It’s hard to tell as there are so many sub-fractions of each, both with varying degrees of 'fervent’ness. Why not try a few and see which one you feel comfortable going back to?
For me, and those who know me know that it is the supernatural aspects of knowing God that I desire while getting rid of hard and fast rules such as the 10 commandments, so sort of a opposite approach then you, it is mainly the people and the music that I would be looking for in a church. I don’t like traditional hymns as sung in church, and have found that contemporary Christian music, like you may find in some churches, a lot more to my liking. I also have very little purposed for listening to a pastor speak unchallenged, so for me if I were looking I would try to find something where the music is live, there is a social aspect, and the pastor involved the congregation (people don’t just sit and listen but interact and help guide the sermon), or has a short sermon, or easy of leaving the pastor’s part of the service, or the pastor has many interesting guests that makes one want to stay.
It seems like the social aspect is high on your list too, so by trying a few you may find one to your liking that maximizes the things you desire and minimizes the negatives.
Interesting. The friends (heh) I have who are Quakers go to very traditional type meetings of the “sit in silence, speak if you want, then leave” variety. Ok I just read that like 90% of Quaker services are “programmed” like yours. Seems very unquakerish to have a pastor raised above the congregation, but what the hell do I know?
By ferverent, I took the op to mean the exuberance/loudness/everyone else is wrong and going to hell qualities, not the sincerity, of the practice.
Quaker “church” != Quaker Meeting. Services that are “not much difference in worship services from the Methodist church” are a (relatively) modern phenomenon with little historical precedence. I don’t think that’s what the previous poster was referring to. And Faith and Practices (plural, often one for each yearly meeting) for Quaker Meetings are “written record of the collective sense of the Spirit” and procedural recommendations, not formal, written doctrines.
Depends where you are. Many of the middle American Quaker meetings are very similar to other Prostestant churches, with programmed meetings instead of silent meditation. But they’re still Quakers, fervency isn’t a big part of the religion.
Good advice, but the fire department are paid professionals and I don’t know where Grange meetings are. I’ll look around. You’ve reminded me that there are other civic organizations like Kiwanis and the Lions Club. Groups that I’ve never paid any heed to before.
Many of those congregatons have services/programs outside of the main Mass/service. For example, young adult programs, community service, religious studies, etc. Perhaps if you could find and attend a couple of their adult programs/services, you could check and participate in some of the social aspects without fully committing or attending the main, formal service (which may be too boring for your taste).
This suggests to me that a lot of your new neighbors may be choosing a congregation for social/community rather than doctrinal reasons.
As previous posters have suggested, spend your Sundays trying out various churches. Keep notes – did you like the music? the preaching? were the attendees friendly towards a stranger? what sort of events are on the monthly calendar?
With dozens to choose from, there’s bound to be one you’ll find congenial.
Eh, for at least Adventists and Pentecostals, the services are Fridays and/or Saturdays. For sure Adventists have their main services on Saturdays. I know Pentecostals who have regular, main-type services Saturday evenings too (possibly Fridays). And according to a friend, Adventists can start their “main services” Friday evenings.
I have a friend who participates in the adult social programs of his Lutheran church (I think it is ELCA). They have something called Theological Brew, where they go to a fancy bar and drink alcohol (and I guess discuss something about religion?). That seems interest, if I were more of a beer person/had more money.
In my experience, although individual churches will vary widely UCC (United Church of Christ) has been very low-key. Church of Christ is the opposite, however. So if it’s United Church of Christ, try it. Plain Church of Christ, not a great bet.
Also, about three quarters of the Methodist churches I’ve visited have fit this bill. The other quarter wasn’t offensive, just more fervent than I prefer.
Episcopalians and Quakers are also good to consider. Unitarian Universalist, if there is a congregation in your area.
From your list, I would avoid Seventh Day Adventist, Assemby of God, Baptist, and Pentecostal. The individual churches in your area may be exceptions, but these tend to be more fervent.
Of course, it all depends. I attend a very low-key church where most people have pretty progressive opinions on theology (no hell, evolution is a given) and on social issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc). It also happens to be Catholic.
Some good friends of mine attend a Methodist church. They’ve explained to me that, even within the Methodist denomination, there can be a pretty wide variation, between more liberal congregations (female ministers, accepting of homosexuals, etc.), and substantially more conservative ones (particularly in the American South, where they tend to look a fair amount more like Baptists).
No idea if this is a commonly-held belief, but my friends suspect that the division between those groups within the denomination may eventually lead to a schism.
There are also animal-related groups, sports and outdoors clubs, food banks, literacy tutoring, and book clubs. If you are more looking for people to go out and do stuff with then this might be more up your alley.
I have actually found that church bulletins are a good source of “news about town” for these sorts of groups – lots of churches make courtesy posts for local (non-church) organizations, and these days you can often find church bulletins online.
Many mainline churches are the product of mergers of sub-denominations, mostly within the last fifty or so years. The merger constituents were often the result of previous splits dating back up to two hundred years. Any split would likely merely restore a previous state, just as the mergers were supposed to restore the original state.
(The history of the Methodist Church in America in particular makes the Wars of the Roses genealogies look like a simple bullet list.)
The upside is that: whatever you believe (and/or don’t believe) will be some church’s official teaching …
Bumping to show the downside of the Lutheran party culture: Drunken ELCA bishop behind the wheel allegedly strikes and kills a mother of three, then flees the scene.