Do any denominations believe this way?

[Transient]

First off let me say that I was raised in a Pentacostal church, then became a Baptist around the time I became a teenager. However, from about the age of 16 until several months ago I have been an atheist. I would like to start going back to church and have thoroughly explored Catholicism but found that it isn't my style.

Let me explain what I am looking for in general:

- They must be honest enough to admit that how they interpret scripture is only what they believe and not what is absolute. The last study I read showed that there were 32,000 different Christian denominations and they all can't be correct.

- The church must be open minded and accepting.

- Minimal fire and brimstone sermons

At this moment I can't think of anything else. Please don't reply with" Christ must be in the church" because that is a given I think.

Also, I have a lot of experience with Baptist and a decent amount with Catholicism (at least enough to know it they aren't for me). Any other suggestion is welcome though :-).

[revivaloftheceltic]

I may sound a little biased here; but really try and find a celtic christian church.
Their so tolerant and kind, I haven't heard any thing remotely like a fire and brimstone teaching. Seriously the celtic christians are amazing, I haven't found another denomination quite like them.
Then again I haven't heard of a church outside of the U.K that's a celtic church.

Not sure if this is what your after, I'm not to clear; just tell me if I'm off.

[Transient]

I may sound a little biased here; but really try and find a celtic christian church.
Their so tolerant and kind, I haven't heard any thing remotely like a fire and brimstone teaching. Seriously the celtic christians are amazing, I haven't found another denomination quite like them.
Then again I haven't heard of a church outside of the U.K that's a celtic church.

Not sure if this is what your after, I'm not to clear; just tell me if I'm off.
You are right on. Unfortunatly I live in a very rural area so fundamentalist fire breathing churches dominate the area. The most open minded church around is an Angelican church. I haven't researched anything about them but from what I understand they are similar to Catholic.

[Freedom&Light]

Anglican could be a good choice for you, but I think you would be more comfortable in a non-denominational church.

There is a movement in Christianity called the Emergent Church, which may be more what you are looking for.

Also, stop on by Whosoever Will May Come, because a lot of us have those same basic requirements for church. :)

Good luck in your search. In any denomination, you will find that there will be individual churches that believe in that manner. You just have to find one you like.

[kenneth558]

I don't know an answer to your question, but would you be willing to dialog more on what you mean by interpreting scripture? Specifically, do you think we can understand what God is telling us in the Bible? Like, did He communicate some or all of it in a way that the common person can understand? And do we have an accurate representation of what He said?

[Transient]

I don't know an answer to your question, but would you be willing to dialog more on what you mean by interpreting scripture? Specifically, do you think we can understand what God is telling us in the Bible? Like, did He communicate some or all of it in a way that the common person can understand? And do we have an accurate representation of what He said?
I don't think we can say for sure if how we interpret particular scripture is absolutly correct. According to people in the know I have spoken to Greek is like English in that some words can mean many different things. This is very clear after using some software I have that shows many different biblical translation side by side.

A good example of what I mean is the verse Isaiah 45:7

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things]"

but in some translations (not many, only one that I can think of) the word evil is replaced with calamity.

Even more simply than that, based on what I said about the many different denoms it is clear that the bible isn't clear.

Freedom&Light: I read Whosoever Will May Come often because it has the most accepting and logical people on the forums from what I can tell. I tried the whole non-denom church thing but around here it tends to lean more toward southern Baptist views than anything else. Thanks for the info though :-).

[Freedom&Light]

I'm glad you stop by! :D

around here it tends to lean more toward southern Baptist views

I understand completely.

Some more thoughts:

- A denomination like Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ/Christian Church, United Church of Christ or Lutheran may be a better step for you, considering where you are. They are typically open and welcoming to the more liberally minded. :) (I have noticed that being able to say that we may all have it wrong is usually the first step to being labeled "liberal." At least, that's how I got the label.)

- Stick with churches that have websites. I don't know what it is, but the more technological a church is, the more accepting they are of others' views.


:hug: Good luck!

