I too received an email containing a link to this thread, and I find the thread to be very interesting on a number of levels, the least of which is that I can identify very much with the OP.
I was raised in the Episcopal Church, and after college I went the non-denominational route. For almost 15 years, we enjoyed several non-denominational churches and ultimately settled into an Evangelical Free Church. Just over 10 years ago, we moved to the deep South where there are no Evangelical Free Churches, so on invitation from a new neighbor, we started attending an Independent Baptist Church which was staunch KJV-only). It was an amazing experience with a loving congregation, but unfortunately after moving into a new, larger building, egos in church leadership erupted, and the church became very corrupt. We decided to leave after attending another local church. Since then we have attended several churches of several denominations including Southern Baptist, Pentecostal, non-denominational, Methodist, and Catholic. In all cases except for one, over time we felt isolated, separated, and not deeply welcomed by the various churches. That one exception was the local Catholic Church. Yes, we were always graciously welcomed on a surface level, but we simply could not make any deep connections.
Is it possible that the "problem" lies in us and not the various churches? Sure, I'll certainly consider that. After all, WE are the ones dissatisfied with the churches. But consider that there is a consistent trend that we see in so many local churches that really bothers us: An overarching attitude of division and divisiveness. (Obviously, this is only on observation of several local churches, so I won't generalize to the specific denominations.) The attitude is that if there is disagreement or disharmony within a church, the answer is not to come together as a body, address the problem, and reconcile, but instead to pack up your things and go start up another church, often taking with you those who also can't or won't reconcile.
The number of churches that have split or have been established due to splitting from another church is staggering. I don't have any real numbers, but it seems like in the past decade we've seen probably a score of new churches spring up, mostly from people leaving other churches. And further, we do see a LOT of people joining churches, but in the majority of cases, they are not joining as new Christians, but simply moving their membership from one church to another. It seems that the new churches are not starting up to fill a need due to new Christians, but to accommodate a large shuffle game of members dissatisfied with their current church.
Above, I said "with one exception...the local Catholic Church."
I recently joined the Catholic Church after attending an RCIA class led by two Franciscan priests. I took the class not to become a Catholic, but to learn about what the Catholic Church teaches. After almost a year of study, discussion, and prayer, I decided to join the Church because the Catholic Church echoed a lot of what I believe as a Christian, and that is what led me to the decision of join.
Now astute readers will notice my username and signature, and I'm fully expecting many negative responses to this where some may claim that my joining the Catholic Church and being a Freemason is hypocritical. I respect those opinions, and if you want to discuss it further, I'd be happy to in another thread. But suffice it to say, my decision to join the Catholic Church was greatly influenced by my (York Rite) Masonic involvement. The symbolism, the history, the ritual, the teaching of the Catholic Church, all mesh with my personal Christian beliefs. And the morality lessons learned as a Freemason are very much reinforced by much of Catholic doctrine. Yes, there are a couple points with which I "agree to disagree" but they do not detract from either my Catholic or Masonic membership. And quite frankly, without my Masonic background (to which I was introduced by a Baptist) I can honestly say that the Catholic Church would not mean as much to me as it does.
In retrospect, at every church we have attended, both my wife and I always had an internal "leading", prompting us where to go or when to leave. We attribute it to God leading us to where he wants us to be, therefore it is very easy for us to see that every step of our Christian journey has been very God-led. While emotion certainly played a part in some cases, we always ended up where we needed to be at that time. And now, we are at home and are greatly fulfilled at the Catholic Church, and my relationship with Jesus Christ has never been stronger.
