I don't know where we fit

[harkness]

Quick background. My husband was raised LDS, I was raised in a non-religious home, but became a Mormon at 16 (2001). We married in the temple and all that good Mormon stuff. I doubted a lot for a long time, and my husband did to. We stopped physically attenting LDS services around 2010, and formally resigned our memebership in 2014.

We had a lot of re-programming, re-definining, re-discovering of God to do, and we did it. We wanted to hold onto our believe in Christ, because so many who leave the LDS church loose their belief in God completely. It isn't always easy, esp for me for some reason, I go through periods of doubt and periods of faith. I find it hard to trust in religion. My doubts are often brought on by some sort of black & white Christian thinking like "If you don't believe in a young earth and 6 literal days of creation you are calling God a liar!", when I see evidence with my own eyes of an old earth and a fossil record that shows evidence for evolution. Then I'm left questioning if I could possibly be a Christian and accept evolution.
Christ is my Savior. There is so much in the bible and in this world that makes no sense to me, so I just put my hope in Him.

Anyway, what we are looking for -
- a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt
- a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution
- maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church
- more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality
- focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)

That's probably an odd list. We are in a somewhat less urban part of Utah, so I feel like some of our choices are limited. We've been attending a nearby church that we later discovered is an Assemblies of God, though we haven't seen any evidence of spiritual gifts to frighten us away. We visited the bigger Non-denom church once and it was too big that it would have lacked the community we wanted, and the sermon was pure fluff. Part of me wonders if we'd like a liturgical church, but aren't those closed communion?
I know there are Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches in our broader area, and a handful of small bible churches, and then countless Mormon churches.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Albion]

We visited the bigger Non-denom church once and it was too big that it would have lacked the community we wanted, and the sermon was pure fluff. Part of me wonders if we'd like a liturgical church, but aren't those closed communion?
I know there are Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches in our broader area, and a handful of small bible churches, and then countless Mormon churches.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, Harkness. Actually, those are the kinds of churches that I was thinking of when I was reading through your post--the mainline Protestant churches. I regret that you've not given any of them a chance while, instead, trying out some less mainstream church bodies. Most of these churches do "fit" well with that you said you're seeking.

However, the point you made was about open communion. As a matter of fact, most of these that you named here do practice open communion for baptized visitors from other Trinitarian churches. But that's the rub. If you have not joined any Christian church since leaving LDS and so have not been baptized in any Christian denomination, this usual openness could and probably would most often be in question. I would still visit the most promising ones and talk with the pastor of those you narrow your list down to. Bear in mind that most of these mainline denominations have rival church bodies (like, for example, LDS vs RLDS). There are Episcopalians and then there are Anglicans. There's the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and then there is the Lutheran Church-Missouri synod, and so on. You apparently lean theologically liberal on some of the things that divide these churches, so I'm just saying to know 'who's who' when you go visiting.

Meanwhile, if you have other doctrinal issues or preferences in worship style that could help us help you in narrowing that list here, please do fill us in.

 

[harkness]

We enjoy the worship music we've been experiencing at the AofG church, they have a band and it's loud, but not too showy like a concert, and often we recognize the music from KLove or they do a lot of Hillsong/Bethel music. But we are not ones to physically worship, no raising hands or whatever. But I loved singing the hymns at the Mormon church.

Doctrinal....I am not sure. We were focused on trying to figure that out before we actually visited a church, and it really bogged us down, so we decided to focus on it so much. We figured we were better off in a church learning and growing in our relationship with God rather than working out all the details. I guess the biggest thing would be room for allegory in the biblical narrative. My husband said very definitely he could never be a 6 day literalist YEC, and I agree. When we were searching before there was a lot about Orthodoxy he agreed with, but I was very put off by the strictness of the fasting and the icons.

We haven't visited those churches in our area because they are all pastored by women, and coming from Mormonism where women cannot hold positions of authority like that, we weren't sure what our comfort level would be, and like I mentioned above the fact that we are technically outsiders without a Trinitarian baptism.

 

[Albion]

My feeling at the moment is that the mainline churches, not being fundamentalistic on 6 day creation and without that narrow judgmentalism you referred to in the OP, still would be the area to focus on.

As for the baptism, I'd say to address that issue when you find where you fit otherwise. Most of these churches that were mentioned are, however, liturgical, so the logical suggestions wouldn't be the same as an AOG congregation, even without the arm waving. But you said that your husband has liked Orthodoxy, so maybe this is OK.