[yeshuaslavejeff]

First off let me say that I was raised in a Pentacostal church, then became a Baptist around the time I became a teenager. However, from about the age of 16 until several months ago I have been an atheist. I would like to start going back to church and have thoroughly explored Catholicism but found that it isn't my style.

Let me explain what I am looking for in general:

- They must be honest enough to admit that how they interpret scripture is only what they believe and not what is absolute. The last study I read showed that there were 32,000 different Christian denominations and they all can't be correct.

- The church must be open minded and accepting.

- Minimal fire and brimstone sermons

At this moment I can't think of anything else. Please don't reply with" Christ must be in the church" because that is a given I think.

Also, I have a lot of experience with Baptist and a decent amount with Catholicism (at least enough to know it they aren't for me). Any other suggestion is welcome though :-).
interesting that you said "it is a given, i think".
several men sent from G_d have amply shown that it is not a given - just the opposite, in fact and in truth and in Scripture.

[Transient]

interesting that you said "it is a given, i think".
several men sent from G_d have amply shown that it is not a given - just the opposite, in fact and in truth and in Scripture.
yeshuaslavejeff

I think maybe you just misunderstood what I meant. What I was saying is I obviously wouldnt want to be a in a church without God in it. I think you thought I meant that all churches have God in them but that isn't it. Sorry, I am sometimes very inarticulate.

Freedom&Light Thanks :-)

[kenneth558]

I don't think we can say for sure if how we interpret particular scripture is absolutly correct. According to people in the know I have spoken to Greek is like English in that some words can mean many different things. This is very clear after using some software I have that shows many different biblical translation side by side.

A good example of what I mean is the verse Isaiah 45:7

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things]"

but in some translations (not many, only one that I can think of) the word evil is replaced with calamity.

Even more simply than that, based on what I said about the many different denoms it is clear that the bible isn't clear.
Thank you, transient. And if you let me extrapolate a little beyond what you said, what you seem to believe is that God has left the real meaning of His word so elusive and unprotected that He doesn't expect you personally to be able to know for sure what He's trying to say to us or to you personally. Is that how you believe?

[Transient]

kenneth558 no not really. I believe that the bible put together during the early councils isn't near the bible we have today. Also, it is very obvious that the bible isn't clear, if it were Christians wouldn't differ in view on everything imaginable. Mainly what I believe is that God knew this would occur because he didn't want us to be robots reading our program code from a book.

[kenneth558]

kenneth558 no not really. I believe that the bible put together during the early councils isn't near the bible we have today. Also, it is very obvious that the bible isn't clear, if it were Christians wouldn't differ in view on everything imaginable. Mainly what I believe is that God knew this would occur because he didn't want us to be robots reading our program code from a book.Thank you, Transient. You are being very gracious in answering my questions.

Do you believe we can obtain the Bible as originally canonized, and if so, would that Bible be near enough to God's words to then enable someone who would simply believe it with abandon and without prejudice to know what God really wanted to say to us?

[If Not For Grace]

Most of us do not find anything (church of brick and mortar) that we will agree 100% with. I use and 80/20 rule. Find one you can accept SEVERAL things about, that you agree with, then You keep and open mind, let them teach you, but then--test what you are taught. God gave you a mind and I do not believe He intended you to forgo its use.

Quit worrying about what they do so much. Jesus did not agree with the Sanhedrin or Pharisees, but He went to Temple.

I agree with previous posters, a non-dem or
perhaps a Church that has it's focus on young adults, is more in order (is there a college or university near you?). Give yourself a chance to grow.

Take what you like (for now) and leave the rest as far as organized "religion" offers, BUT
read, study and pray, and discernment will come to you. It's like learning to read, get your ABC's down, then you will learn to read and assimilate information appropriately.

Just remember when you read--we don't always like the rules, but we are not likely the one God will change amend them for.

Don't give up, just take a deep breath and go and worship, and learn to enjoy the service and the good people (yes, there are some).

