Considering changing denomination...again.

[ms.smith]

That's too bad that none of those places have schools. My parents, with my dad as a public school teacher, kept us out of public schools. And it was my intent with my own children to do the same, sending them to Catholic schools. Seeing the moral wasteland of much public school education, it was imperative for us to do that. We found good and faithful schools that were a blessing for my children. But the start was rocky. My eldest daughter was ready for kindergarten at the local Catholic school and both my wife and I lost our jobs a short time before the school year was to start. So we went in basically to say we could no longer afford to send her there. They surprised us totally and gave her a full scholarship that year, telling us not to worry about it. Point being you might get financial aid so never say you can't afford it. But then homeschooling can be good too and way more affordable. Good for you for doing it

Thanks

 

[chevyontheriver]

It is definitely a part of it. I may also be a longing to raise my children the way I was raised, instead of something completely different. A security in the known.

Church was a huge part of my childhood, my best friends throughout all of my childhood we're from church. I still remember my Sunday school teachers. I was in Sunday morning and night activities, I did choir my entire childhood, I learned to read music playing handbells for years, I took guitar lessons in youth and participated in a drama group for a few years.

I get that. It does make sense to go with what you have known. And I don't knock Baptists at all. Yet it does not answer why you first joined an apostolic and liturgical church, the positives you found there.

Granted the Baptists, the Southern Baptists anyhow, were wavering mightily on being pro-life not that many years ago and now they, the Southern Baptists anyhow, seem much more solidly pro-life. That is a great thing. But when Norma McCorvey and Bernard Nathanson and Abby Johnson get straight with God they end up Catholic.

What are the things you still find of value from your Catholic years? The things you will miss. Were they also found with the Orthodox? Probably most were. How will you get along without those things? Looks like a trade-off.

What would be ideal is an end to sectarian separation, if Baptists could be liturgical and come to recognize the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, if Catholics and the Orthodox could wake up to the needs of fellowship (my parish has become awake), if we could work with each other to be better than the sum of our separated parts. Then there would not be a need for a trade-off.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I worry it is all in my head though. But I swear, a pointed message about returning to the local church family you left was on the radio today when I turned it on after the gym.

I wonder if in India they have radio messages about returning to the local temple family you left. Such a message plays on nostalgia, but I don't think it plays on the pursuit of truth at all. That's where the focus should be, and on following God's will for you, following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Caleb and Joshua did that, looking across the river, investigating what was across the river, and saying to go across the river and seize it. Whatever your promised land is, whatever God is saying for you to seize, don't let nostalgia be your guide.

 

[ms.smith]

I have been thinking a lot on why I left the Catholic church for the Orthodox. I now recall it was because I could not reconcile Catholic doctrine to what I believed about God and the Bible, and I found the Orthodox church to be the closest which I could reconcile my belief about the nature of God and His word to the doctrine.

The specific doctrines I could no longer hold to were papal infallibility and the immaculate conception of Mary. To me, the Orthodox church was all of the richness and tradition without the things I could not agree with. I am not Orthodox, I have never been chrismated, I have just attended for 1.5 years. I have prayed extensively about pursuing Orthodoxy further, but I feel that God is leading me back to the church I grew up in.

 

[ms.smith]

I wonder if in India they have radio messages about returning to the local temple family you left. Such a message plays on nostalgia, but I don't think it plays on the pursuit of truth at all. That's where the focus should be, and on following God's will for you, following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Caleb and Joshua did that, looking across the river, investigating what was across the river, and saying to go across the river and seize it. Whatever your promised land is, whatever God is saying for you to seize, don't let nostalgia be your guide.

The message wasn't particularly about going from denomination to denomination, it was about your church family being your church family. You don't quit being family. He likened it to divorce culture, that nowadays people just up and "quit their family" for petty reasons (I know not all divorces are petty reasons, but this was referring to "divorce culture"), people do the same thing with churches, they just up and get in a huff and leave and go try on another family for a while, and when they get tired of that they try on another. It was an interesting message.

 

[chevyontheriver]

The message wasn't particularly about going from denomination to denomination, it was about your church family being your church family. You don't quit being family. He likened it to divorce culture, that nowadays people just up and "quit their family" for petty reasons (I know not all divorces are petty reasons, but this was referring to "divorce culture"), people do the same thing with churches, they just up and get in a huff and leave and go try on another family for a while, and when they get tired of that they try on another. It was an interesting message.

