Attending church

[Meshavrischika]

I participate in gathering with local believers, although we don't have a communal building, pastors, deacons, choirs, sound equipment, parking lots, chandeliers, carpeting, basement bowling alleys, or any of the other things most people point at as being "the church". If I gather with one other believer in the name of Chrsit, out in the sticks, then I am in comformity to the word of God concerning the gathering, which is supposed to be a place where Christ is present.

I can't help but to wonder about all those gatherings that have buildings, and all the other financial trappings of modern, institutionalized religion where Christ is not present.....

"Attending church"? How does one attend what he or she already is as members of the Body of Christ?

 

[Celticflower]

I don't know what Bible you're reading (probably the same Bible that tells Methodists that homosexuality is just another "lifestyle choice")

And our BOD states that the homosexual lifestyle is incompatable with a Christian life. Sure you don't have us confused with another group of Christians?

Then you're not reading the Bible. The Bible is very clear that we are to members of a local church, not just visitors.

While a person may choose to not join a local congregation as a full member, every Christian is a member of the Church, as in the Body of Christ.

As for me, I attend a non-denom service everyweek, unless illness weather or travel keeps me away. But I do not hold membership with this congregation.(long story). I am still listed on the rolls of the UMC in PA that I joined close to 20 years ago (after transferring from the UMC in NY I was brought up in).

 

[JohnDeereFan]

And our BOD states that the homosexual lifestyle is incompatable with a Christian life. Sure you don't have us confused with another group of Christians?

No, it's the Methodists I'm talking about.

While a person may choose to not join a local congregation as a full member, every Christian is a member of the Church, as in the Body of Christ.

That doesn't make them members of a local church, as the Bible requires them to be.

As for me, I attend a non-denom service everyweek, unless illness weather or travel keeps me away. But I do not hold membership with this congregation.(long story).

If you're not currently a member of a church, then that's Unbiblical.

 

[tansy]

No, it's the Methodists I'm talking about.



That doesn't make them members of a local church, as the Bible requires them to be.



If you're not currently a member of a church, then that's Unbiblical.

I'm not sure where it says in the Bible that one has to be a MEMBER of a church...all I thought it sais was not to forsake the gathering together of believers (not an exact quote)...please could you provide scripture supporting your view, as I may have missed it or not have the right interpretation of scripture. Thanks.

 

[Celticflower]

No, it's the Methodists I'm talking about.

None that I am familiar with.

That doesn't make them members of a local church, as the Bible requires them to be.

Chapter and verse for this requirement please.

If you're not currently a member of a church, then that's Unbiblical

If I am still listed on the rolls and still make donations to the congregation I am still considered to be a member.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

None that I am familiar with.

Really? You've never heard of Methodists supporting the sin of homosexuality? I take it you don't read the papers much.

Chapter and verse for this requirement please.

Same ones I've already given you in other threads.

If I am still listed on the rolls and still make donations to the congregation I am still considered to be a member.

You may be on the church rolls, but if you're not meeting your Biblical obligation to that church, then you're not a member in any practical sense, much less in the Biblical sense.

 

[tadoflamb]

Couldn't really find a suitable forum for this poll, so have put it here.

I just wondered how many of you attend church regularly or are a member of a church.

I was confirmed Catholic at the Easter Vigil in 2003. Prior to that I was pretty much areligious. I go to mass a lot. It's where I experience Christ in His people, in His Word, in the words of His minister and most especially in the Holy Eucharist. I find that my times of despair and doubt coincide with the times I don't make it mass regularly.

 

[Celticflower]

Really? You've never heard of Methodists supporting the sin of homosexuality? I take it you don't read the papers much.

There may be individuals who do, but there are some in every denomination that don't follow the official church policy.

Same ones I've already given you in other threads.

You haven't given them to me because I have not discussed this issue with you in any other thread. Therefore, please be polite and point them out to those of us who have only interacted with you in this discussion, not some other one. If you have mentioned them in other threads you should have them handy.

You may be on the church rolls, but if you're not meeting your Biblical obligation to that church, then you're not a member in any practical sense, much less in the Biblical sense

Let's see, I am supporting my UMC monetarily, I pray for the church and members of the congregation in need of extra prayers (I'm on the email prayer chain so I can keep up with prayer concerns). So I am not physically there more than once or twice a year when we go to visit family. Are you saying that is a sin?

