Is there anything inherently wrong with attending several differnt churches?

[FollowingJesus]

I attend just one church, where I'm a member, however, I've been thinking of looking for an additional place of worship (smaller, less 'entertainment').

I LOVE my church which I attend 3x per week, but it's rather large 25,000 members, and each service has a LOT of music that sometimes I feel like I'm in a dance club. Sometimes I just don't want to stand up and 'rock to the beat' (albeit a Christian beat) for 40-50 minutes in a so-called 'Holy Ghost Party' before we get to the sermon (which is always good when our Bishop is in town.)

At least once during the week, I'd like more teaching, more quiet devotion, and more fellowship, and less 'show'.

BUT...

A few times at my church, and several times in services I see on television, the preachers DISCOURAGE going from church to church. Even if I want to attend Church A for awhile, and then attend Church B for awhile before returning to Church A, why is this a problem.

And why would this even be an issue that warrants comment from the pulpit?

Isn't there just 'one' church anyway? Does it matter where I pay my tithe, as long as I contribute to a Bible-based church?

 

[JunkYardDog]

I attend just one church, where I'm a member, however, I've been thinking of looking for an additional place of worship (smaller, less 'entertainment').

I LOVE my church which I attend 3x per week, but it's rather large 25,000 members, and each service has a LOT of music that sometimes I feel like I'm in a dance club. Sometimes I just don't want to stand up and 'rock to the beat' (albeit a Christian beat) for 40-50 minutes in a so-called 'Holy Ghost Party' before we get to the sermon (which is always good when our Bishop is in town.)

At least once during the week, I'd like more teaching, more quiet devotion, and more fellowship, and less 'show'.

BUT...

A few times at my church, and several times in services I see on television, the preachers DISCOURAGE going from church to church. Even if I want to attend Church A for awhile, and then attend Church B for awhile before returning to Church A, why is this a problem.

And why would this even be an issue that warrants comment from the pulpit?

Isn't there just 'one' church anyway? Does it matter where I pay my tithe, as long as I contribute to a Bible-based church?

I get as much fellowship as I can from as many places as I can and even *gasp* from people whose beliefs (outside the essentials of salvation) differ from mine. If Christ accepts them, so do I. This does not mean I will accpt anyone who claims to be a Christian who is living in gross sin, but all who walk with Him, I will walk with them. No "church" owns me.

 

[CrystalBrooke]

i think its a great idea to visit different denominations...it gives you and better look and an inside look to what they believe.

 

[ryanpw]

There is nothing wrong with going to other churches. Just make sure you know what you believe first. Otherwise you are susceptible to all kinds of crackpot ideas. And make sure they are really a Christian Church. The Mormon church says that they are Christian but they don't believe in the same God or Christ or Scripture.
The reason most churches don't want you wandering around is because they lose tithe. If sudenly half of the members showed up at a different church for sunday just 2 weeks, it would seriously mess with the Church financially.
But it is scriptual that if a church gets to large that a group should split off and start a new one.

Hope that helps.

 

[Joykins]

I think it's best to have a church "home" for the long haul but there is no problem in fellowshipping in other places. You may find there is another church that teaches the truth that also will feed your hunger for quiet devotion and and fellowship.

While I was at college I attended a number of different churches of extremely different denominations (Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, etc.) I learned something new and different at each of them.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

It's like going to a doctor and then, once you get the test results back, you get a second opinion...

Every church offers a different worship experience. It's up to you to determine which experience makes you feel most comfortable and most able to worship God.

 

[David Brider]

My thoughts, for what they're worth...

Yes, you're right, we're all part of the body of believers, and that extends to every Christian church across the world. But what's important is that we live in relationship with our fellow believers, and it's hard to build up any meaningful relationships in the body of believers if we move from church to church and don't meet with the same people on a regular basis. In that respect, I guess it's fairly important to address it from the pulpit, although I don't think "church-hopping" is really what you're thinking about.

OTOH, as long as we have that rootedness, I don't see any harm with visiting (and building up relationships with) other churches. At the moment, I try to divide my time between my church and my girlfriend's church, but some weekends we'll go away and visit a church wherever we're visiting, and also we sometimes have evenings free to visit other churches, which can be rewarding.

You say your church has something like 25,000 members (that is a lot!!!). Does it not have any structure of cell groups/house groups, etc? That tends to be the norm for larger churches, and is the best way within larger churches of building up relationship. You'll almost certainly find that will also meet your desire for "more teaching, more quiet devotion, and more fellowship, and less 'show'."

If a cell group structure doesn't exist within your church, then maybe you should discuss the possibility with your pastor? In the interim, perhaps you could take the initiative and arrange to meet up sometime during the week with some like-minded believers from your church for a time of fellowship and Bible study. Such times can, in my experience, be far more rewarding than the main church service, as a time to build up relationships and learn and grow together.

HTH.

David.

 

[Leah]

Ok, not to get off topic, but what does OTOH and OP mean? :o

 

[Leah]

I get as much fellowship as I can from as many places as I can and even *gasp* from people whose beliefs (outside the essentials of salvation) differ from mine. If Christ accepts them, so do I. This does not mean I will accpt anyone who claims to be a Christian who is living in gross sin, but all who walk with Him, I will walk with them. No "church" owns me.

*stunned* This is one of the best pieces of advice/wisdom I've heard yet in this forum!

 

[David Brider]

Ok, not to get off topic, but what does OTOH and OP mean? :o

OTOH = "On The Other Hand".