OK, that makes more sense than a mere trip down nostalgia lane. You are right. We should not divorce ourselves from the Church, that would be wrong, it's true. And many do. They should go back, not leave for trivial reasons, stay faithful. Not be migratory

And yet one must be willing to give up everything for truth, even friends and family if need be.

Both things are true in their proper way. We have a duty to follow the truth and a duty to adhere to it once found. Seize and hold, as it were.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I have been thinking a lot on why I left the Catholic church for the Orthodox. I now recall it was because I could not reconcile Catholic doctrine to what I believed about God and the Bible, and I found the Orthodox church to be the closest which I could reconcile my belief about the nature of God and His word to the doctrine.

I've got a generally high opinion of the Orthodox. Some differences, which I hope can some day be reconciled.

The specific doctrines I could no longer hold to were papal infallibility and the immaculate conception of Mary. To me, the Orthodox church was all of the richness and tradition without the things I could not agree with. I am not Orthodox, I have never been chrismated, I have just attended for 1.5 years.

Papal infallibility has sure taken a hit with pope Francis. He says and does things I consider irresponsible. He appoints people imprudently. For me, I look at it as a time of exploring the limits of papal infallibility. No Catholic ever considered it to be an unlimited thing, but with popes JPII and Benedict it was easy to think they were right. It was easy to think highly of good popes. More difficult, to be honest, to think that of pope Francis. So I get you there. I just think there is something real about infallibility in the Church and that it adheres to bishops generally and the successor of Peter specifically. It's just more limited than I would have previously said.

In regards to Mary, the Orthodox regard her as holy, not a sinner. Just how that all happened they will claim not to know, but they are in the same basic place with regards to Mary, whom they also respect.

I have prayed extensively about pursuing Orthodoxy further, but I feel that God is leading me back to the church I grew up in.

God leads. It's not always obvious to us how he leads at any given time. You have had an interesting history of discovery, from faith as a Baptist, walking away from that for a while, a return to faith as a Catholic, and an exploration of Orthodoxy. You have discovered liturgy, the Eucharist, and Tradition, and are raising a family. How it works out, what you do, that's up to you listening to God's will. Don't neglect the good you encountered in the Baptist and Catholic and Orthodox worlds.

 

[ms.smith]

I just wanted to come and update. I've still been attending my Baptist church. I have seen so much answered prayer since going back to the Baptist church, and so much positive change in my life. This could be because I'm praying more, but I know people at the church are praying on my behalf as well.

Most importantly, my husband, who has not regularly attended church since we have been together, has not only started attending with the family but has expressed interest in church membership and becoming involved in ministry at the Baptist church.

I also feel like my attendance has been a blessing for my younger sister. She has stopped skipping church as much. She sits with me know and I think she needed it as well. We lost our mother several years ago, and my father still attends but he sits with his significant other. I think it leaves my sister feeling alone sometimes.

In the past two months, since I've made this switch, God has really blessed our family. I can't say it's related, but I can say changing has made a change in my prayer & worship habits. It is, to me, shocking. So many obviously answered prayers. I can't see how God would allow all these blessings in my life if I were doing something that was contrary to His will.

I went from having no good Christian friends to having a handful of close Christian mom friends who pray for me and care about me, in a few weeks, where I'd gone for months trying to make friends at my other church to no avail.

Anyway, I know this is rambly, it's kind of late. But today DH and I had a heart to heart talk about it. Guys, my husband has fought even attending church for years in the past and now he is not only wanting to join the Baptist church (and be baptized, he's never been baptized) but also to get more involved.

 

[Tigger45]

Praise God and thanks for sharing! \0/

 

[A_Thinker]

I just wanted to come and update. I've still been attending my Baptist church. I have seen so much answered prayer since going back to the Baptist church, and so much positive change in my life. This could be because I'm praying more, but I know people at the church are praying on my behalf as well.

Most importantly, my husband, who has not regularly attended church since we have been together, has not only started attending with the family but has expressed interest in church membership and becoming involved in ministry at the Baptist church.

I also feel like my attendance has been a blessing for my younger sister. She has stopped skipping church as much. She sits with me know and I think she needed it as well. We lost our mother several years ago, and my father still attends but he sits with his significant other. I think it leaves my sister feeling alone sometimes.

In the past two months, since I've made this switch, God has really blessed our family. I can't say it's related, but I can say changing has made a change in my prayer & worship habits. It is, to me, shocking. So many obviously answered prayers. I can't see how God would allow all these blessings in my life if I were doing something that was contrary to His will.