Methodists would be the least liturgical, and some branches of Methodism, it's hardly noticeable. There are denominations without women clergy, but they are the more conservative ones, meaning that you might be lucky to thread the needle and find everything you favor in one church.

It looks like you have relatively few choices, so you might as well visit and check out the ones you mentioned as being available.

 

[1watchman]

Just be sure it is a Bible-only church fellowship that you find, Harkness, for the Word of God and His testimony in Christ is all Christians need to gather to; and He receives worship from those who know and love Him (note Isa. 66:1-2 and John 14 ---KJV).

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

As long as you seek a place that accepts what you have already decided to believe,
it may take quite a bit longer to find any place that teaches what God says.

Seek God first, His Kingdom. He is the One Who can save us, and Who can direct our steps.

 

[Paidiske]

We haven't visited those churches in our area because they are all pastored by women, and coming from Mormonism where women cannot hold positions of authority like that, we weren't sure what our comfort level would be, and like I mentioned above the fact that we are technically outsiders without a Trinitarian baptism.

I agree with Albion that Episcopalian/Lutheran/Methodist type worship is probably most likely to tick your boxes.

On the women in ministry thing, it's been my experience that I've dealt with quite a few people who've been hesitant and not sure if they'd find me okay. I'm not saying I please everyone all the time (impossible task!), but I've mostly found that when people have come to a service or two, and realised that I preach the gospel, I take the liturgy seriously, and I care about people, they decide that the fact I'm a woman just isn't that big a deal. (I'm not talking here about people with definite strong objections, just hesitation because it hasn't been their experience).

So it might be worth visiting and seeing how you find one or two of those churches; worst case scenario, it's not the right church for you and you've got a slightly better sense of what you're looking for.

 

[John Davidson]

Quick background. My husband was raised LDS, I was raised in a non-religious home, but became a Mormon at 16 (2001). We married in the temple and all that good Mormon stuff. I doubted a lot for a long time, and my husband did to. We stopped physically attenting LDS services around 2010, and formally resigned our memebership in 2014.

We had a lot of re-programming, re-definining, re-discovering of God to do, and we did it. We wanted to hold onto our believe in Christ, because so many who leave the LDS church loose their belief in God completely. It isn't always easy, esp for me for some reason, I go through periods of doubt and periods of faith. I find it hard to trust in religion. My doubts are often brought on by some sort of black & white Christian thinking like "If you don't believe in a young earth and 6 literal days of creation you are calling God a liar!", when I see evidence with my own eyes of an old earth and a fossil record that shows evidence for evolution. Then I'm left questioning if I could possibly be a Christian and accept evolution.
Christ is my Savior. There is so much in the bible and in this world that makes no sense to me, so I just put my hope in Him.

Anyway, what we are looking for -
- a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt
- a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution
- maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church
- more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality
- focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)

That's probably an odd list. We are in a somewhat less urban part of Utah, so I feel like some of our choices are limited. We've been attending a nearby church that we later discovered is an Assemblies of God, though we haven't seen any evidence of spiritual gifts to frighten us away. We visited the bigger Non-denom church once and it was too big that it would have lacked the community we wanted, and the sermon was pure fluff. Part of me wonders if we'd like a liturgical church, but aren't those closed communion?
I know there are Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches in our broader area, and a handful of small bible churches, and then countless Mormon churches.

Thanks in advance!

While I personally do not recommend them, the ELCA or UMC would fit your description.

 

[John Davidson]

they decide that the fact I'm a woman just isn't that big a deal.

I personally find it to be very offensive and doctrinally in error.

I would never attend a Church with a women Pastor.

The scriptures explicitly teach that women are not to be in places of authority over men.

This is one thing the LDS church is actually doing right.

 

[Paidiske]

I personally find it to be very offensive and doctrinally in error.

I would never attend a Church with a women Pastor.

The scriptures explicitly teach that women are not to be in places of authority over men.

There are plenty of people with your views (I wasn't talking about those people in my post; sorry, I tried to make that clear). I hope that you and others like you always have a spiritual home with a community which meets your needs.

However, Christians do differ on this in good conscience; and many Christians who do not have strong convictions about this find that when they do encounter women in ministry, they are able to accept our ministry. That's really all I was trying to say.

 

[graceandpeace]

Quick background. My husband was raised LDS, I was raised in a non-religious home, but became a Mormon at 16 (2001). We married in the temple and all that good Mormon stuff. I doubted a lot for a long time, and my husband did to. We stopped physically attenting LDS services around 2010, and formally resigned our memebership in 2014.

