IMADreamer wrote:As I said earlier, going to my Church for me is at worst a nice relaxing hour with some pretty music. I just feel like other people get much more out of church and I'd like that, but maybe I want to much.
Doesn't sound all that bad, but have you tried getting involved? Like, as an usher, lector or eucharistic minister? Or maybe just volunteering on one of the committees?
Your situation reminds me of the saying, "You only get out what you put in." Perhaps putting a little more of yourself in will make it more enjoyable.
Our church is medium-sized, but is based on the whole Rick Warren purpose-driven church concept. It aspires to be a megachurch, but isn't there yet.
Coming from an extremely stuffy Catholic church, the casual atmosphere was like a breath of fresh air. I'll take a coffee shop atmosphere over a funeral parlor any day. What kept me going back was the pastor is a very good speaker, and they talk about things that I feel I can apply or use on a daily or weekly basis. Or they give me a different way of looking at a situation or problem. They also do a lot of good things for the community, a lot more than my old Catholic church. They own a property outside of town we can fish and camp at with their permission. They hope to build a big new building there someday. If they do, that's when we'll know it has finally arrived as a megachurch (and may be time for us to find a new one).
They are very careful not to really even touch politics during the service. However, politics is always right there under the surface of everything. I friended a few people there on Facebook and had to unsubscribe from their feed because all of them were just a constant stream of far-right propaganda and memes...Worse is that the pastor also does this on his Facebook feed. The pastor has also been interviewed on TV at political rallies. He was on TV during an Obamacare protest. He says he was protesting because of its potential negative impact to churches (forcing them to provide insurance to employees). He said on TV that government is "hostile" to religion and people need to "wake up".
There are a couple other things that I find more weird than anything. One is that they go out of their way to portray Christians as victims. The pamphlet every week highlights some incident in some foreign country where Christians are being killed or persecuted because of their religion (you know, because the Godless U.S. media refuses to report this stuff). Also, about twice a year, they teach a "class" on creationism and why evolution is a lie. Hopefully none of them catch any of these illnesses that have evolved to be resistant to antibiotics.
My enthusiasm for the church isn't what it used to be, and with the twins now we just haven't been able to go as often. I still continue to support the church for the good things it does for the community. There is no such thing as a "perfect" church out there. So, I'm doing my best to tolerate the things I dislike so that I can still get the good things out of it.
IMADreamer wrote:I think I am tied so much to the Catholic Church because of family tradition. Don't get me wrong my parents don't go there because of tradition, they go there because they believe it. I think I largely go for tradition though. It's nice to go, all my family is there, and I mean all of them, we easily turn out 20 family members on a good weekend, then after church we all have dinner together. It's nice, it's especially been nice since both of my Grandparents passed last year because I was afraid maybe the family would drift apart but I think everyone has really rallied around the church/dinner thing because no one is going to let the family drift apart. I also get to keep up with Nicole's family by going there.
As I said earlier, going to my Church for me is at worst a nice relaxing hour with some pretty music. I just feel like other people get much more out of church and I'd like that, but maybe I want to much.
There are worse reasons to go to church than that, but if you do want more out of it, you shouldn't hesitate to look around and see if you can find it.
I agree with this. I was raised in a certain denomination that is very popular. I didn't know what I was doing there, and I mostly did things because it was expected. Most of the Bible study was on the popular stories of the Bible not real teaching. As I got into my later teens, I drifted away.
As an adult, I started to attend the church my wife grew up in. Now, I go to church because the Bible says to. I go to church to praise God. I go to church to learn more about what God wants from me as a Christian, to get closer to Him. I go church for personal edification. I go to church because being around my brothers and sisters in Christ makes me a better person. I go to church because we believe that the Bible is the truth and inspired by God. I go to church because I want my children to learn to rely on the Bible and not man. I go to church to take communion each week. I go to church to sing songs of praise. I go to church to learn more about the Bible.
There are more reasons I go, and I don't think individuals need just one reason. I can't imagine that I'd ever go to another church simply because our church will not veer towards the progressive route any time soon. But what is taught regarding everything, more than anything else, is why I go.
IMADreamer wrote:As I said earlier, going to my Church for me is at worst a nice relaxing hour with some pretty music. I just feel like other people get much more out of church and I'd like that, but maybe I want to much.
Doesn't sound all that bad, but have you tried getting involved? Like, as an usher, lector or eucharistic minister? Or maybe just volunteering on one of the committees?
Your situation reminds me of the saying, "You only get out what you put in." Perhaps putting a little more of yourself in will make it more enjoyable.
I am involved to a certain extent. You certainly make a good point. I am an usher, and I also am on the cemetery board. We are a smaller Parish so there isn't a whole lot more. I'd kind of like to get involved in the church softball team but all the games are in the fall which doesn't work out for me helping Dad out on the farm. I should look into more things though.
The thing I really want is this passion that I see others have. This guy I used to work with kind of went to a nutty church, speaking in tongues and all, but damn he was passionate about God and church. I was always a bit jealous of that. When he talked about God he got excited like I do when I'm about to race my car. That would be so awesome, but I just can't find that in me for some reason. Admittedly I've struggled greatly with the whole idea of God the last few years. So I suppose that is part of the problem.
The thing I really want is this passion that I see others have. This guy I used to work with kind of went to a nutty church, speaking in tongues and all, but damn he was passionate about God and church. I was always a bit jealous of that. When he talked about God he got excited like I do when I'm about to race my car. That would be so awesome, but I just can't find that in me for some reason. Admittedly I've struggled greatly with the whole idea of God the last few years. So I suppose that is part of the problem.
I wish you peace. I don't wish you the zealot's passion.
The thing I really want is this passion that I see others have. This guy I used to work with kind of went to a nutty church, speaking in tongues and all, but damn he was passionate about God and church. I was always a bit jealous of that. When he talked about God he got excited like I do when I'm about to race my car. That would be so awesome, but I just can't find that in me for some reason. Admittedly I've struggled greatly with the whole idea of God the last few years. So I suppose that is part of the problem.
I wish you peace. I don't wish you the zealot's passion.
Well I don't want to be radicalized by any stretch. There are things Christianity and I will never agree upon such as gay marriage, but I'm ok with that.
The thing I really want is this passion that I see others have. This guy I used to work with kind of went to a nutty church, speaking in tongues and all, but damn he was passionate about God and church. I was always a bit jealous of that. When he talked about God he got excited like I do when I'm about to race my car. That would be so awesome, but I just can't find that in me for some reason. Admittedly I've struggled greatly with the whole idea of God the last few years. So I suppose that is part of the problem.
I wish you peace. I don't wish you the zealot's passion.
Well I don't want to be radicalized by any stretch. There are things Christianity and I will never agree upon such as gay marriage, but I'm ok with that.
Anyway, thanks.
If there's an ELCA or Episcopal church near you, you might try it out. Both tend to be more progressive on social issues (although that may vary church to church), and you'd probably find the liturgy pretty easy to adapt to. I grew up ELCA, and I've had little trouble following the proceedings at either my friends' Episcopal church or my grandma's Catholic one.
pioneer98 wrote: It aspires to be a megachurch, but isn't there yet.
this sort of ambition in a church is puzzling to me. sort of.
Well, they don't come right out and say they want to be a megachurch. But they are trying hard to grow it...and have successfully done that. It's getting crowded.
I could be off base on that, too. They have started 2 satellite churches on the outskirts of the metro area recently. So maybe they do actually prefer 3 small/medium sized churches as opposed to 1 giant one. I don't know. I just know they base the church on Rick Warren's ideas, who runs the biggest megachurch out there, and they plan to keep expanding.
