convinced myself to keep going anyway. I turned the online services on at 10 am this morning and the first song the praise team does to start the new year is a secular song. After watching for 20 seconds I decided I probably was right to look somewhere else to go to church. Secular music in a worship service? How is that Christ centered?

So, I am not sure where to go. I went to a large Baptist church this morning. What type of church do you think I should try? Some of my doctrinal beliefs
I don't believe in infant baptism.
I believe the Lord's Supper is done in remembrance of Christ and his death on the cross
I believe that while being born again is an event it is also a process. We are called to walk in Christlikeness and that means surrendering our will to HIs daily
I would like to do communion at least monthly if not weekly
I like a service with a strong biblical sermon

I grew up Methodist, but also spent the last 33 years as Baptist

There are such fabulous churches in America. You should be able to find one. Bethany prayer center from Joel Stockstill was good. Theres one from the Smithton revival.
 

tango

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Infant baptism would be a no go for me. I don't believe in it and wouldn't support it. How often communion occurs is a preference and not something that would make the decision for me. The church I visited today is very large and I feel a little lost in it, but doctrinally it is solid. It is Southern Baptist. As far as in my area, there is several large communities within easy driving distance of me so there are literally hundreds of churches in this area of all sorts of varieties

For me the so-called megachurches would be a non starter, simply because I don't really want to be a tiny part of a church where there's a good chance you could slip out completely and nobody would notice. I don't need to be important in the church, I just don't see how there can be a solid community if the church is so large people are largely anonymous.

I still remember a friend attending a big church, run by an internationally published pastor, who ran himself ragged doing stuff for the pastor and his family. If the pastor needed a ride somewhere, my friend was there. Trips to the airport at funny hours of the day and night - no problem. Someone to cover the graveyard shift when the pastor decided to host round-the-clock prayer - no problem (even if he'd routinely arrive to a dark church because the previous person didn't actually show up). When he needed something in return the silence was deafening - when he was away from church for three weeks because he was sick it appeared nobody even noticed - certainly nobody checked up on him. Then I think of my former church and my current church where it's remarkable how many needs are met within the congregation - whether it be help with heating bills, trips to the airport, help moving stuff, it gets covered.
 

NewCreation435

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Look on internet. I searched for a church a while. I google on prayer. If they're too lazy to get the lost in and pray, don't bother going.
I found one here btw when I googled prayer. A mosque.
My goodness.

Yes, I have looked around. There is one pastor nearby who preaches very well but the church is huge and when I have gone there I felt really lost. I guess I need to lower my standards
 

NewCreation435

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Seriously? Not only a terrible song in general lol.... but not having found what you are looking for describes the lost.


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I know. As we were leaving one week I heard them playing a Michael Jackson song. I asked them why they were playing music by a child predator and drug abuser. I never heard a reply

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I know. As we were leaving one week I heard them playing a Michael Jackson song. I asked them why they were playing music by a child predator and drug abuser. I never heard a reply

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Well im sorry to hear about your church. Let me guess the MJ song tho, "man in the mirror"?

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