I’m shopping for a new church, or perhaps, the right word is “sect”.
I’m looking for something non-liturgical, fairly liberal, not overly evangelical, and likely to use modern gospel and praise music.
Liturgies always seemed just too canned, especially the statement/response section. This is a leftover from my Episcopal upbringing, I figure. A priest saying “Lift up your hearts.” and a couple hundred people mumble incoherently, “We lift them up unto the Lord”. It sounds like some sort of half-hearted incantation. Just too much formula. It does my heart little good to know that around the country today, all these same congregations are mumbling and listening to the same words.
Liberal: By this, I mean not directly “Gays are evil.”, “Democrats are evil”, “Dancing is evil.”, “Card Playing is evil”, “Drinking is evil”, etc. Just none of that or as little of that as possible.
Evangelism: I recognize the Great Commission. I also know that I’m private with my faith and don’t feel comfortable either frequently sharing it or trying to convince others that their beliefs are wrong. I’m almost Unitarian in my beliefs somedays.
Music: Maybe my dislike of the moldy-oldy episcopal church again. “Onward Christian Soldiers” sung simultaneously in 3 keys also leaves me flat. Church should be about life and should, IMO, be lively.
FWIW, I live in north-central Denver if any of you are local but mostly I’m hoping for “Check out the XXXX group in your area” recommendations.
The United Church of Christ is a pretty liberal sect of Christianity. I was raised in a UCC congregation and even though I am no longer practicing, I found them to be a tolerant and welcoming community. My youth group advisor was an openly gay female who was welcomed very warmly into our church. We also had a very diverse congregation that included numerous mixed-religion marriages.
I particularly enjoyed the community action that the congregation participates in. Even though I no longer attend services, I will still help with community service activities when I am home. Naturally, YMMV but it is definitely worth checking out. Good luck in your search.
If I were you, I’d try some “community” churches. Now, some community churches are in fact members of particular denominations, but others aren’t, and are therefore reasonably likely to not use a lot of liturgy. I’d also look for churches which have “contemporary” or “Praise and Worship” services rather than “Traditional”. “Blended” usually means some praise choruses and some hymns, not neccessarily some of each every Sunday, but some of each over time. And, when I went to church, I’d dress casually.
No ideas on any particular sects which might give you what you want, not least because what you want in a church doesn’t have much in common with what I want in a church.
You might look into the American Baptist denomination. The American Baptists tend to be much more theologically liberal than Southern Baptists. You can find a list of AB-affiliated churches in your area here.
I used to attend a wonderful American Baptist church that sounds like exactly what you’re looking for. It’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma, though, and that’s quite a drive from Denver.
I was a UCC member for well over a decade. The only downside is their stubborn independence.
Around here you can find UCC congregations with services so traditional they make Episcopalians look like anarchists. Every single member of the congregation might be a member of the Green Party (or the Communist Workers), but on Sunday they put on suits and dresses and refuse to sing any hymn written after 1810.
In fact, we had one elderly member who dated back to the old Congregational Church days who became dissatisfed with what she felt was the increasing trendiness of the worship service. She eventually found a Unitarian congregation with an even more traditional service. :eek:
There are a number of sites that claim to identify your religion based on your beliefs.
Here is one of them:
I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a good one around somewhere. How’s your google fu? (I didn’t try the one above, it’s just the first one I found with a quick google search).
My dad is a UCC minister and I would recommend them based on what you posted, but it’s true what others are saying in terms of the old fashionedness of the service sometimes what with that musty old Pilgrim Hymnal and all. However, because they are Congregationalists, with the emphasis on congregation, you may find one that suits.
I went back to my old church (evangelical covenant) for the first time in perhaps 2.5 years. The Covenant is actually very close to what I’m looking for except for thier near rabid evangelical bent and tendency toward public prayer. As I said before, I’m private in my faith and don’t feel very comfortable sharing.
I told somebody once that some churches seem to argue over the temperature of the flames in hell and other fine points of dogma. The covenant is pretty good about limiting the dogma and tries to get everybody to agree that “heaven is a good place and hell is someplace that you don’t want to be.” Whether heaven literally has physical buildings and streets of gold is left to the believer. The church, AFAIK, doesn’t have an official position on it.
Saw some familiar faces and got a few hugs in welcome. A number of missing faces - especially among the former members that we hung out with. I don’t know if there were at a different service, a different church, or just not there that day. The congregation also seems grayer - again rapidly.
Funny, the reason for going back to church is related to my impending divorce. I guess I’m looking for that grounding feeling that faith can bring me. The first message/sermon I hear in 2.5 years? “Get a Grip on your Marriage”. Ah, the irony.
The church building is almost 15 miles from my current apartment - not sure I’m going to keep attending there. It’s pretty far to be going twice a week (if I rejoin choir or other Wednesday-night groups)
I looked into a UCC congregation but there’s very few in Denver and what there are seem very small. The UCC website lists churches and official membership and average attendance. Very small congregations seem typical. I guess I’m looking for a slightly larger church - one where, if I blow off a Sunday, everybody won’t look around and say, “Where’s Belrix?”
The online survey thingee online suggests a “liberal quaker” congregation. Funny, my favorite girlfriend attends a Friends congregation.
Someone who was giving a lecture on how to find the perfect church home, once told me that you should pick a church that “majors on the majors, and doesn’t major on the minors”.
You know, you might consider talking to the minister of the church you used to go to, or maybe the church secretary or someone. Mention that you mostly like this church, except for the rabid evangelism and the public prayer stuff and you’d be interested if they have any suggestions for congregations like that. Clergy often communicate with each other. Or if they know where some of the missing faces have gone–I’m thinking generally, not naming names. (I know my parents’ church has lost a number of people to two or three specific churches in their area, plus smaller numbers to many others.) And hey, if your favorite girlfriend has a church home, and you are curious about the congregation, you could do worse than ask to tag along one Sunday.
Belrix, I live in Denver right near church row (14th between Sherman and Colorado). There are at least 15 churches all within this stretch of 14th (or a block off to one side or the other). Off the top of my head, there’s a Christian Science church, a Baptist church, an Episcopal church, a Methodist church, and a UCC church all just between Sherman and Josephine. There’s also a synagogue, a cathedral, and another Episcopal church all right around Colfax-16th-Grant-Washington. There’s also some sort of Eastern European Orthodox church on Ogden between 11th and 12th. If you’re church shopping, why not check a few of these places out? I attended a UCC church (in California) for a while in junior high and high school, and it was the most un-dogmatic church I could imagine, though the Unitarians would probably give them a run for their money.