attitude of love
Submitted by F.O.D. on May 18 1999 at 16:44:48
In reply to Finding a Denomination Submitted by Newbie on May 18 1999 at 07:13:59
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Hello Newbie, nice to meet you. Make yourself at home, you can get yourself a nickname at the foyer :) I think what you need to look for, the only thing that really counts (well, you'd hope their teaching is more or less OK too), is an active attitude of love in the church. Well that's about what you said too, isn't it. So we need to get more specific. Look at how they interact with each other. Do they talk and get to know each other after the service, or does everyone leave straight away and go home without talking to anyone else? Do they regularly invite one another, and newcomers, to visit at home for a meal and time together? Do they have home groups during the week where they can continue to be a part of each others lives and encourage one another in the faith? How do they react to other churches (that can be a big clue). If they are protestant, how do they relate to catholics? Or vice-versa. If they are sacremental (following a set worship service), how do they react to "unstructured" churches? Or vice-versa. If they are charismatic, how do they react to non-charismatic churches? Or vice-versa. The ones that are more accepting of different Christian churches are probably going to be the ones more full of real love. You probably don't really want to be looking for a "denomination" to go to, since there is huge variation amongst the churches in any one denomination - some more loving, some less loving. So really you'd want to be looking at the individual churches. You might want to look at for a house church or community church, which is a mostly informal church that may even just be meeting in the members' houses. They're small and more intimate, so they seem to give a better opportunity for the members to love and look after each other. Hope that helps some. I'm glad you're looking for church to worship in. The Body of Christ suffers when Christians try to go it alone. Love, F.O.D. |