I went from having no good Christian friends to having a handful of close Christian mom friends who pray for me and care about me, in a few weeks, where I'd gone for months trying to make friends at my other church to no avail.

Anyway, I know this is rambly, it's kind of late. But today DH and I had a heart to heart talk about it. Guys, my husband has fought even attending church for years in the past and now he is not only wanting to join the Baptist church (and be baptized, he's never been baptized) but also to get more involved.

What a great praise report.

Thank-you ... and God Bless ...

 

[Newtheran]

I feel like I must be doing something wrong to change so much.
I was raised Baptist. Big church, in church often. Sunday morning, afternoon and evening (sometimes after church events), Wednesday evenings too. I drifted away in later high school when I started driving myself. I spent my college years not in church and "trying out" a few other religions.
Towards the end of my college years I decided Catholicism was it. Went through RCIA and attended Catholic church for several years. My oldest two children were baptized Catholic. After the birth of my third, I discovered Orthodoxy and I've been attending Orthodox services for 18 months. I have met with the priest about becoming Orthodox about 9 months in, but have made no further moves on officially joining the Orthodox church. I do volunteer in Sunday School and have found myself teaching Sunday school about 1/3 of Sundays for PK-K students. I'm not entirely comfortable teaching Sunday school while not being an actual Orthodox Christian, but there was a need and I was willing to help. PK and K is mostly just crafts and coloring.
If you have made it this far, I've come to the heart of my issue. I'm feeling drawn to my old Church, the Church I grew up in. I visited last Sunday and I already feel moving to that Church is the way to go. I don't know if I'm just being rash and rushing, or if the Holy Spirit is calling me to do this, or if it's just in the best interest of my family to do this.
I just needed to let this out somewhere. I don't see my therapist again for a couple of weeks and getting things out usually helps me move through it. I'd appreciate any feedback or if anyone wants to talk through it with me. Thanks.

As a Baptist for 30 years who left to become Confessional Lutheran and considered Orthodoxy, may I make a suggestion? Rather than allowing feeling to dictate this choice, do some objective study and come to a rational conclusion illumined by history and the holy spirit. As scripture says, a double minded man is unstable in all his ways...and the heart is deceitful above all things. A study that allows you to make a decision grounded in fact gives it a strength that feelings can never provide.

The Baptist church of today is not the Baptist church you remember from your youth. At worship, much of it resembles tongueless pentecostalism. Other problematic things are creeping in as well.

If you're someone who found Roman Catholicism appealing and now is attending Orthodox services, I would strongly recommend that you stay put rather than letting nostalgia for something that really doesn't exist anymore color your decision.

Here is a link to a bunch of videos PatristicNectarFilms

That you may find helpful.

 

[Silverback]

I feel like I must be doing something wrong to change so much.
I was raised Baptist. Big church, in church often. Sunday morning, afternoon and evening (sometimes after church events), Wednesday evenings too. I drifted away in later high school when I started driving myself. I spent my college years not in church and "trying out" a few other religions.
Towards the end of my college years I decided Catholicism was it. Went through RCIA and attended Catholic church for several years. My oldest two children were baptized Catholic. After the birth of my third, I discovered Orthodoxy and I've been attending Orthodox services for 18 months. I have met with the priest about becoming Orthodox about 9 months in, but have made no further moves on officially joining the Orthodox church. I do volunteer in Sunday School and have found myself teaching Sunday school about 1/3 of Sundays for PK-K students. I'm not entirely comfortable teaching Sunday school while not being an actual Orthodox Christian, but there was a need and I was willing to help. PK and K is mostly just crafts and coloring.
If you have made it this far, I've come to the heart of my issue. I'm feeling drawn to my old Church, the Church I grew up in. I visited last Sunday and I already feel moving to that Church is the way to go. I don't know if I'm just being rash and rushing, or if the Holy Spirit is calling me to do this, or if it's just in the best interest of my family to do this.
I just needed to let this out somewhere. I don't see my therapist again for a couple of weeks and getting things out usually helps me move through it. I'd appreciate any feedback or if anyone wants to talk through it with me. Thanks.

Hello, I will try to keep this short, here is my personal journey.

I was born into a nominal Mormon household, I was never really exposed to anything else. I really liked going to church, and found myself either in church, or doing something for the church 3-4 days a week. For most of the time that I attended the Mormon church, I had to go alone. At some point there were changes made, and due to my attire, I was no longer welcome to enter the sanctuary, and I had to sit in the lobby and just listen. I did try to enter several times, once I got the hand to the chest, and was shoved out of line, the other time, I was pulled out by my arm, and verbally earned not to attempt to enter again "until you can dress like a real person...I was 12, or 13, and meeting the standards was simply not going to happen. My attendance tapered off, and I stopped going.