We had a lot of re-programming, re-definining, re-discovering of God to do, and we did it. We wanted to hold onto our believe in Christ, because so many who leave the LDS church loose their belief in God completely. It isn't always easy, esp for me for some reason, I go through periods of doubt and periods of faith. I find it hard to trust in religion. My doubts are often brought on by some sort of black & white Christian thinking like "If you don't believe in a young earth and 6 literal days of creation you are calling God a liar!", when I see evidence with my own eyes of an old earth and a fossil record that shows evidence for evolution. Then I'm left questioning if I could possibly be a Christian and accept evolution.
Christ is my Savior. There is so much in the bible and in this world that makes no sense to me, so I just put my hope in Him.

Anyway, what we are looking for -
- a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt
- a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution
- maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church
- more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality
- focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)

That's probably an odd list. We are in a somewhat less urban part of Utah, so I feel like some of our choices are limited. We've been attending a nearby church that we later discovered is an Assemblies of God, though we haven't seen any evidence of spiritual gifts to frighten us away. We visited the bigger Non-denom church once and it was too big that it would have lacked the community we wanted, and the sermon was pure fluff. Part of me wonders if we'd like a liturgical church, but aren't those closed communion?
I know there are Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches in our broader area, and a handful of small bible churches, and then countless Mormon churches.

Thanks in advance!

I agree with others that one of the Mainline Protestant churches would be the best fit, all criteria considered, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA), the Episcopal Church, etc.

I've never been to a Mormon service, but some of the Mainline churches are (or tend to be) liturgical, which can take time to get used to. Once you have attended for awhile, you learn the service, & of course many churches have people willing to help newcomers figure it out.

 

[hedrick]

Many mainline congregations don't always enforce the requirement for baptism for communion. It would be required for full membership, of course. The requirement is because communion is for Christians, and being baptized seemed like a pretty minimal definition of Christian. However there are exceptions, and I think many congregations would make allowances.

For my church the biggest exception is kids who grew up in the baptist tradition, and so weren't baptized. If they are participating in Sunday school or youth group I'm pretty sure we wouldn't exclude them from communion.

 

[chevyontheriver]

My doubts are often brought on by some sort of black & white Christian thinking like "If you don't believe in a young earth and 6 literal days of creation you are calling God a liar!", when I see evidence with my own eyes of an old earth and a fossil record that shows evidence for evolution. Then I'm left questioning if I could possibly be a Christian and accept evolution.

Anti-evolutionism is a fairly new belief among (some) Christians, starting up only in the 1800's. Earlier Christianity had no such compulsion to reject the idea that life evolved.

The Catholic Church allows one to accept evolution as long as one believes that the soul is not evolved but that each soul is directly created by God. Any attempt to give a material explanation of the human soul is incompatible with the truth about man. And to reject polygenism, the idea of different races of humans, separately evolved. There was one literal fall at some point in human history, with the story of Adam and Eve containing some real truth about the human condition.

I am free to believe or not believe in evolution. I can be (but am not) a creationist believing in a literal six day creation. I can accept intelligent design, or theistic evolution, or whatever, as long as I reject polygenism and accept a divinely created soul for each human being, accept that God created the universe out of nothing, and that in some way God guides any evolution. I have to accept Genesis, not in a literalistic way, but paying attention to the modes of writing actually employed in the text. I'm not stuck with a six day creation. There is a rich history of Church Fathers who knew that creation was not in six days. The literalistic view of a six day creation as a touchstone of faith was only invented in the 1800's. It was not so for original Christianity.

You CAN be a Christian and not be an anti-evolutionist. Do not despair about that. You might find that 'Bible Christians' tend to think you have to be anti-evolutionist to be a Christian but there is a long history of otherwise very conservative Christianity that knows differently.

 

[Bryce Harris]

Quick background. My husband was raised LDS, I was raised in a non-religious home, but became a Mormon at 16 (2001). We married in the temple and all that good Mormon stuff. I doubted a lot for a long time, and my husband did to. We stopped physically attenting LDS services around 2010, and formally resigned our memebership in 2014.