However the church I am at physically I am unable to become a member of due to some doctrinal differences that are insurrmountable at this time. But I am active in this church, giving of my time, my talents and my money. I am a member in every way, but documentation. And that is all due more to a people thing than a God thing.

So, what would you have me do? Have absolutely no ties to my former church? Go against some very basic and long held beliefs to join a congregation on paper? Leave the church I currently attend and leave my family on Sunday mornings to find a different church? (my husband is a deacon and my kids have many ties in the youth group, so I know they won't be leaving)

Are you such a legalist that you can not understand that the important thing is not what name over the door you put down on a form, but the condition of your heart? Official membership to a particular congregation means little in the grand scheme of things.

 

[PujolsNonRoidHomerHitter]

I was confirmed Catholic at the Easter Vigil in 2003. Prior to that I was pretty much areligious. I go to mass a lot. It's where I experience Christ in His people, in His Word, in the words of His minister and most especially in the Holy Eucharist. I find that my times of despair and doubt coincide with the times I don't make it mass regularly.

Once again Tad proves why he is the coolest Catholic I know.

Go Cards

 

[JohnDeereFan]

There may be individuals who do, but there are some in every denomination that don't follow the official church policy.

There are more than just "some". It's quite a controversy in that denomination.

You haven't given them to me because I have not discussed this issue with you in any other thread.

I knew you'd ignore them. That's precisely why I'm not all that enthusiastic about giving them to you again.

Let's see, I am supporting my UMC monetarily, I pray for the church and members of the congregation in need of extra prayers (I'm on the email prayer chain so I can keep up with prayer concerns). So I am not physically there more than once or twice a year when we go to visit family. Are you saying that is a sin?

I'm saying that you're not meeting the Biblical obligation to that church and that you may be on the rolls, but you're not a member in any practical sense.

However the church I am at physically I am unable to become a member of due to some doctrinal differences that are insurrmountable at this time. But I am active in this church, giving of my time, my talents and my money. I am a member in every way, but documentation. And that is all due more to a people thing than a God thing.

I see. So, if you were to be disciplined by that church, how can they discipline you if you're not a member?

So, what would you have me do? Have absolutely no ties to my former church?

If the doctrinal differences you have with the church you're currently visiting are that serious, then why are you there? If they're not, then why don't you join?

I'm starting to get the feeling from your posts that it's not a matter of doctrinal differences, but that you don't want to submit to them.

Go against some very basic and long held beliefs to join a congregation on paper?

You claim that you're a member in every sense but "on paper" as it is. What would be the difference?

Leave the church I currently attend and leave my family on Sunday mornings to find a different church?

If their doctrine is false, as you're claiming, then, yes.

Are you such a legalist that you can not understand that the important thing is not what name over the door you put down on a form, but the condition of your heart?

And are you such a rebel that you cannot understand the importance of following Biblical teaching?

Funny how when the argument breaks down, the fallback position is always to call your opponnent a legalist. I'm betting "pharisee" or "heresy hunter" is coming next.

Official membership to a particular congregation means little in the grand scheme of things.

If this were true, then the Bible wouldn't make such a big deal out of it.

 

[Celticflower]

I knew you'd ignore them. That's precisely why I'm not all that enthusiastic about giving them to you again.

I see. So, if you were to be disciplined by that church, how can they discipline you if you're not a member?

Excuse me? any Christian can discipline me if I am in the wrong. they do not need a church to do it.

If the doctrinal differences you have with the church you're currently visiting are that serious, then why are you there? If they're not, then why don't you join?

I'm starting to get the feeling from your posts that it's not a matter of doctrinal differences, but that you don't want to submit to them.



You claim that you're a member in every sense but "on paper" as it is. What would be the difference?

In a nutshell, I do not feel I am brave enough to go before God and tell him he screwed up when I was baptised at age 4 weeks, which is what would be required of me to do in order to join this congregation. I also do not feel that I should go thru a ritual that for me would be a sham because I do not believe in re-baptism.


If this were true, then the Bible wouldn't make such a big deal out of it.

You still haven't shown that it does.

 

[BeforeThereWas]

JohnDeeredFan seems to think that a man-made, religious, institutional church organization is the sum total of a biblically sanctioned local church.

