A question for only those in this group:

[northoftheborder]

With which Christian religious denominations do the people in this group have membership or affiliate? Background to question: I just moved to this community, and have not found a comfortable situation with a church, being a Democrat, much less a progressive one. This is a small town and does not have a huge number of churches, and is 9-1 Republican. I've visited several, but you really need to regularly participate in order to find out what the predominate attitudes are. I've about decided to leave the one I've attended the most, after several statements made in public situations which were repugnant to me. I'm willing to keep my liberal opinions to myself, as long as others with right-wing political views do also, in a worship situation.

I'd rather hear about positive experiences some of you have had in your worship groups.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I live in a republican, but not wildeyed conservative town...

with few, if any, fundies.

What little help I can give you is that Baptists NOT affiliated with the SBC can be pretty cool. There's even something called the Baptist Peace Federation of North America with a whole bunch of bleeding hearts and, yes, gays in it.

Episcopalians go either way, and because of the rifts within don't always make their deeper feelings known publicly.

Congregationalists are pretty well independent, but often lean our way. They pay attention to their understanding of the teachings of Christ, not so much the OT.

Some Methodists I've known definitely lean our way, but that's here. Presbyterians you just never know. There's not a lot of incentive within the church to lean left, but some churches are happy to do it.

Missouri or Wisconsin Synod Lutherans really want to be Catholics of the conservative kind and don't feel much, if any, kinship with ELCA Lutherans. I grew up in the Missouri Synod, and I still feel the pain. ELCA Lutherans, however, can be very cool. The local ELCA Lutheran minister's wife is a hard worker in our Democratic committee and local charities.

Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren are the historic Peace Churches, and may be worth a look if any are around. They are lifestyles as much as churches, but that's a large part of why I became a Quaker.

Other than that, I would first look at how many charitable causes each church supports, and of what sort. That might be the most obvious way to see how the parish leans.

[northoftheborder]

3. Thanks, that's the sort of info I'm looking for.

I just don't want to waste a lot of time attending a group and find out a year later, what their real sympathies are for. The charitable groups they give to, good point to find out, and easy to learn. I don't care one way or the other what the groups' "doctrines" and traditions are, as long as they are Christ like in their attitudes towards people, and having good music would be icing on the cake!

[TreasonousBastard]

4. You're welcome, but I'm not sure how I could have forgotten...

Unitarian Universalists since I'm attending a UU church now. (few Quakers in the area)

UU's are welcoming and affirming, big on good works, and now a semi-official Peace Church. And we have no doctrines, although our rites can be interesting at times.

And, we schedule concerts all the time.

[L0oniX]

2. I'm quite satisfied after decades of searching, with the sort of Eph 2:8 based one I'm with now.

New covenant Grace/faith based ...well studied ...meat oriented ...open round chair discussions ...current style music ...plain clothed ...sharing in voluntary sermons ...no tithe rules ...donations and help for the homeless and or distressed ...no titles / first name basis for everyone ...some anointing ...visitations and care for the sick ...multinational ...no bigots ...no racists ...no misogynists

[kwassa]

10. .

[Freddie]

5. ELCA Lutheran

We're the ones that just elected our first woman bishop. Avoid Missouri Synod, they don't even allow woman pastors. Supposed to keep silent and all that happy horsesh*t.
Other liberal leaning denominations are United Church of Christ, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian (USA). Presbyterian Church of America is kinda like the Missouri Synod of the Presbyterians.

[47of74]

9. And especially avoid the Wisconsin Synod.

The Wisconsin Synod is made up of people who think the Missouri Synod is too liberal.

[Thav]

6. Assembly of God here.

I grew up ELCA Lutheran. My pastor retired while I was at college, (Luther college, can't get much more lutheran). However when I went back after college, I found it boring. My martial arts instructors were a pastor and his wife of AoG. My wife and I were getting ready to be married and didn't have a church so we started going there. Fun, upbeat music, fairly relaxed. But you really have to listen to the people and the pastor.

We started going to the AoG church where we lived (instructor was an hour away). The old pastor said something that is one foundation stone of my belief: "You cannot scare someone into the kingdom of heaven." And just recently the pastor gave a sermon on the "Basics of Christianity" which boiled down to "Love God, Love Others." There was also a recent sermon on the destruction of Sodom. God destroyed Sodom because they had truly turned away from him - and became violent, greedy, and had no respect for the law. Sodomites raped everyone. They were violent animals, not just homosexual as some want to believe.

There are some in the church who are quite right leaning, but they're older. There are quite a few younger people sporting visible tattoos.

I'd check out how many younger people are in the church as well. Just make sure the tone of the sermons agrees with what your view of Christianity is.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

7. I'm Catholic, but I'm seriously considering becoming an Episcopalian

[47of74]

8. Grew up Catholic, now an Episcopalian

I was baptized as an infant into the Catholic church, and was a Catholic up until about 1.5 years ago. I had been fairly active in the local Catholic parish, doing almost everything except saying Mass. Back in 2005 when the Cardinals in their rather infinite wisdom gave us Benedict I wasn't happy. I had a friend in the church I went to who said that he was considering leaving then. I decided to make the best of it and continue on in the Catholic church, however I continued to consider leaving myself off and on for the next several years.

In early 2012 I wasn't able to go to Mass for several weeks due to work and going to visit family out of town. It was about then that the USCCB mounted the soapbox about how that mean and evil President was persecuting them. I found I couldn't bring myself to go back to the Catholic church. I went to the local Episcopal Church a couple weeks later, and pretty soon was going there or to another Episcopal Church a short distance away almost every week I didn't have to work. The Episcopal Church felt like a much better fit for me, and last summer I finally went to the rector and asked how to go about being received into the Episcopal Church. She said if I wanted to be received there would be inquirer classes in the fall and when the Bishop came to visit in November I could be received. Last November I was formally received into the Episcopal Church.

It just feels so much more comfortable going there, I don't have to hide my feelings anymore about certain things - abortion, gay marriage, and so on. Services don't feel like the campaign rallies. Sure there may not be as many cars come Sunday morning surrounding our church, and the church may seem empty compared to most of the Catholic parishes in the area. But I am reminded of how when two or three gather in Christ's name that he is with them (Matt 18:20), and how true that is in my new parish. We might not have strength in numbers but He is with us. Also, in the Episcopal Church the Eucharist is treated as the gifts of God for the people of God, and all baptized people are welcome to share in it, rather than just the members of the church who agree with everything the leadership says.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Raised (E)LCA Lutheran, now an Episcopalian

The reason is stylistic rather than doctrinal. Lutherans have become too suburban and family-(as in mom, dad, the two kids, and the dog) oriented to suit this single city mouse.

I also like a traditional liturgy with elegant language and lots of music. It can become a matter of just going through the motions, but not if the priest is really into it.

The political orientation of the Episcopalians differs depending on who else is in town. As I understand it, in many Southern communities, they're the "un-Baptists." On the other hand, certain dioceses, such as Fort Worth and the San Joaquin Valley, are notoriously conservative.

I didn't know about the American Baptist Church until I taught at one of their colleges. They're Baptists, with adult baptism, but they're politically very liberal. The Southern Baptist Church in the town where I lived picketed the American Baptist Church for blessing a same-sex relationship.