We had a lot of re-programming, re-definining, re-discovering of God to do, and we did it. We wanted to hold onto our believe in Christ, because so many who leave the LDS church loose their belief in God completely. It isn't always easy, esp for me for some reason, I go through periods of doubt and periods of faith. I find it hard to trust in religion. My doubts are often brought on by some sort of black & white Christian thinking like "If you don't believe in a young earth and 6 literal days of creation you are calling God a liar!", when I see evidence with my own eyes of an old earth and a fossil record that shows evidence for evolution. Then I'm left questioning if I could possibly be a Christian and accept evolution.
Christ is my Savior. There is so much in the bible and in this world that makes no sense to me, so I just put my hope in Him.

Anyway, what we are looking for -
- a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt
- a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution
- maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church
- more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality
- focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)

That's probably an odd list. We are in a somewhat less urban part of Utah, so I feel like some of our choices are limited. We've been attending a nearby church that we later discovered is an Assemblies of God, though we haven't seen any evidence of spiritual gifts to frighten us away. We visited the bigger Non-denom church once and it was too big that it would have lacked the community we wanted, and the sermon was pure fluff. Part of me wonders if we'd like a liturgical church, but aren't those closed communion?
I know there are Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches in our broader area, and a handful of small bible churches, and then countless Mormon churches.

Thanks in advance!

Go to a church where the spirit of God moves and changes and ministers to your heart, don't go to a dead church where there is just a bunch traditional works being done but go to a church that gets you closer to the Lord not by works but by ministering unto you truth so the Holy Ghost moves upon you takes control from there.

 

[RedPonyDriver]

Try independent Christian churches...like this one:
www.canyonridge.org

 

[tickingclocker]

Being former Mormons, you probably unconsciously assume you should join a church immediately. Why? Did Jesus ever "join" a church? Did any of the Apostles? Why not try out some of them, going where the Lord leads, praying and believing that HE will bring you to where HE wants you to be, and not where you "think" you should be? He's done this for thousands upon thousands of former Mormons before you, so He won't leave you confused, hanging in mid-air either! When I left mormonism, I felt the same. Find a church and stick with it. Right? Then eventually I asked myself, why? What is out there that mormonism doesn't dare want me to realize about Christianity? I voiced this concern to the church, and guess what? They encouraged me to explore ALL of Christianity, and sent me off with a blessing of love! Not just their denomination! Since when would you ever hear that from a Mormon church?!! There, its "don't doubt your doubts". In other words, get back here, straighten up and fly our way.

I can't. I must fly God's way. HE is my Savior. Not a church, not men.

The church I believe the Lord led me to first attend was NOTHING like mormonism. Completely and utterly different, totally out of my range of thinking and living area. But I learned so much from them, what I never knew about the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus, the history of Christianity. It was mind-boggling! I kept having to admit, "I never knew that!", or, "but.... what about X?" They answered me with love and truth every single time, challenging me to seek GOD more in-depth. That experience taught me how to finally think for myself, and to know God as He IS, and not as any human prefers me to (for their own agenda).

We now have the freedom to explore Christianity outside mormonism. I encourage you to embrace it more and more. What I have found is there is freedom in Christ within every church! It's amazing that no one says "thus and so is the absolute truth". For example, "if you don't believe we should pass a plate instead of accepting free-will offerings, you are heading straight to hell" like I was once taught they said. Nobody goes around thinking that "other" Christian churches are apostate simply because their church runs itself differently. (Do all families act alike? Should they? So why would God expect churches to?) We all have the Nicene Creed to look to for the "short list" of beliefs Christians hold in common as of essential value. (I've always thought it should be called that, the Nicene List instead of "creed"!) Nowhere in there does it insist on what religious organizational policy "must" look like. God gave Christianity freedom to express itself in service and worship to Him. Who are we to say otherwise?

I suggest exploring all opportunities, with the intent of seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly, yes. Not going to find fault, or compare anything with anyone else. Keep in mind we are all individuals, as are churches. God loves each and every one of us just as we are, and wants His best for all. He does the same with churches. Some will be more loving than others, some more focused on other godly things. But I've found its "all good" when seen through His eyes! Christianity doesn't realize what a great spiritual treasure they have in their differences. They keep each other on the straight and narrow, looking out for each other, giving a word here and a nudge there--towards the glory of GOD. What does mormonism have? It's branches don't even speak to each other! There is no unity amongst them like there is within Christianity. (Not even a show of one. Each is "apostate" from each other.) What could possibly be more of a display of God's encompassing love than being given the freedom to be different, yet STILL being One in Christ Jesus?

Enjoy. God bless.