Well, John (or whatever your name is), if that is indeed your conclusion, you must also consider that you never gave those verses to me, and you don't seem inclined to do so for those of us who have never seen your supporting basis for this conclusion you have put forth here.

Therefore I'm assuming that you don't care that most of us can't legitimately take you seriously, at least, those of us who have never seen your biblical defense for your position.

There. That about sums it up.

Next?

 

[Zoness]

Really? You've never heard of Methodists supporting the sin of homosexuality? I take it you don't read the papers much.

Hey it's the guy who isn't citing his points and doing research again! Hi!

Not only that, but this is a big-time derailment of a thread about a church asking about attending church to bashing a church that you simply don't like. And you have yet to defend your earlier points of saying that it is unbiblical to not attend a local church and be on the membership rolls. I have a hard time believing that all of the Christians in the world who worship Christ but do not attend church are being unbiblical, especially those in countries where Christianity is suppressed.

 

[E.C.]

Really? You've never heard of Methodists supporting the sin of homosexuality? I take it you don't read the papers much.

Really? You've never heard of Baptists that promote the sins of wrath and hatred? I take it you don't read the papers much either!

 

[HumbleMan]

I haven't been to church much in the last coupla years. Starting to get out of my funk and am looking again. The problem is, during my hiatus, I took time to read the bible, pray, study early church fathers, and pray again. What I see as passing as the "church" today isn't something that I recognize as coming from the bible. I don't recall the bible telling us to build huge buildings to make us more comfortable. I don't recall the bible telling us to be comfortable at all.

To John Deere, the bible tells us to meet with other Christians. It doesn't say sit in a pew and listen to someone who may or may not have been called by God to preach. During the early years of Christianity, Christians were persecuted. They didn't meet publicly, and there was no traveling preacher circuit. They came together as equals, for worshipping Christ, for strengthening their faith, for fellowship. It wasn't until after the 300's that they could actually practice their faith in public without fear of persecution.

As to membership, it means nothing except to add your name to an accounting role. I know in one denomination I used to be a member of, the preacher's salary was based on the number of "members". If you are committed to Christ, through the body of believers, then that's the "membership" you need.

 

[boswd]

So then, you're telling me that when Paul wrote his epistles and addressed them "to the CHURCH at _______", he wasn't writing them to churches?

I don't know what Bible you're reading (probably the same Bible that tells Methodists that homosexuality is just another "lifestyle choice") but we see all throughout the New Testament that believers are called to be a part of an ecclesiastical body that gathers for corporate preaching and teaching of the word of God, corporate worship, the observance of the ordinances, the edification of the body of Christ, mutual accountability, discipline, and the preaching of the Gospel.

We see that this body has an organized system of leadership, offices, rules for membership, disciplinary action for violating those rules, and meet regularly.

That is a church.

<staff Edit> it's usually a good idea to actually find out what a Church's policies are before making these types of statements. In regards to the Methodist Church
this straight from the UMC's Policies concerning homosexuallity

Regarding the ministry of the ordained
&#182;304.3
While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals1 are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.2
1. "Self-avowed practicing homosexual" is understood to mean that a person openly acknowledges to a bishop, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual. See Judicial Council Decisions 702, 708, 722, 725, 764, 844.
2. See Judicial Council Decisions 984, 985.
&#182; 341.6
Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.

Here is the website, you might actually find it informative
*sigh* where do these people get their information.

http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2068577/k.9ACD/Ask_InfoServ/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp#

 

[ArcticFox]

It is entirely impossible to put into practice a significant portion of the Bible if we are not part of a gathering of believers.

That alone is sufficient proof for me.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Really? You've never heard of Baptists that promote the sins of wrath and hatred? I take it you don't read the papers much either!

Could you give me an example, please?

 

[JohnDeereFan]

To John Deere, the bible tells us to meet with other Christians. It doesn't say sit in a pew and listen to someone who may or may not have been called by God to preach.

Seriously? You're really arguing that the Bible doesn't call us to gather corporately to hear the preaching of God's word?

As to membership, it means nothing except to add your name to an accounting role.

Actually, it means much more than that. It means that you are a part of the church and not just a visitor.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Before you go off spewing ignorance...

And that's where I lost all interest in hearing anything you have to say.