Churches?

[crystal]

Well, there are obviously many types of churches out there. This is a thread to discuss what kind of church you prefer, what kind of church you have been too, and what your past experiences at a church have been.

Though please let's not get into a debate over which kind of church is best, for everyone is entitled to their opinion

The first church I ever attended was a small, independant church, I believe. Although I do not remember much about it, because I attended it when I was a kid. It was something like a Baptist church.

It used to be a pretty good church, with a good pastor. It had a very friendly atmosphere and whatnot. But then that pastor left and another took over, and... well, on the plus side I would have to say that, from what I remember, it had a nice, friendly atmosphere. But on the other hand, it seemed to focus less on God and more on a social atmosphere. My parents were not too fond of the changes, so we stopped going. However, I did go again a few years later for Vacation Bible School, and then after that, I started going there again every Sunday for a while until I stopped.

Honestly, I cannot speak from much experience, and I am far from an expert on churches, because I have really only been to two in my whole life. But I think there should be a balance between learning about God and a social atmosphere. I mean, I remember one of the last times I went to that church, I went into the Sunday school class for teenagers, and they were teaching about sex.

Okay, I am not saying I object to a church teaching about the facts of life, but... well, perhaps it was merely my perspective back then, but perhaps I thought it was a bit odd. But I only attended the Sunday School services in that church at that point, but sometimes it seemed like they focused more on other things rather than just God...

Although let me make it clear, I am ignorant on what a good church really teaches or involves, because as I have said, I have not been to many. So if anyone here who has had more experience with churches would like to chime and explain what their church is like, and what it entails, feel free to do so.

Anyway, the second church I visited... I can't remember offhand what type of church it was, but my dad and I disliked it. They required people to dress very fancy, plus the people seemed a bit... snobbish. Of course it was difficult to tell fully, because we were only there once. But the atmosphere was much to be desired. And quite honestly, in my opinion, it should not matter what you wear at church, especially if it is just a weekly service. So long as you don't arrive in stained clothes or rags, it shouldn't matter too much what you're wearing. If it was a special event, like a holiday event, or a wedding or funeral, I would expect people to dress nicely for that, but I also believe that a church should be a place where all are welcome no matter what the color of their skin is and no matter what they're wearing.

Again, this is just my opinion, and I'm not trying to be offensive or anything. But people who expect people to dress a certain way for church, who are they trying to impress? God? Each other? The pastor? Just something to think about.

Anyway I think this post is long-winded enough. If anyone has anything to say about churches, whether they wish to respond to anything I've said here or something else on the subject, feel free

[Abby]

I've been to a church once or twice. I'm not very religious, but I think my favorite part of chruch was singing. My parents used to make me dress up all fancy and go. I admit I don't much about God, but I know how to be kind, and be kind to others. That's what the people at church told us to do. Sometimes I pray for a friend or for one of my dogs if they got lost or got hurt.

A long time ago, I was in a car accident. I remember turning around and looking at the truck. My mom started screaming and my dad jerked the wheel. I was trying to unbuckle my seatbelt so I could crawl into the backseat of our car, because some part of me felt that the impact wouldn't be as great. I don't really know what I was doing, but when the car hit us, I was praying. I had no clue what I was saying, but it was jumbled up words. I think God might've heard, though. I didn't get out without a lot of injury since I never got to the back in time, but everybody lived. Even the drunk was sorry. After I got out of the hospital two weeks later, we went to church. The pastor smiled at me, and said that he and others had been praying for me.

I've never told anyone the details of before or after the car accident, but it apparently made the local paper. He told me every day he went to church, he prayed. I couldn't ask for a better church, in my opinion. Everybody was very nice there, and it felt good. We just don't go much anymore because things have gotten so hectic.

[crystal]

Thanks for sharing that story What type of church was the one you went too, Nell?

I often enjoy singing in churches as well, although I can't sing myself. And I believe that a church can be a good place for fellowship, although I also know that any place where there are groups of people involved, they can also be flawed. I'm not trying to focus on the negative here, I am merely speaking from my very limited experience on churches, which is really next to nil.

I am hoping to visit a church this weekend though. However it depends on the weather and whatnot. It's a Baptist church in the middle of town--they are putting on a Christmas show, a Living Nativity. It sounds like it will be enjoyable, if the weather cooperates.

[Abby]

I think it was a Baptist Church. Honestly, ever since the car accident I've become something around the short-term memory section.

And Christmas shows are nice to watch. The ones outdoors are best when it's snowing and you have hot chocolate. With marshmellows.

[Rain]

All of the churches in my area are the same apart from appearance

I too njoy the singing although its not as big a thing hre as it is in America
One of the churches i would lik to visit would be a gospel church - they sem to have so much community spirit and happiness about them

[marnaveign]

I don't have experience with different churches. I've belonged to the same one all my life. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or LDS for short. If you've never heard of that church, you may better know it as the Mormon church. I've enjoyed it for most of my life. There was a time that I thought about not going to church because I felt left out, but I kept going because I didn't want to dissapoint my Mom.

In my church, we do dress nice to attend church. Dresses for the ladies, suits or at least ties for the men. It is to show our respect for God, who we address as Heavenly Father. I'll try to sum up a little of the structure and hierarchy of my church.

