MTSUGirl, you have hit the nail on the head!
 

The challenge is finding a church home with believers that will enhance your spritual growth instead of stifling it, and that will challenge you to grow in your walk with Jesus.

It's the pious works that we do (the religion aspect, hence the numerous Christian denominations) that obscures the relationship and leaves many believers disillusioned and disappointed.

May God continue to bless you for your insight and desire to continue and deepen your relationship with Him.

HAHAHAHA I knew this was somewhere on GC. My boyfriend's dad is a WELS pastor. Since everyone on GC knows my political views, and let's face it, I am a feminazi, I think their church is straight-up ridiculous. Anyway, ISUKappa, tell me more about your type of Lutheran. The boyfriend is not overly happy with WELS and I think he knows we're not going anywhere if he stays in that, but he hasn't really looked for a new church too much yet.

Dionysus, I will be praying for you. :(

Funny you mentioned this, b/c my pastor has been doing an awesome series on faith and unbelief, which he started back in November, and will be continuing on over the next few months. PM me if you are interested in getting some tapes on this series, which I will send to you free of charge and postage paid.

In the meantime, have you considered seeking a church home with believers that walk the walk as well as talk the talk?

PM me if you want me to elaborate.

I am a Unitarian-Universalist.

I was born and raised Catholic. My parents, particularly my father, are very conservative Catholics, and I was put into CCD classes and pretty much told that the Protestants were going to Hell. I become a feminist, pro-choice, and supporter of gay rights and pretty much became an atheist. I'm still an atheist, but I have a community of kindred spirits. I really love this church-because no matter what creed or non-creed that you follow, you're welcome.

MTSUGirl and Rain Man pretty much sum up my viewpoint, too. I've been to several different churches/houses of worship, so I feel that I've made a sincere decision, not one based on my family's way of life (even though they followed me! :) ).

Wow, I just kind of stumbled on this topic and I'm glad I did. A lot of interesting viewpoints. I am yet another Catholic who "walked away from the church" for many of the reasons already mentioned. It's nice to know I'm not the only one because for a while, it sure felt like it. Who knows, maybe I'll be back there, I think I just have to continue my search and not just stick with something because it's what I was brought up to believe.

I went with my family to mass on Christmas Eve (if it'll make them happy for a moment) and the Pastor got me so angry. The pews were full and he decided to take up a second collection to reduce the parish debt (understandable)... BUT he looked at the basket afterwards and said, "THAT'S IT?! YOU SHOULD BE GIVING TO YOUR CHURCH FIRST AND YOUR FAMILY SECOND, CHRISTMAS ISN'T ABOUT MONEY AND GIFTS." I'm sorry, but that's over the line. What about being grateful for what is being offered?! :confused:

I once walked out on a church service which passed the basket around THREE times! I understand the first, was a little strained for the one for missions, but left before the third basket got to me. I tithe (as does everyone I know who attends this church), and if they can't manage on that, they need a new accountant!

We usually have two collections. The first is for the upkeep of the church, and the second is for something different each week. This past Sunday in NYC the second collection was for victims of the tsunami. People pulled out their wallets and checkbooks. I never saw so many twenty dollar bills in the basket. Usually, the second collection is for the local schools or charities for the poor.


I never walked away from my Catholic faith, but I didn't attend Mass for about a decade. When I returned to Mass, I felt a sense of inner peace and calm that I had never felt before. I guess it was a matter of timing.

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is still on the conservative/traditional side of Lutheranism but is a bit more in the 21st Century than WELS. Women have the right to vote in congregational matters and can hold an office in the church body that stems beyond Nursery and Sunday School. (I think my parents' church even has a woman Treasurer, oh the HORROR!) They cannot serve as Pastors, but there are many women in the church who go on to become DCEs or Deaconesses and lead through those veins.

Depending on the church, services can run from Straight-from-the-Lutheran-Worship traditional to tambourine-and-trap-set contemporary.

