Do you think churches like Elim are too extrem & over the top in many ways?

[Hazel W]

I have now come OUT of the Elim Pentecostal church in the UK.I guess what first attracted me to Elim was its warmth & friendliness & its lively services with a Live Worship band complete with drums,guitars,keyboards,flute etc playing todays Modern Contempory Christian Music Like Hillsongs and Chris Tomlin,Matt Redman kind of songs.

However,I soon began to find that the pastors can be dictative and control freaks and if you get more involved with the church they soon expect you to be there whenever the doors of the church are Open,during the weekdays as well for Prayer Meetings,Bible Study,Homegroups etc & you begin to feel you've got no time to do what you want to do,your time is taken up by the church.You soon find you're at church activities more than with your family at home as they start to take over your whole life,if you let them,and I was beginning to feel resentful.

Also Pentecostals go in for speaking in tongues,baptism in the Holy Spirit,jerking,laughing crying,shaking,and getting all worked up into hysteria-even the pastors I've noticed,dont talk when they are preaching,they SHOUT,whilst walking up and down the platform.

I'd begun to feel in my Spirit that I cant settle,I don't feel at peace,I feel somethings not right,I feel unsettled all the time,therefore this could be a sign i'm not meant to be at the Elim church do you think?soi've decided to quit and stop going there.
Have any of you felt uncomfatable with The Elim church?Would you rather attend a Mainstream Christian church like an Church Of England church,be it a ''Traditional'' cofe church or a more Evangelical branch of the cofe?

Would you even attend Elim or any other Pentecostal or charismatic church?

I am having a couple of three sundays away from church now,i feel I need it.Each time I've attended an Elim Or Aog I've felt No peace about it,i've felt something is not quite right.Yes,i enjoy the lively contempory praise and worship but there isn't any reverence for God,its all so noisy,so I am considering after some time out of church whether to just go back to my local CofE parish church,which is very Traditional with choir,organ and hymns,what my friends there call ''Proper'' church-they don't like or agree with the things Pentecostals or charismatics do-they think its very over the top and extreme-OR I could perhaps move onto another nearby COFE church which is more Evangelical-they have a traditional service early on sundays followed by a lively Contempory worship service with a worship band with guitars,drums etc-do you think this kind of Anglican church would be better for me,as you've got the best of both worlds here-a traditional Anglican service and another one of lively contempory music,plus they run Alpha courses,Bible Study & homegroups plus have loads of other things going on.
Would you prefer a lively Evangelical Parish church over a Traditional Anglo Catholic one or do you think for someone of my age group,i'm in my sixties i'd be better off in a more Traditional ''High'' Anglican church?

 

[Radagast]

Perhaps a more evangelical CofE church is what you need.

 

[parsley]

Try to look at it from a different perspective for a minute. Has the church changed from what it was when you started? Churches go through phases, especially when they allow activity to be volatile and adaptable. Denominational churches stay more grounded by being more rigid in structure and mindset, but both have their merits.

You have noticed it's time to go... it probably is time to swing your pendulum the other direction. But make sure you do not completely throw out what God did for you while you grew there. Some things were right, some weren't.... that will happen anywhere.

I agree that shouting is unnecessary, dictatorial approaches disable the flock, and overactivity drives everyone inward instead of outward. But Charismatic expression is not about emotions -- or at least it shouldn't be. Maybe that is the problem you are seeing -- maybe people are less earnest, more spiritually competitive, and maybe even just plain exhausted by church life.

I used to be immersed in church activity like you described, and found it was not healthy for me, or for others. Jesus sent His disciples outward, not inward. When we start bickering over doctrine, fussing over what color the rugs are, comparing who read deeper book topics... then we know we are in a stagnant pond and need to jump outward.

I try to keep a healthy balance of one or two church responsibilities at a time. Also, activity out in the secular public, where God's influence can be seen.

It's all a learning experience, and you do what seems good until God shows you it's getting warped. React to the situation at hand, use wisdom, and stay grateful. People and churches continually change, so what seems good or bad one minute will be shifted later by God and people. Work toward the wisest shift, and operate in love.

It is often God that calls people out of a fellowship, to move on to His next plan. Keep your travel bags packed.

 

[Harry3142]

Hazel W-

The Elim church is officially listed as one of the radical churches, rather than its being a protestant church. And you have just discovered one of the reasons why it's labeled as such.

It's been my experience that many of those denominations and sects are quick to condemn the Roman Catholic Church, or any other church that resenbles it in their teachings or religious services. Some go so far as to claim that all who are not members of their particular denomination or sect, and in particular RC's, must be seen as condemned by God.

However, it's also been my experience that the same churches which are quick to condemn are also megalomaniacal when it comes to their leadership. The words of their heirarchy are to be accepted unconditionally and unequivocally, without questioning those edicts in any way.

IOW, their churches aren't really churches as we know them. Rather than their being locations where the people can be educated and enlightened concerning spiritual matters, they are instead locations where those in charge demand absolute power over all those who would attend. And we all know what inevitably happens when any mortal obtains absolute power over other people.

 

[poolsocks]

hi i came out of an elim and have only now gone back to a little urc church after about twenty years. i would say go with what your heart is telling you anything else is guilt caused by your spiritual abuse. i feel much better for making this decision over christmas, it will take time to trust people again, but if you want to walk with god find your inner strength.