LOVE & PRAYERS. dee

[submariner]

Yes there is a denomination for you to try. Try the Methodists. They are a very down to earth common sense open minded denomination. For example they have open communion, accept others baptisms, and are not highly doctrinal. They of course follow the general vanilla doctrines of John Welsley who taught tolerance in doctrinal affairs. After all was it not Jesus who taught that the first two commandments governed everything (Love God/ Love Neighber)? And did he not teach the parable of the Good Samaritan who was praised for following the Law 100% although his doctrines were not properly Jewish? I think open mindedness of Methodists came about because John Wesley did not intend to found a new denomination and accepted all of them into his organization. After all, is not the basic Gospel sufficient? I think I probably have some strange ideas compared to many Christians but I feel quite at home in a Methodist service. Submariner

[Transient]

Most of us do not find anything (church of brick and mortar) that we will agree 100% with. I use and 80/20 rule. Find one you can accept SEVERAL things about, that you agree with, then You keep and open mind, let them teach you, but then--test what you are taught. God gave you a mind and I do not believe He intended you to forgo its use.

Quit worrying about what they do so much. Jesus did not agree with the Sanhedrin or Pharisees, but He went to Temple.

I agree with previous posters, a non-dem or
perhaps a Church that has it's focus on young adults, is more in order (is there a college or university near you?). Give yourself a chance to grow.

Take what you like (for now) and leave the rest as far as organized "religion" offers, BUT
read, study and pray, and discernment will come to you. It's like learning to read, get your ABC's down, then you will learn to read and assimilate information appropriately.

Just remember when you read--we don't always like the rules, but we are not likely the one God will change amend them for.

Don't give up, just take a deep breath and go and worship, and learn to enjoy the service and the good people (yes, there are some).

LOVE & PRAYERS. dee
kenneth558 no, the bible is different now than when the books were put together. Heh, for that matter the translations we have currently differ. That is why you have to just take the bible as a general guide and not go word for word what it says. I know I will get hung for saying that but oh well, it is fact (such as the bible saying a bat is a bird and that it is an abomination to eat shellfish- it is full of poor science).

However, I didn't this thread to get into a debate. I just had an innocent question about potential open minded churches.

dyanm I use to go to on campus youth groups when I was in college. However, if you ever attend one of those you are treated like a potential customer and they are the salesman. For example, the one i went to called me twice daily, wrote me e-mails, and would come to my dorm room at 8am for several months straight. They must have needed more money in the offering plate.

I would like to check out Lutheran but the closest one is 2 hours away so I might go with Presbyterian or Episcopalian.

[kenneth558]

kenneth558 no, the bible is different now than when the books were put together. Heh, for that matter the translations we have currently differ. That is why you have to just take the bible as a general guide and not go word for word what it says. I know I will get hung for saying that but oh well, it is fact (such as the bible saying a bat is a bird and that it is an abomination to eat shellfish- it is full of poor science).

However, I didn't this thread to get into a debate. I just had an innocent question about potential open minded churches.
Yes, I know. Thank you for helping with my curiosity about your thought patterns. I just thought if I could understand them, I could help others in your condition. I wish I could tell if you believe the Bible use to be inerrant, still could be if we get the original wording right, never was, was never intended for the 21st century, or if you seriously don't even care.

[Transient]

freemansw that is just rude and immature, so that is all I will say on that.

kenneth558 I think that it was never error free because it was written by people that had even less knowledge about the natural world than we do today (and we aren't error free in our knowledge by any means). However, a ultra-conservative would see that heresy were I see it as inspiring. We are feeble weak minded individuals but we are still worth everything to someone much greater than ourselves.