I enlisted in the Navy, and left home two weeks after graduation. A few years into my enlistment, I felt the desire to return to church, I attended a Mormon Church in Puerto Rico where I was stationed at the time, and after a few Sundays, I realized that Mormonism was not for me. That decision essentially destroyed my relationship with my family.

I did the Bible Church circuit for a while, it generally felt empty to me, no depth. I also attended services at the base chapel, which was much the same...most of the time.

Then I started to check out Eastern Orthodoxy, The Episcopal Church, and the Lutheran Church.
at some point, I said to myself, "you are adrift in a sea of uncertainty, you have to pick one, so, the Lutheran Church (LCMS) won out.

I would offer the same advise to you, you will have uncertainty until you pick one and stay.

Additionally, I stay away from study of other faiths if I can, it gets to confusing, but I fail sometimes.

Mormonism still rears it's ugly head from time to time, and tried to sow doubt, but I'm good at dismissing it pretty quick.

I wish you the best in your search.

 

[ripple the car]

I just wanted to come and update. I've still been attending my Baptist church. I have seen so much answered prayer since going back to the Baptist church, and so much positive change in my life. This could be because I'm praying more, but I know people at the church are praying on my behalf as well.

Most importantly, my husband, who has not regularly attended church since we have been together, has not only started attending with the family but has expressed interest in church membership and becoming involved in ministry at the Baptist church.

I also feel like my attendance has been a blessing for my younger sister. She has stopped skipping church as much. She sits with me know and I think she needed it as well. We lost our mother several years ago, and my father still attends but he sits with his significant other. I think it leaves my sister feeling alone sometimes.

In the past two months, since I've made this switch, God has really blessed our family. I can't say it's related, but I can say changing has made a change in my prayer & worship habits. It is, to me, shocking. So many obviously answered prayers. I can't see how God would allow all these blessings in my life if I were doing something that was contrary to His will.

I went from having no good Christian friends to having a handful of close Christian mom friends who pray for me and care about me, in a few weeks, where I'd gone for months trying to make friends at my other church to no avail.

Anyway, I know this is rambly, it's kind of late. But today DH and I had a heart to heart talk about it. Guys, my husband has fought even attending church for years in the past and now he is not only wanting to join the Baptist church (and be baptized, he's never been baptized) but also to get more involved.

Thank you for the update, Ma'am. I'll keep keeping you guys in my prayers. My husband is a Baptist. Dispensationalism, pre-trip rapture, everything. He's a decent man, and generous, and forgiving, and does the best he can where he's at.

Someday, I believe all the sincere and genuine Christians will be One. Those who believe in God and obey the Gospel, and are children of the Woman in Revelation, and the Gospels. I know that Baptists are great on fellowship and friendliness. I can't do osas, symbolic eucharist, or Sola Scriptura anymore. I love other Christians, but see a usefulness and consistency, historically, in how the Catholic and Orthodox Christians understand following Christ and discerning what is True, and right.

God be with you on your journey, Ma'am. Christ be with you.

 

[justme6272]

I feel like I must be doing something wrong to change so much.
I was raised Baptist. Big church, in church often. Sunday morning, afternoon and evening (sometimes after church events), Wednesday evenings too. I drifted away in later high school when I started driving myself. I spent my college years not in church and "trying out" a few other religions.
Towards the end of my college years I decided Catholicism was it. Went through RCIA and attended Catholic church for several years. My oldest two children were baptized Catholic. After the birth of my third, I discovered Orthodoxy and I've been attending Orthodox services for 18 months. I have met with the priest about becoming Orthodox about 9 months in, but have made no further moves on officially joining the Orthodox church. I do volunteer in Sunday School and have found myself teaching Sunday school about 1/3 of Sundays for PK-K students. I'm not entirely comfortable teaching Sunday school while not being an actual Orthodox Christian, but there was a need and I was willing to help. PK and K is mostly just crafts and coloring.
If you have made it this far, I've come to the heart of my issue. I'm feeling drawn to my old Church, the Church I grew up in. I visited last Sunday and I already feel moving to that Church is the way to go. I don't know if I'm just being rash and rushing, or if the Holy Spirit is calling me to do this, or if it's just in the best interest of my family to do this.
I just needed to let this out somewhere. I don't see my therapist again for a couple of weeks and getting things out usually helps me move through it. I'd appreciate any feedback or if anyone wants to talk through it with me. Thanks.