 

[JoeP222w]

Quick background. My husband was raised LDS, I was raised in a non-religious home, but became a Mormon at 16 (2001). We married in the temple and all that good Mormon stuff. I doubted a lot for a long time, and my husband did to. We stopped physically attenting LDS services around 2010, and formally resigned our memebership in 2014.

We had a lot of re-programming, re-definining, re-discovering of God to do, and we did it. We wanted to hold onto our believe in Christ, because so many who leave the LDS church loose their belief in God completely. It isn't always easy, esp for me for some reason, I go through periods of doubt and periods of faith. I find it hard to trust in religion. My doubts are often brought on by some sort of black & white Christian thinking like "If you don't believe in a young earth and 6 literal days of creation you are calling God a liar!", when I see evidence with my own eyes of an old earth and a fossil record that shows evidence for evolution. Then I'm left questioning if I could possibly be a Christian and accept evolution.
Christ is my Savior. There is so much in the bible and in this world that makes no sense to me, so I just put my hope in Him.

Anyway, what we are looking for -
- a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt
- a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution
- maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church
- more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality
- focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)

That's probably an odd list. We are in a somewhat less urban part of Utah, so I feel like some of our choices are limited. We've been attending a nearby church that we later discovered is an Assemblies of God, though we haven't seen any evidence of spiritual gifts to frighten us away. We visited the bigger Non-denom church once and it was too big that it would have lacked the community we wanted, and the sermon was pure fluff. Part of me wonders if we'd like a liturgical church, but aren't those closed communion?
I know there are Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches in our broader area, and a handful of small bible churches, and then countless Mormon churches.

Thanks in advance!

Most important to define here is, do you still hold to the doctrines of the LDS faith? If you do, you need to seriously examine what you believe. Mormonism is not Christianity, at the fundamental level, because Mormonism is polytheistic (Christianity is monotheistic).

Have you been born again? Have you repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone, by faith alone, by His grace alone? And I am referring to Jesus Christ as defined by the Bible, not by the false Jesus defined by Mormonism.




"a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt"

You would need to examine what you mean by this. If you mean that you would only join a church that will not challenge what you believe, especially when a belief is unbiblical, then you are not seeking a church, you are seeking a club.
The Pastor and Elders of a Bible believing church are obligated to examine a member and to hold them to account for what they believe in the truth of God. The Pastor/Elders are command to teach, exhort and even rebuke false teachings. But they are always to do so in grace and in alignment with the word of God.


"a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution"

While examination of evolution is something a Christian should do, it is not a qualifier for whether or not one is a Christian.

However, evolution is not consistent and in keeping with the truth of the Bible.


"maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church"

What do you mean by "open communion"? Do you communion to those who would refuse to be held to account by the Pastor/Elders? That is not Christianity. And the Bible says that anyone who partakes in communion in an unworthy manner is heaping judgment on themselves. This includes not submitting the authority of scripture.


"more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality"

If you mean supporting and approving of homosexuality, then you are not seeking Christianity or after the truth of God. God has defined homosexuality to be sin, just as rape, murder, idolatry, theft, blasphemy, lying and other sins are very clearly defined in scripture.

Any church that believes that the Bible is the inerrant and all sufficient word of God does not call homosexuality a righteous thing, just as all sin is not righteous before God, but loving and graciously calls homosexuals to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.


"focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)"

I agree with this one. An overemphasis on spiritual gifts, method of prayer, raising your hands in worship and spiritual warfare is not a good thing. There is no precedence or command in the Bible for altar calls period.



"Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches"

All of which have drifted very far from the truth of God, and many have even abandoned His truth completely.

 

[JoeP222w]

As long as you seek a place that accepts what you have already decided to believe,

That is incredibly dangerous position to recommend to someone.

God calls us to know His truth and His truth is not relative, nor dependent on someone's belief.

 

[tickingclocker]

Most important to define here is, do you still hold to the doctrines of the LDS faith? If you do, you need to seriously examine what you believe. Mormonism is not Christianity, at the fundamental level, because Mormonism is polytheistic (Christianity is monotheistic).

Have you been born again? Have you repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone, by faith alone, by His grace alone? And I am referring to Jesus Christ as defined by the Bible, not by the false Jesus defined by Mormonism.




"a place that won't be critical of my propensity to question/doubt"

You would need to examine what you mean by this. If you mean that you would only join a church that will not challenge what you believe, especially when a belief is unbiblical, then you are not seeking a church, you are seeking a club.
The Pastor and Elders of a Bible believing church are obligated to examine a member and to hold them to account for what they believe in the truth of God. The Pastor/Elders are command to teach, exhort and even rebuke false teachings. But they are always to do so in grace and in alignment with the word of God.