Locally, there is a ward, which is normally about 100 - 200 members of the church. Over each ward is the bishopric. The bishop is like a pastor and he has 2 councelors. Over the bishop is the stake presidency. Each stake is made up of several wards. There is the stake president and his 2 councelors. Over the stake president is the area authorities seventies, and over them is the First Presidency and the 12 apostles. The First Presidency and 12 apostles get inspiration and guidance from Heavenly Father on how to run the church. Things go from the First Presidency to the Stake Presidents to the Bishops and to the general public of the church.

We do wear dresses (for the ladies) and ties (for the men) when we go to church to show respect for God. We treat the church buildings as houses of God and do our best to be reverent when we're inside one. Especially in the chapel. Our meetings are broken up into 3 parts. Sacrament Meeting, Sunday School, and other classes depending on your age and gender. The men go to Priesthood meeting, the women to to Relief Society, the teens go to Mutual, and the kids 3 - 11 years old have Primary, which starts when Sunday School starts. Kids that are 18 months to 3 years have nursery, anyone younger joins mommy or daddy in their classes.

In Sacrament meeting, we have opening hymn and prayer, have announcements like events that are coming up in the ward or stake, and we take care of any ward business, like someone getting a calling to do different jobs in the ward. (all the jobs in my church are done on a voluntary basis, nobody is paid to do it) We sing again, a hymn that gets our minds on Jesus, then we have the sacrament. Afterwards, 2 or 3 members of the ward who has been asked gives a talk on different topics, like Faith in Christ and such. Sometimes, we have another hymn to help us wake up between the talks, or there is a musical number performed. After all the talks, we have another song and prayer.

Then we move on to Sunday School where we learn from the scriptures. This year, it is the Book of Mormon. The last 2 years were the Old and New Testimants in the Bible. We dedicate a year to learn from each book of scripture. We also include a year for the history of the church. After sunday school, we seperate further to the different classes for the different groups.

In Relief Society and Preisthood meetings, we are learning about the lives and teachings of the latter-day prophets that have lead the church since Joseph Smith, Jr. to now. These two groups also take care of any needs of the members. If there is a major change in the lives of a family, if they are members of the church, or just live within the ward boundaries, there is an influx of meals and offers of help. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming, but welcome.

That is one thing that I love about being LDS. The service and love between everyone in the ward. I admit, there are snobbish people in the church, but that is not a fault of the church, it's a fault of the people and most of the members are kind.

One of the things that sets my church apart from others is no matter where in the world you are, whatever ward or branch you visit, the teachings may be in different languages, but they are the same. Across the entire world, we use the same manuals for teaching and learning from. We do not accept the Niacene Creed as being truth, so many don't think we are Christian. But we are. Within our own scriptures, it states the following:

2 Nephi 25:26
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

If that does not describe Christians, I don't know what does.

There is so much I want to say about being LDS. Unfortunately, that would take too much, and I think this post is long enough. I think I'll end this by saying that I know that the LDS church is the right place for me. The teachings about the afterlife alone makes it worth while and gives me peace of mind when a loved one passes on.

I apoligize for how long this post is. My church is my life, the Lord and His words guide me, both by scripture, modern revelation, and personal revelation, and without the teachings I grew up with, I'd be a lot worse off. I'd be glad to further discuss anything about my church if anyone would like. If anyone wants to learn more about my church, but would rather not ask me, feel free to visit the official website of the church, www.lds.org which should help satisfy any further curiosity about it.

[Rain]

Wow That was long

Your church and your community sound great by the way

[marnaveign]

I enjoy it. ;D And when I go on a trip, if I travel on a Sunday within Utah, I can go to any town, find a church building, and because everything is so standardized, I know what times the meetings start, and the lessons are always within a week of each other. And if we're out of Utah, we just go to the website I mentioned and look up a map of where a church building is near where we're staying and the times and we visit there.

In case you haven't noticed by my previous post, I'm what some call a "Molly Mormon", which is a 'perfect little church girl' who 'never' does anything wrong. I'm not perfect, but I read my scriptures and pray each day. Mostly, I pray when I'm on my way driving to and from work in the crazy rush-hour traffic. And I try to do what I know is right, and try to teach my kids what is right. I've had too many experiences in 2007 alone that I turned to the Lord for help, I can't turn my back on Him because He did not turn His back on me.

[darthnotrevan]

I attend a Catholic chruch, myself. Some would say we're too liberal, although I'm not so sure about that. Anyway, I have a strong belief in God, although I don't really mention it much on the internet. Usually, I attend the same church every week, where everyone is actually dressed quite nicely (Except for the select few who show up in a T-shirt and go "Look I'm praying!" and then leave... They make me angry beyond belief, but that's another story for another time...)

My pastor's a great guy, as well as the other priests who also give mass. I've been actively involved in my church for as long as I can remeber, actually; and began assisting the priest during mass in the 5th grade. That's something I enjoy as well, actually.

The atmosphere's friendly, the people are great, and I enjoy myself.

And I believe that's all I have to say...

[/rant]

[marnaveign]

Ah. Someone who is a member of another large worldwide church. I've had some Catholic friends, despite the mostly LDS atmosphere, and they showed me that no matter what religion someone is, they can be good people if they choose to. I also have a lot of other friends on-line that I don't know what religion they are, and I know it doesn't really matter. They're nice to me, and some have helped me not quite as much as God with some of the things I've had to go through.

BTW, I like your name, darthnotrevan.

[Rain]

Yeah I have nothing againt any religion. ThoughI will say I think some are pretty stupid ie Scientology