You may feel like you want all your eggs in one basket at a time, even if the basket is subject to change after a period of years. I've gone that route and don't want to do it anymore after feeling like I've either gotten burned or am wasting my time. But then, I've never had to worry about or consult anyone but myself. I don't know the ages of your family members, but it seems like most parents put their kids first, whether it be kids program or youth program, assuming the teaching is something they can stomach.

Someone finally pointed out to me one day, when I was bellyaching about things at church, "You've chosen to attend an institutional church." They have their ways of doing things, all the way up the chain of command and there's nothing anyone can do about it...not even a church leader, much less a lowly layperson. I much prefer an independent church, run by the people who are there, without conventions, and without discipline from some board in another state. If the church is Biblically sound, and they have a decent amount of deacons or elders who aren't part of a revolving door, odds are good they won't go off the deep end, but should they do something too stupid, I know where the door is.

I'd be leery of any emotional attraction, that you're somehow 'coming home' or 'returning to your roots' cause if you're like me, within 5 years you'll be looking for something else again. I liked a church once because I thought the people were more unpretentious compared to the wealthy megachurches. But then over time, every one of the major pastors showed their true colors and I couldn't stand it anymore. They're happy retiring on the job, satisfied with the status quo and a paycheck and benefits package. Some people don't find until their 2nd or 3rd marriage what they wish they had started with. It can be that way with church...you don't know it until you see it. Now, I attend where I know the people there are like-minded in the sense that none of us would listen to the pastor very long if he were off base. I rotate between other churches depending on what's going on. If I feel the need to write off one for whatever reason, there are others I'm already very familiar with.
(Pastors can't stand such a person who isn't committed to only THEIR church each week, and they can come up with reasons why it's wrong, but those aren't the real reasons. Follow the money).
And my primary church is not just a bunch of traditionalists. We can think for ourselves.

Glad you were able to vent. Have you polled the family to see what they like best? As long as the teaching isn't messed up, I could go wherever my spouse and kids wanted, if I had them, and if it wasn't too far to drive, and the liturgy was tolerable for an hour. More than an hour and I'm ready to get out of there, wherever it is, especially when the pastor says the same things over and over each week, just prefaced by a different scripture verse to begin the sermon. That's a slacker who isn't doing much preparation during the week. I heard one sermon on Ester from a well known pastor that was just telling the story, reworded. I thought, "I can sit at home in my pajamas and read the story!"

 

[Silverback]

You may feel like you want all your eggs in one basket at a time, even if the basket is subject to change after a period of years. I've gone that route and don't want to do it anymore after feeling like I've either gotten burned or am wasting my time. But then, I've never had to worry about or consult anyone but myself. I don't know the ages of your family members, but it seems like most parents put their kids first, whether it be kids program or youth program, assuming the teaching is something they can stomach.

Someone finally pointed out to me one day, when I was bellyaching about things at church, "You've chosen to attend an institutional church." They have their ways of doing things, all the way up the chain of command and there's nothing anyone can do about it...not even a church leader, much less a lowly layperson. I much prefer an independent church, run by the people who are there, without conventions, and without discipline from some board in another state. If the church is Biblically sound, and they have a decent amount of deacons or elders who aren't part of a revolving door, odds are good they won't go off the deep end, but should they do something too stupid, I know where the door is.

I'd be leery of any emotional attraction, that you're somehow 'coming home' or 'returning to your roots' cause if you're like me, within 5 years you'll be looking for something else again. I liked a church once because I thought the people were more unpretentious compared to the wealthy megachurches. But then over time, every one of the major pastors showed their true colors and I couldn't stand it anymore. They're happy retiring on the job, satisfied with the status quo and a paycheck and benefits package. Some people don't find until their 2nd or 3rd marriage what they wish they had started with. It can be that way with church...you don't know it until you see it. Now, I attend where I know the people there are like-minded in the sense that none of us would listen to the pastor very long if he were off base. I rotate between other churches depending on what's going on. If I feel the need to write off one for whatever reason, there are others I'm already very familiar with.
(Pastors can't stand such a person who isn't committed to only THEIR church each week, and they can come up with reasons why it's wrong, but those aren't the real reasons. Follow the money).
And my primary church is not just a bunch of traditionalists. We can think for ourselves.

