Torn between two churches

[paradox3]

Not sure what to do. I have been involved with four United Church congregations in Scarborough since finding my way back to church in my late thirties.

One of them is closed now and one is not being considered by me.

That leaves two. I never cottoned onto church by Zoom and I haven't been in church much at all since early 2020.

Church A
Was very involved here for about seven years. Decided I needed a break and drifted away into an agnostic phase. I was heavily into the original WC at the time and thought I might be done with church altogether.

My membership is still here. I attended for Advent and Christmas and was welcomed back like one of the family. The people are great.

There is a new minister who is rather evangelical leaning. I think he is connected with Cruxifusion but I haven't asked him yet. He is a dynamic preacher who has said a couple of things I disagree with. I think that's okay.

Church B
Was involved here for a few years before the pandemic and I still support it financially. Masking is mandatory right now except for the choir who are required to rapid test for Covid every week. I find this off-putting.

It's a shorter service which I like. A little more conveniently located. Another nice group of people. I lost both of my parents during my tenure here which is a strong connection to the place.

It is a tad too progressive leaning to suit me. I like the minister and she seldom says anything I disagree with. The problem is she doesn't give me much to grapple with either.

Any thoughts? It's quite a dilemma for me. For meaningful bible study I come to WC2. I am wondering if I should just toss a coin. A decision needs to be made..

 

[Luce NDs]

Duo in sparing as divined? Leads to divides and vales ... even churches in the wild woods ... Black Forest?

There be hams ... and much more ...

 

[paradox3]

Duo in sparing as divined? Leads to divides and vales ... even churches in the wild woods ... Black Forest?

There be hams ... and much more ...

Duo inspiring? That would be a yes.

I was playing Blokus Duo yesterday. It's pretty fun.

 

[Luce NDs]

Duo inspiring? That would be a yes.

I was playing Blokus Duo yesterday. It's pretty fun.

Like separating emotions and intellect ... if you don't know of the skewage ... would it be Beta? Leads to the taming ... and domestication of the dominant mistress ... high tales???? Few can accept it ... imagine broken Bloks other than in Andy Capp!

A spin of android misfire ... thus another run ...

 

[jimkenney12]

Why the need to choose one? When I was doing transition ministry in Calgary, there was a very interesting gentleman who attended several churches regularly including the one I was serving. His wife sang in the choir at another church thar was on the other side of Calgary. When you want some meat to chew on, go to the more Evangelical church. You might also have a short conversation with the female minister about putting some chewy material in her messages, stuff that had no answer or at least no easy answer. Aha! Magazine edited by Ralph Milton had a story that continues to stay on the edge of my mind. The reading one Sunday wax about the sacrifice of isaac. The minister asked if anyone wanted to comment on the reading. A man stood up and said it was about a god who gave everything and demanded everything. He went on to say he had not heard anything in that church about such a god and left. Some people want church to be a nice, quiet, safe place to be refreshed. Some people need a church that wrestles with the real world and faith.

 

[Mystic]

Occasionally, someone in my UMC church would be about to move to the west coast. They would ask me, "Could you recommend a good UMC church in the Seattle-Tacoma area. My recommendations include these 3 points:
(1) Most denominations feature churches that are spiritually vibrant and churches that are dead.
Finding a spiritually nourishing church is like finding a spouse in this sense: the right church will feel like it chooses you as much as like you choose it.
That's because God is nudging you to the right church where you can flourish spiritually.
So I'd recommend setting aside a few months to expand your horizons beyond your specific denomination and become a "church hopper" in search of a place where you feel romanced and chosen by God.

(2) Seek out a preacher who strikes you as anointed by the Holy Spirit, that is, a preacher through whom God speaks to you and challenges you, not a preacher who just reinforces what you always believed. The right preacher takes risks in an effort to take you to new place spiritually and the right type of risk-taking preacher will make some remarks that you diasgree with. But that's a plus because of the greater likelihood that you'll listen with a heart more fully engaged in the quest for what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear.

(3) Seek out a church with members who are excited about what God is doing in their lives and who often testify to answered prayer. No one can be shamed into a life of more prayer. Rather, a prayful spirit seeps into the heart by osmosis as the power of prayer radiates from members' testimonies.

 

[paradox3]

Thanks @jimkenney12 and @Mystic for giving me a few things to mull over.

I don't see myself looking outside this denomination. There is much I love about the United Church & leaving would feel like leaving my family.

 

[PilgrimsProgress]

I've belonged to three Uniting Church of Australia congregations. They've all contributed to my spiritual growth, but, the one I now attend regularly, like Goldilock's porridge, "is just right".

I like the minister and I like the church congregation, the connection is simply there - it's my church family.


if the connection isn't strong, maybe your search is still ongoing?

 

[Luce NDs]

I was condemned for my ongoing search for the improbable (quantum field) by those that wouldn't assume the dark eternal step into the midnight of sol ... there seems to be mores tu ide! The alternate being fixed and set in place ... can't see beyond that?