We believe in the Real Presence of the body and blood in and with the bread and wine at communion, and ask that all communicants believe the same. Usually, only LCMS members are able to take communion at an LCMS church and they do not commune while at other denominations. (The huzbin and I have been attending an LCMS church in town since March and have yet to commune because we didn't feel comfortable doing so until we had had a chance to talk to the Pastor, which we just did before Christmas.)

We believe in the Triune God--God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit; each a separate entity but of the same essence.

We believe that it was by God's Grace that he sent his Son to be our Savior, that through Faith in Christ alone we may be saved, and that the Scripture is God's infalliable word and should be the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine.

A lot more information is on the LCMS website (www.lcms.org).

My sister converted to Catholicism when she married her husband and says, to her, there isn't much difference in the base beliefs between our church and Catholicism.

I saw this thread, read it all, & felt that I had to insert my .02 cents. First of all, there are a lot of people who have issues with the Catholic Church. I too am a Catholic though I don't practice as much as I should. However, I feel that I must raise one point that has been neglected. People walk away for many reasons. I never walked away. I just felt that I had to explore other faiths b/c I too went to a Catholic school. I enjoyed it there but when I was old enough to start questioning certain aspects, I decided to experience other faiths to see what else is being taught. I went to temple w/a Jewish friend, a Pentecostal service, Methodist & Baptist services, Mormon services, & to a service w/some Jehovahs Witnesses. I learned that while beliefs may be different, there is an element of truth to every faith. We may not agree on certain doctrines but I also feel that unless you start a new religion w/your own rules & doctrine, there will always be some part of your faith that you don't necessarily always agree with.

LCMS vs ELCA
 

In theory, ELCA is very similar to LCMS, except women are allowed to be pastors. In practice, that may be another story. :)

Also, re Communion, here's a very good explanation of what we believe (consubstantiation) vs Roman Catholic (transubstantiation).

http://www.fact-index.com/c/co/consubstantiation.html

GP, if you came to the Lutheran Church downtown here, I think you'd be shocked how "Catholic" it is. I always say Lutherans are Catholic Lite, hold the Mary and excessive guilt. ;)

Re: LCMS vs ELCA
 

I would tend to agree with you..

I was raised Episcopal (long story about how my parents arrived there). I always described it as all the pagentry of the catholic church...none of the guilt!

What would expect for a denomination founded because the king wanted a divorce? Zero abasement :)

GP just isn't a big fan of WELS for a number of reasons, ie:

1) They think Catholicism is a cult and the Pope is the antichrist.
2) They think women should be totally submissive to men and aren't allowed to vote in the church.
3) "If your husband wants ________, give it to him, he is your earthly master."

Um, no, no, and HELL NO.

Hahahahaha. I love religion, it's great stuff.


As for me -- I wasn't raised in a very religious family. My father's agnostic and my mother's lapsed Catholic, so the few times I went to church growing up were with friends or my mom's parents (actually, I even went to church camp for a week when I was ten). Around the time that I was 11 or 12, I just realized that Christianity didn't make sense to me. I've been all over the place on what I believe since then, but I know that I don't believe in Christianity or most of the other major religions. I've been calling myself a deist since I was about 14, because my religious beliefs align most closely with that. I studied a lot of religions this summer and realized that I agree with the main precepts of Buddhism, but I'm not really sure that I'm ready to commit to any organized religion, so I'm going to stick with what I have for now.

I tiptoe around the borders of Catholicism and peer over the fence into Reform Judaism!

Catholicism makes me feel "at home" since it's what I was raised in, but the beliefs of Judaism really call out to me...

I cannot tolerate a faith in which women are not deemed worthy to preach and serve, in which my reproductive rights are battered and threatened, in which homosexuals are seen as an abomination, and abortion unaccepted...

I am not saying this isn't applicable to other faiths, but this is what I know....