Glad you were able to vent. Have you polled the family to see what they like best? As long as the teaching isn't messed up, I could go wherever my spouse and kids wanted, if I had them, and if it wasn't too far to drive, and the liturgy was tolerable for an hour. More than an hour and I'm ready to get out of there, wherever it is, especially when the pastor says the same things over and over each week, just prefaced by a different scripture verse to begin the sermon. That's a slacker who isn't doing much preparation during the week. I heard one sermon on Ester from a well known pastor that was just telling the story, reworded. I thought, "I can sit at home in my pajamas and read the story!"

I understand how you feel, I was raised in a nominally Mormon household, but I liked church, and usually went alone, catching a ride with another member. It was strange sitting in a pew alone at say 9-13 years old. I stopped going once I got into high school. When I joined the Navy, I returned for a short while, but left the Church soon after due to doctrinal issues. I the tried the Bible Church route for a while, then attended services at the Base Chapel, however, I faded away from any church for many years. I felt the call to worship, but I could never decide where to go. Then my unit received a new Chaplain, he was Lutheran (LCMS) we got along well, so I started attending the Local Lutheran Church in Kailua Hawaii, was baptized, and became a member. It has worked out well for my family and I.

I finally just had to make a decision, so Lutheran it was. My wife likes the LCMS, and does not want to jump around like we did in years past. We are happy.

BTW, we also explored The Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, The Episcopal Church, and maybe a few others. The Episcopal Church almost won out, but they were already infected with the sickness of liberalism, so, I passed...Beautiful liturgy though, the Book of Common Prayer is wonderful. Just could not go that far left.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

I feel like I must be doing something wrong to change so much.
I was raised Baptist. Big church, in church often. Sunday morning, afternoon and evening (sometimes after church events), Wednesday evenings too. I drifted away in later high school when I started driving myself. I spent my college years not in church and "trying out" a few other religions.
Towards the end of my college years I decided Catholicism was it. Went through RCIA and attended Catholic church for several years. My oldest two children were baptized Catholic. After the birth of my third, I discovered Orthodoxy and I've been attending Orthodox services for 18 months. I have met with the priest about becoming Orthodox about 9 months in, but have made no further moves on officially joining the Orthodox church. I do volunteer in Sunday School and have found myself teaching Sunday school about 1/3 of Sundays for PK-K students. I'm not entirely comfortable teaching Sunday school while not being an actual Orthodox Christian, but there was a need and I was willing to help. PK and K is mostly just crafts and coloring.
If you have made it this far, I've come to the heart of my issue. I'm feeling drawn to my old Church, the Church I grew up in. I visited last Sunday and I already feel moving to that Church is the way to go. I don't know if I'm just being rash and rushing, or if the Holy Spirit is calling me to do this, or if it's just in the best interest of my family to do this.
I just needed to let this out somewhere. I don't see my therapist again for a couple of weeks and getting things out usually helps me move through it. I'd appreciate any feedback or if anyone wants to talk through it with me. Thanks.

Maybe its Gods way of telling you to keep searching for the right church. I recommend a church that is biblically-based and not of traditions of man. Ask God to lead your way and He will answer you. You might want to check out SabbathTruth.com or AmazingFacts.com

God Bless you in your search.

 

[ISteveB]

I feel like I must be doing something wrong to change so much.
I was raised Baptist. Big church, in church often. Sunday morning, afternoon and evening (sometimes after church events), Wednesday evenings too. I drifted away in later high school when I started driving myself. I spent my college years not in church and "trying out" a few other religions.
Towards the end of my college years I decided Catholicism was it. Went through RCIA and attended Catholic church for several years. My oldest two children were baptized Catholic. After the birth of my third, I discovered Orthodoxy and I've been attending Orthodox services for 18 months. I have met with the priest about becoming Orthodox about 9 months in, but have made no further moves on officially joining the Orthodox church. I do volunteer in Sunday School and have found myself teaching Sunday school about 1/3 of Sundays for PK-K students. I'm not entirely comfortable teaching Sunday school while not being an actual Orthodox Christian, but there was a need and I was willing to help. PK and K is mostly just crafts and coloring.
If you have made it this far, I've come to the heart of my issue. I'm feeling drawn to my old Church, the Church I grew up in. I visited last Sunday and I already feel moving to that Church is the way to go. I don't know if I'm just being rash and rushing, or if the Holy Spirit is calling me to do this, or if it's just in the best interest of my family to do this.
I just needed to let this out somewhere. I don't see my therapist again for a couple of weeks and getting things out usually helps me move through it. I'd appreciate any feedback or if anyone wants to talk through it with me. Thanks.

Hi.
Since this started back in April 2019, how's your quest coming along?