OP I'm less sure about - I think it means "Original Post," and is normally reserved for when a thread's got way off topic!

David.

 

[mshupe1959]

I would say, pray about where God would want you to be. What you want and where God desires you to be might be 2 entirely different places.

 

[McDLT]

Hubby and I had the opposite situation from you. We were very active members of a small church and would go to a big church Sunday evenings. 2 different denominations.

Although I don't completely know your situation, I would recommend checking out other churches, but not by going to Church A for a month or two and then to Church B and back and forth. I would suggest to go to the morning in the small church and the evening and/or other weekly activities at the church you are a member.

Just some of my thoughts.

 

[thepinkpencil3]

I think it's fine to go to different churches. I'm hoping, after I get my license, that I will be able to drive to my old church for sunday school (I really enjoyed it, but didn't like the services) and then drive to my new church for service, (I don't like the sunday school, but love the services)

 

[indra_fanatic]

A few times at my church, and several times in services I see on television, the preachers DISCOURAGE going from church to church. Even if I want to attend Church A for awhile, and then attend Church B for awhile before returning to Church A, why is this a problem.

I don't think so either. This is not a Scriptural teaching and I can't see why they would say it, unless they fear that they are losing members, but hey--that's their fault for not doing something right, not yours.

 

[Crazy Liz]

My thoughts, for what they're worth...

Yes, you're right, we're all part of the body of believers, and that extends to every Christian church across the world. But what's important is that we live in relationship with our fellow believers, and it's hard to build up any meaningful relationships in the body of believers if we move from church to church and don't meet with the same people on a regular basis. In that respect, I guess it's fairly important to address it from the pulpit, although I don't think "church-hopping" is really what you're thinking about.

OTOH, as long as we have that rootedness, I don't see any harm with visiting (and building up relationships with) other churches.

I completely agree with David.

"Church hopping" is not good because it is often a symptom of putting consumeristic values ahead of relationships. I have a hard time seeing how people can have these kinds of relationships in very large churches, unless they have an excellent cell or small-group structure. I find it much harder in a church of 500 than in a church of 200, so I can really understand how someone in a church of 25,000 would feel the need for something more intimate.

There is a huge difference between visiting another church once in a while, or even participating regularly in the activities of 2 different churches, and "church hopping," where you never put down roots anywhere.

 

[bliz]

What you are doing is not "church hopping". You have found a home in two different churches, and I see no reason why you should not continue to participate in both.

 

[Firebird73]

Follow the path the Lord leads you to.

 

[indra_fanatic]

Liz, now that you have made clear what you are referring to (church-hopping vs. legitimately attending more than one church), I am much more inclined to agree.

Still...

I am curious as to why you would use the term "consumeristic values" in this context, and am not totally sure what you mean by that. Most people church-hop because (a) they are in the process of finding a faith body, (b) found something undesirable in the last church and have decided to move on, or (c) are in the process of "seeking" God and are just trying to learn things about different local expressions of Christianity. None of these reasons are bad in and of themselves.

Speaking of "consumeristic values" though, I will say that the very concept of a megachurch somewhat bothers me for not only the reasons Liz gave, but many others (i.e. what did the church do to get so extremely popular?). It seems to me that a frequent pattern of megachurches is that they have a habit of only doing relatively bland sermons from the pulpit or even perhaps saying what peoples' "itching ears want to hear" like the prosperity gospel.

 

[Crazy Liz]

Liz, now that you have made clear what you are referring to (church-hopping vs. legitimately attending more than one church), I am much more inclined to agree.

Still...

I am curious as to why you would use the term "consumeristic values" in this context, and am not totally sure what you mean by that. Most people church-hop because (a) they are in the process of finding a faith body, (b) found something undesirable in the last church and have decided to move on, or (c) are in the process of "seeking" God and are just trying to learn things about different local expressions of Christianity. None of these reasons are bad in and of themselves.

None of these are bad in themselves, but if a person does this habitually and never puts down roots, I think this is probably symptomatic of a problem. It could be any one of a number of problems. If a person is attending different churches just to sample and doesn't want to put down roots, there is a problem (often, but perhaps not always, the kind I described as "consumeristic values."), and if a person fails repeatedly to put down roots, this may indicate other sorts of problems. Hopefully, such a person will try to get some perspective on this from a few brothers and sisters, because such problems are often hard to recognize close up.

 

[Monica02]

I attend just one church, where I'm a member, however, I've been thinking of looking for an additional place of worship (smaller, less 'entertainment').

I LOVE my church which I attend 3x per week, but it's rather large 25,000 members, and each service has a LOT of music that sometimes I feel like I'm in a dance club. Sometimes I just don't want to stand up and 'rock to the beat' (albeit a Christian beat) for 40-50 minutes in a so-called 'Holy Ghost Party' before we get to the sermon (which is always good when our Bishop is in town.)

At least once during the week, I'd like more teaching, more quiet devotion, and more fellowship, and less 'show'.

BUT...

A few times at my church, and several times in services I see on television, the preachers DISCOURAGE going from church to church. Even if I want to attend Church A for awhile, and then attend Church B for awhile before returning to Church A, why is this a problem.

And why would this even be an issue that warrants comment from the pulpit?

Isn't there just 'one' church anyway? Does it matter where I pay my tithe, as long as I contribute to a Bible-based church?

One Church- Catholic Church - why don't you become Catholic?