[progressivegal]

I'm kind of in a similar situation right now. It's great to look at websites, but ultimately it seems they're trying to sell a products, or appeal to a certain group of people, so it's not always the best place. For example, I recently attended a church because it's website made it seem like almost exactly what I was looking for. I attended the church once and I did like it, but the second time I realized that it just wasn't for me. Try calling or sending an E-mail to the minister (pastor, priest, whatever) and adressing the specific questions and concerns you have. I've found those that I ask very gracious and helpful, and if they're not, then you probably know that that church is not for you. Still keep in mind though that they probably do want you to attend your church, so they may try really hard to make it sound like what you're looking for, not always though, and perhaps I'm being overly synical. It's a good idea to talk to people that attend the church if you know any and to just visit, more than once, because like in my experience, it's hard to get a good idea just visiting once (not that twice is always so much better, but in my case it was.) Also, I was able to find a website that mentioned several churches in my area that are atleast associated with or interested in the emergant church. Maybe you could find something similar through emergantvilliage.com?

[Weasel7711]

First off let me say that I was raised in a Pentacostal church, then became a Baptist around the time I became a teenager. However, from about the age of 16 until several months ago I have been an atheist. I would like to start going back to church and have thoroughly explored Catholicism but found that it isn't my style.

Let me explain what I am looking for in general:

- They must be honest enough to admit that how they interpret scripture is only what they believe and not what is absolute. The last study I read showed that there were 32,000 different Christian denominations and they all can't be correct.

- The church must be open minded and accepting.

- Minimal fire and brimstone sermons

At this moment I can't think of anything else. Please don't reply with" Christ must be in the church" because that is a given I think.

Also, I have a lot of experience with Baptist and a decent amount with Catholicism (at least enough to know it they aren't for me). Any other suggestion is welcome though :-).
You can always try non-denominational, but since they arent affilliated with a denomination, you can never be too sure of what they believe, sometimes they can get downright cultish, just look around and pray and find which one God is leading you to

[CaDan]

kenneth558 no not really. I believe that the bible put together during the early councils isn't near the bible we have today. Also, it is very obvious that the bible isn't clear, if it were Christians wouldn't differ in view on everything imaginable. Mainly what I believe is that God knew this would occur because he didn't want us to be robots reading our program code from a book.

Has somebody been reading Ehrman? ;)

I haven't gotten to him yet. Still plowing through Bultmann.

[kenneth558]

kenneth558 I think that it was never error free because it was written by people that had even less knowledge about the natural world than we do today (and we aren't error free in our knowledge by any means). However, a ultra-conservative would see that heresy were I see it as inspiring. We are feeble weak minded individuals but we are still worth everything to someone much greater than ourselves.Thank you very much. Evidently you would disagree with Jesus when He said "Scripture cannot be broken". I greatly appreciate your responses, Transient. The Lord bless you with understanding.

[Mrs.Sidhe]

I will have to agree with some other posters on here. Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian might be good choices.

One church that I wish I could attend (at least once :D ) is the Old Catholic Church. I know they have very good relations with the Episcopalian Church, and I think they may even have open communion and many are pretty open minded..(usually) If I'm correct the Celtic Christian Church also has good relations with Old Catholic as well.

http://www.oldcatholic.org/catechism/contents.html

http://www.oldcatholic.org/

Hope this helps.. (if you are looking for a open minded church..I wouldn't really advise going to www.oldcatholic.com The Catholic Apostolic National Church).

http://www.americanchurch.org/index.html This is also an Old Catholic Jurisdiction. They are very open minded. (when looking for Old Catholic parishes..make sure you find all the info about their Jurisdiction and where they are from. Some are not as liberal as others. One I found didn't even ordain women..)

[notreligus]

I think you should look for a church in the Grace movement. Grace churches are not all legalistic, but they do stress salvation by faith-alone in the finished work of Christ on the cross. They don't add to that or teach that you must follow formulas. That's what's happened in Christendom, I believe. We've got so many denominations because we've got so many "formulas." There is only one taught in the Bible when it comes to salvation.

I suggest you check-out this web site:

http://www.lesfeldick.org/

When you get there, click on the Links heading. That will get you to some web sites for churches in the Grace movement.

[Timyone]

i only read the first post, but id say that any where that has a pretty intelectual minister, should be able to just tell you the options, i havent heard many fire and brimstone talks around the place, but that could be a sydney australia thing.
man you should be able to find heaps of churches that fit your first posts wants for a church.