0 Registered (),
99
Guests and
3
Spiders online. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
3239 Members
63 Forums
16332 Topics
210704 Posts
Max Online: 409 @ 01/17/20 03:33 AM
|
|
|
#209 - 03/04/04 04:37 AM
Re: worship styles?
|
Member
Registered: 03/18/03
Posts: 332
Loc: Australia
|
I could put this in a fine whine but it sort of leads off from this discussion topic...going to church at the moment just makes me...sad, angry, emotionally exhausted...there are changes and gaps and I just feel angry that people have taken the easy choice of leaving instead of staying to sort things out...I haven't much time to participate in church life at the moment but I have in the past and I feel let down by this congregation when I needed them to be a quiet place of worship and support at this time in my life...I get more sustenance for my spiritual life from a quiet hour on the beach than I do from this church at the moment
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#210 - 03/04/04 07:40 PM
Re: worship styles?
|
Founder
Registered: 07/09/08
Posts: 23647
Loc: Maryland
|
Julie, wow! I can certainly understand how you feel about people jumping ship, and I have a few thoughts...
There are many churches with differing styles for many reasons. Everyone must go where they are fed. We have to be patient when others search. They are taking their faith seriously. For whatever reason their spiritual needs aren't being met.
When we show them love instead of our frustration and aggravation, they may choose to stay based on the spirit of the people in the church. We must remain Christlike.
Should people choose to leave, the church that remains needs to be certain their heart is in the right place so they can attract new members. We must remember people aren't attracted to a church of frustrated and aggravated people.
What upsets me is when people just stop attneding any church, but return when changes have been made that might have better results for them.
Trust me, there are times I feel better fed sitting at my kitchen table with my Bible, journal, and prayer list. And Julie, if there was a nearby beach, I'd be there!
I have been very involved with my church, seen all the warts and it hurts. Are there any churches without them? I'm seriously asking. Anyone in a church that they are really on fire about? One that they've been involved in and haven't witnessed out of the ordinary occurences?
Julie, I'm trying to convince myself as I talk with you.
One thing we have to remember is that churches aren't museums for saints, they're hospitals for sinners. An old minister once shared that with me.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#211 - 03/05/04 02:50 AM
Re: worship styles?
|
Member
Registered: 03/18/03
Posts: 332
Loc: Australia
|
Thanks for your thoughts, Dotsie. I needed somewhere neutral to have a whinge about this.
I think I have an different attitude to church than some of my friends...I have seen my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles stick with and work through all sorts of changes in our church...their "stickability" or faithfulness, if you like, is something I admire and hope to emulate.
I could leave our local congregation and go to one of the feelgood churches down the road, [anyone ever heard of Hillsong? It's a mammoth contemporary church in our suburb] like the rest of my peer group. But I don't believe it is the right action for me to take, and I think it would be letting our minister down.
I need a mature church and a mature faith that copes with the ups and downs of life, and the hard issues, without hypocrisy. Like marriage, I think it is important to stay and work things through. It is hard work, though.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#212 - 03/05/04 05:21 PM
Re: worship styles?
|
Member
Registered: 10/23/02
Posts: 21
|
The "church" involves our Christian family as a whole. We take advantage of many programs. I do mission and prayer with my traditional home church. We worship where family and friends are willing to go with us (usually contemporary). Our children go to a small, local Methodist church on Wed. evenings for dinner and fellowship - they have learned more there than at Sunday school elsewhere. This weekend a friend invited us to come to her local Baptist church. Home is where you hang your hat and church is where you hang your heart.
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|