Then there is the slip ... and there they were ... gone ... out age? Beyond most as outlanders ...

 

[paradox3]

Thanks @PilgrimsProgress for jumping in with your helpful comments.

Different congratulations have felt just right for me in different phases of my life. The presence of a Sunday School and later a Youth Group were important factors in those days.

Yes I guess all the churches I have attended have contributed to spiritual growth on my part. The journey has not been straightforward or linear in any way. It involves both the head and the heart, that's for sure.

Lots to think about!

 

[paradox3]

Hi All,
I went to church A today and found it very satisfying. I think I was inspired by @jimkenney12 's idea about going for the chewy stuff.

 

[PilgrimsProgress]

Thanks @PilgrimsProgress for jumping in with your helpful comments.

Different congratulations have felt just right for me in different phases of my life. The presence of a Sunday School and later a Youth Group were important factors in those days.

Yes I guess all the churches I have attended have contributed to spiritual growth on my part. The journey has not been straightforward or linear in any way. It involves both the head and the heart, that's for sure.

Lots to think about!

Um, I'm guessing you mean congregations? Try zeroing in on the Sunday School and Youth Group experiences for a clue - what did they have in common for you?

 

[Mendalla]

It is good that you have a choice. With only one UU fellowship in a reasonable range of my house (the next nearest is Sarnia, about an hour away), I don't have much choice in my preferred tradition. The local fellowship isn't floating my boat, though I do read the newsletter to keep up with what is happening. For UCCan, if I choose to go that route, there's plenty of options. Several of the local UCCan congregations are sufficiently liberal/progressive that I can attend with rolling my eyes (too often).

 

[paradox3]

Um, I'm guessing you mean congregations? Try zeroing in on the Sunday School and Youth Group experiences for a clue - what did they have in common for you

Sunday School and Youth Group meant being in the right place for my children as they were growing up.

I switched congregations when I was looking for a youth group for my oldest daughter. She had aged out of Sunday school in our previous church and there were no options for youth

 

[Nancy]

Timely discussion for me...as I am considering a move away from my current church family. I like the idea of 'chewy sermons', but I will also look for a feeling that the spiritual is important, but also some best-practices and procedures are of value in maintaining a healthy church. It breaks my heart to think about leaving the choir I sing in and the people I worship with.

 

[PilgrimsProgress]

Sunday School and Youth Group meant being in the right place for my children as they were growing up.

I switched congregations when I was looking for a youth group for my oldest daughter. She had aged out of Sunday school in our previous church and there were no options for youth

It seems you chose the church on your children's needs. I understand why, but perhaps there'll come a time when you'll choose a congregation that best meets your needs?

 

[BetteTheRed]

Sunday School and Youth Group meant being in the right place for my children as they were growing up.

I switched congregations when I was looking for a youth group for my oldest daughter. She had aged out of Sunday school in our previous church and there were no options for youth

When that happened to us, I found a local UCCan youth group, ascertained that it was LGBTQ friendly (which it was, because of the leader, although the theology of the sponsoring congregation was not), and took him there for the two or three years it took for the biggish group in our congregation just a little younger than he to form a youth group, which he joined.

 

[Luce NDs]

In many fundamental settings if you are different they believe you strange and probably queer and yet they don't appreciate how evolution even in script! Sometimes declared demotic instead of hieratic and devoid off pictograms ... no images cast?

Thus we go on without out them ... as they are stuck on what they are ... defining the difference between ...me, the self and aye that's how it gets on ... virtue all understood poorly ... the way it is when dissociated from psyche ... thus that expression of he's out there ... Borderline Character Development ... sometime BPD as a spectre ...

It is now preparing for a blow out of vast proportions as powers work at being martyrs other wise ... suicidal humans?

Vegetation is coming to the runes ... as the thing is planted as unreal ... counter to WOKE? Potential dream ... or Black Horse Icon ... humans are culpable ... Tobid or not Tobias ... ineffable!

We are directed to be silent and illiterate ... isn't that the ignorant function if you hear nothing as some dedicated to shutting down NU's and noos? And there we hang ... churched or in*edi*facetious ... and few face up to what we are ...

Co sacked ... we are Russian in to ET ... a tree in the field ...parable appearing as metaphor? Hard to tell ...

 

[Luce NDs]

What can you tell an authoritative hoo m'n? Nothing ... they declare they are the greatest at knowing everything and find it is only a remnant of the eternal ... thus very slick in de Edi ...

Bull is the thing for these folk even if Balaam ... counter to the Phi listine ... listening? That silent apparatus ... of predetermined bifurcation ... Divine 'd for the struggle and wrestling in the dark ... Maqon as you pass up ...

 

[paradox3]

A little update for anyone who might be following my story. I have cancelled PAR at Church B. I still feel a tie to this congregation but I really haven't been terribly involved since before the pandemic.

There must be a reason I never transferred my membership from Church A

So back to Church A at least for the time being. There is one other option I might explore. We'll see. Feeling like I belong at Church A and also feeling like a free agent right now.