Visiting indignitary. ;)

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Having visited a UM church recently and enjoyed the experience (and wonder of wonders, except for a few hairy moments here and there did not freak out or go catatonic or have the Abyss storm in and take over during the experience) Moriah thought it would drop in this section of the forum and read a little and maybe see what it can learn. Hope you all don't mind.

If UM (United Methodist) does not pertain to this section for some reason let it know, it does not know all the schisms, designations, etc. or what they mean so pardon its ignorance in that area.

:holy: :wave:

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

What prompted the visit: the local UM church -- a darling old country chapel building well preserved (with a cute little schoolhouse in similar across the road) about 0.5 miles from our home sent out cards advertising they bes beginning a series exploring world religions for the month of April (starting 3/30). This got Moriah's fiance interested, no less, and he expressed a desire to go. He has lately been slowly, cautiously, coming out toward theism after being a lifelong primarily atheist (though with something of a metaphysical bent and interest in the occult). So after a bit of hemming and hawing over the inevitable anxiety about having to deal with humans if we went, we decided to go. Basically Moriah left it up to him, telling him if he wanted to go it would go with him but it bes not going alone. In the end he decided we should go.

The presiding pastor (if that bes the proper term? Reverend? not sure) turned out to be a well-educated, well-read female who introduced the series during the worship service with a sermon/talk about "binocular vision" and how seeing with one eye (from one perspective) gave only a flat vision of things but how seeing from another eye (another perspective) added dimension and depth to one's own perceptions and beliefs. She said many things which truly impressed us both, among which being the idea that what divides people of faith bes not so much the differences in our religious convictions as our attitudes and predispositions, whether we used those convictions to build walls and exclude others (leading to conflicts) or whether we extended an open hand to give and receive in exchange and dialogue to learn from one another and be peacemakers. She mentioned two extremes Christians tend to exhibit -- exclusivism (our way bes right & everyone else bes wrong) versus pluralism (all religions lead to the same place, etc.) -- and then spoke about a third alternative, inclusivism, which acknowledges the uniqueness of Christ as the divine revelation of God yet also has an awareness of God moving in all times, cultures and places to make Himself known and to reach peoples. This latter view more directly dovetails with what Moriah believes, based on Paul's approach in Acts 17, and on God's own declarations in passages like Isaiah 19:18-25 and the psalmist's awareness in Psalm 139:7-8 and surrounding verses of how everywhere we go, there bes God.

We did not meet a lot of people there but a few came up and introduced themselves and chatted with us, and overall they seemed pretty nice. The congregation being pretty local from our area seemed to be made of a demographic similar to ourselves, which makes things a bit more comfortable. The service overall bes decidedly Christian as one would of course expect in a Christian church but what really surprised Moriah bes when her fiance decided to take communion (!!!) (whatever else his meanderings he has NEVER declared as Christian for starters). Moriah ended up taking communion as well, with a bit of trepidation because she generally does not have sex on a first date (gnostic-mass joke, sorry) :sorry: but she determined she would follow her fiance's lead on all things pertaining to this adventure, because she really really REALLY wants him to come to know God.

He also kept saying later how much he enjoyed the service. And THEN, later on, even said he would be more interested in a church like that than a UU church (which he had talked before about wanting to visit) because the UM seemed more "focused". WOAH. Be still its heart! :o

This seems to be a really "searching" time in his life. Not sure why or how, but please keep him in your prayers. Moriah has often prayed and asked God to just reach him (her fiance) independently Himself -- not waiting for Moriah to get its own -*ahem*- issues -*koffkoff*- sorted out first. Maybe He has decided to answer that prayer; that would be wonderful, and would probably in the long run help this one as well.

[cristianna]

Welcome Moriah! :wave:

You're definitely at the right place! :)

[cristianna]

WOW! What a great sermon and series- very thought provoking!

And if your soon-to-be dh is interested... I say let the winds catapult you two there every weekend! :thumbsup:

[Marycita]

Wow...that's an awesome story..thank you for sharing it with us! I'm glad it was a good experience for both of you

And good to have you here :wave:

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Thanks for the nice welcome ladies!
Am really hoping this bes the start of something good. Just for us both to be exposed to intelligent, caring, thoughtful Christians who bes not judgmental and stuff would do us both a world of good.

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

WOW! What a great sermon and series- very thought provoking!

And if your soon-to-be dh is interested... I say let the winds catapult you two there every weekend! :thumbsup:

The series runs through April and will cover, in this order: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism. Each Sunday will have elements of worship in the service from those traditions, led by local leaders what practice them, and a discussion group afterwards. The weekend of Judaism there will be a sedar Saturday evening too which should be a powerful experience. :thumbsup:

It would be nice if he wanted to keep going after that ... :prayer:

BTW it bes a little surprised to hear the communion liturgy sound so similar to the Catholic one! Didn't know Protestants used that too.

[GraceSeeker]

BTW it bes a little surprised to hear the communion liturgy sound so similar to the Catholic one! Didn't know Protestants used that too.


Not all protestants do, but some United Methodist churches are very liturgical. I have a few Catholic spouses that attend my church as well as their own, and they said that they couldn't tell any difference between what we did for communion on Maundy Thursday and what they would have experience at their local Catholic congregation. On the other hand, this past Sunday we had a very full service designed entirely around music, and thus I used a very abbreviated liturgy for the service that might have seemed more like what would find in a Baptist church.

That's just to say that one can find an broad spectrum of people both liturgically and theologically in the United Methodist Church and we all seem to somehow fit. It sounds like you've found one that might offer a little bit of depth as well, and that's always a good sign. I hope you are able to make a home there.

[Redheadedstepchild]

It sounds like you had a really good experience. Very happy about your fiance being interested. I know that's a big deal. (BTDT)

[MoeSzyslak]

Moriah, Thanks for sharing your story. I laughed at your gnostic joke. I'm somewhat of a closet gnostic myself.

[ParaCristo]

Sounds like you both had a great experience Moriah...
that is awesome...
I can't wait to see what God has instore for your fiance!!!

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

It would be wonderful if He has anything in store for either of us and actually finally made that manifest in our lives, really.

[cristianna]

I'm quite certain He has a lot in store. It's just getting all the puzzle pieces to fit together first. :)