"a place where it is ok to believe in evolution/thesitic evolution"

While examination of evolution is something a Christian should do, it is not a qualifier for whether or not one is a Christian.

However, evolution is not consistent and in keeping with the truth of the Bible.


"maybe open communion, because I know I'm going to be super hesitant to go through a whole process to commit to a specific denomination/church"

What do you mean by "open communion"? Do you communion to those who would refuse to be held to account by the Pastor/Elders? That is not Christianity. And the Bible says that anyone who partakes in communion in an unworthy manner is heaping judgment on themselves. This includes not submitting the authority of scripture.


"more "liberal" (I guess) views on social issues like homosexuality"

If you mean supporting and approving of homosexuality, then you are not seeking Christianity or after the truth of God. God has defined homosexuality to be sin, just as rape, murder, idolatry, theft, blasphemy, lying and other sins are very clearly defined in scripture.

Any church that believes that the Bible is the inerrant and all sufficient word of God does not call homosexuality a righteous thing, just as all sin is not righteous before God, but loving and graciously calls homosexuals to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

"focus is on realtionship with God and not all the peripheral (spiritual gifts, how well you pray, if you raise your hands in worship, spiritual warfare, an alter call every other week -- I don't want it to be about ME, I want it to be about God!)"

I agree with this one. An overemphasis on spiritual gifts, method of prayer, raising your hands in worship and spiritual warfare is not a good thing. There is no precedence or command in the Bible for altar calls period.

"Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal, and of course Catholic churches"

All of which have drifted very far from the truth of God, and many have even abandoned His truth completely.

It comes with the territory of the "ex-cult member" that we are hesitant to join another religious group. Nothing personal. But it's very hard to leave mormonism which has indoctrinated us every which way they can with "we are the ONLY true church which knows what it is doing according to God". Whatever that means. Moving outside those false walls leaves us scared---as it was specifically designed to, so we wouldn't walk away--from them. Some never do, but most of us gradually get over it, after realizing it is God who we have desired to know all along. Not believe in a "religion" which tells you what to do and when. Many of us have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. The object of our faith--God--begins to make sense after this, but the whole experience still leaves us naturally hesitant. Also keep in mind we have been indoctrinated to view ALL of Christianity as "apostate", not just certain "denominations". To have ex-Mormons even set a toe into a Christian church is a huge step for us! Usually AFTER finding the Lord--on our own, or well on our way at least. That's when it happens, through the love and patient urging of the Holy Spirit.

There is an overemphasis upon each of God's attributes everywhere, being prevalent in all churches. Each has their own favored viewpoint--OF GOD. Combined, they reveal God in a more wholly majestically detailed and glorified way. I ask you, who can contain all of God's attributes? He is so vast a subject, its hard to not lean one way or another. But they all still lean toward glorifying the LORD! So please don't confuse people with suggesting anyone has "drifted from the Lord". That is precisely what we were encouraged to believe about ALL Christians within a false religion. You are simply reiterating what they believe. I understand you may not have the same experience as we come from, so I'm not criticizing you. On the other hand, you are also showing everyone that its okay to have an opinion outside of everyone else's, which we also never encountered before. That's okay, too! I'm trying to point out that such an opinion is not very loving, helpful, or entirely accurate in this particular situation. We are all different---IN the Lord. It's "allowed" according to God, as we all share the same same Savior and Lord. We already know its hard to step outside our "comfort zone". Trust me on that. But we are all asking.... what does GOD have for us, which helps us to conform to HIS will, and not man's? That is what we desire to know. Even if it does mean learning how to raise our hands in worship, or learning to accept others who engage their spiritual gifts or worship God through liturgy. We've had more than enough of experiencing man's narrow-minded rulership. Now we wish to embrace God's unlimited reign in our lives.

It's why I love Christianity so very much. No matter what, everyone is seeking to glorify God. Embrace the good in all of it, and God can't help but work in your life.

 

[1watchman]

That is incredibly dangerous position to recommend to someone.

God calls us to know His truth and His truth is not relative, nor dependent on someone's belief.

That's good! The Holy Bible is holy as God's immutable Word for man, so we must not add to it or delete from it (I value the KJV much as having stood the scrutiny of time). We will be held accountable with how we regard the Creator-God, His beloved Son, and His holy Word. The issue should never be about "what suits me", but whether we conform to God. Look up always!