Sunday morning again and no church anyone else with this dilemma?

Since about 6 months before the electtion in November we stopped attending church. We could no longer stomach the holier-than thou crap being spouted abou the GOP. The hypocrisy of it all was not conducsive to worship. Our faith has never been stronger and yet we find organized religion practically repulsive. Has anyone found a good solution?

and what happened to me just after the elections. I still take my children to Sunday school. They really like it so I don't want to punish them. When they get older I will explain things to them.

Lost my religion

issue voters. They have husbands, themselves relatives all hurting, laid off etc and all they could say was "isn't great we have a president who prays!" Our town is only 50,000 people and so I kept my mouth shut and quit going. After the election I started an email activist group.

My kids are 16 and 14 and unlike yours don't want anything to do with a hypocritical message. The younger one misses the music but when the message makes you angry it is counter productive.

We really would like to "belong" to a church family but what my daughter has come to call "Jesus Nazis" are just not inspiring.

So you have dealt with it in the same way. I often wonder what the believers felt when Jesus was alive. The defied the Pharisees and surely they stopped attending Temple with the Pharisees condemning Jesus. This is how I have come to view it. I believe that the extreme right has become Pharisaical.

Lutheran and Dutch Reform in our town

:)

YOu have just made a conscious decision..a decision that has made your faith even stronger based on a realization that organized religion is for the most part, repulsive and distorting of true faith. YOu do not need an organized religion or a church to worship..go for a walk by yourself and spend the whole time giving thanks for your life..and experiencing gratitude for life...feel the gratitude that there are still birds singing..and grass growing..and sun shining..take that time each sunday morning..to fully experience your faith. u do not need a church to worship.

believers in a group setting. If we lived in a larger metropolitan area it would not be as difficult to find a place where we feel comfortable. Unfortunately what I have found is that most people just continue on the way they have for years and get nothing out of church service. That is not for me.

u mentioned christian reform...if u are, there is a really nice Unity Church in GR..and i think also in Muskegon.

Madison has an active Dances of Universal Peace circle. There are a bunch of Sufis up around there, and they have workshops periodically featuring international spiritual speakers. You might wish to check them out.

depending upon your inclination. I do daily meditation/prayers. I read books, the latest being Glenda Green's "Love Without End", which I would recommend, especially to Christians, as it involves the words of Jesus.

If you need fellowship, I would recommend the Dances of Universal Peace. This moving meditation, based on the sacred phrases of the world's spiritual traditions, is open to everyone. There's nothing to join, and no demands are made, except for a polite request to participate in the simple dance movements. There are over 400 Dance Circles around the world, and there may be one near you.

Check out this website for local events happening in NW Arkansas and SW Missouri-if you're not from around there, go to the Dances of Universal Peace website via the link.

http://www.ozarkdancecircle.us

If a Christian church is what you crave, but one without someone telling you what to think, I'd recommend the Unity Church. Lots of joy in their services, and they are open to all.

"They honor all paths to God." Very open and progressive - at least the one in N. Hollywood is (where I go). Good luck & Peace :-)

I wouldn't stay in a church that spouted GOP propaganda, either.

I've been happy as an Episcopalian (liberal in most areas, your area may be a pocket of conservatism) since 1991. Which reminds me, I need to sign off and go to pre-service choir practice. :-)

I read the bible, meditate, give thanks to God at each sunrise and sunset.
I've told my friends, once a month we have Morning thanks in the back yard and a nice breakfast after wards.

I was raised a catholic, went to St Gregory Catholic school, donated money, knew the priest quite well and when I when to get marry, this church turned me down due to a Interracial marriage, that was 37 yrs ago and have never looked back!

Unitarian for example.

I would look into the Lutheran faith. Try an ELCA church for a more liberal approach. My guess would be to mnot even bother with Wisconsin or Missouri Synod Lutheran churches.

We go to an ELCA church and while I know htat our pastor is more conservative than our family I appreciate the way he has done what is right - he has left politics totally out of the service. Most area ELCA churhes I know do the same.

Good luck, I understand your frustration. We were without a church for about 2 years and it was difficult.

all of the suggestions have been helpful and especially assuring that I am not alone in my frustration. It is so sad to see so many people of faith feeling "drivin out" in some cases literally of church. The irony of the Evangelical Church driving people away from God is not lost on me!

read some scripture, pray together, recharge your faith on your own. You don't need Reverend Broken Record to lead you in your spiritual walk. All the tools are within you.

I still miss the act of getting up on Sunday and going to church. I also miss the sense of "fitting in" somewhere, having a group of people who will look out for me if something bad happens.

But I can't find a place that fills those needs now. My beliefs are not traditional, and churches here have moved so far to the fundamentalist right that I would feel I had to keep my real beliefs secret, or I would be rejected as a non-believer.

It has become a trend among Baptist churches here in the south to question prospective members in detail about their beliefs before they are allowed to join. I would never pass muster. And I don't want to belong to an exclusive club or clique.

I have just started reading a book by Robert C. Fuller called Spiritual But Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. It describes people like me and my husband who have strong spiritual beliefs, but don't fit into any organized religion.

A true church should not force the views of this government, or any government on it's members. I go to church and our pastor has not, one time shown support for or against Bush's policies. During the election, he encouraged us all to vote. He didn't tell us who to vote for, he just emphasized that we vote.

So, if you can find a church that concentrated more on spread the of God, and not be a mouthpiece for this administration, that would be great.

If you're not familiar with Girard, it's a boarding school in Philly that was endowed by Stephen Girard in 1842. At the time, it was for the education of 'poor, white, male, orphans", but now it is for "poor, disadvantaged children who have only a guardian or one parent". It is an amazing place and absolute proof that given the right environment and opportunities anyone can and will succeed. I could go on for days singing the praises of Girard, but the thing about their church is that it's one of those old stone beautiful buildings with marble floors, a fantastic pipe organ and windows coated with real gold..and not one religious symbol on the grounds. In fact, Girards will forbid any priests, ministers, rabbis, or purveyors of religion to come onto the grounds in any official capacity. During the service I attended there the speaker talked about things related to character and ethics, and I have never been as spiritually moved as I was during that service.

I think we falsely assocaiate spirituality with religious stuff, and we should not. My perfect service would be something that involves tradition, beauty, some uplifting music, and a call to really be the best the we can be.

a very conservative diocese. We can't decide whether to stay away, withholding our support and contributions, or to attend and become active in order to try to work toward some change from the inside, or just to make it clear that there are those who disagree with the diocese leadership.

We can't stand what the church has become. We feel bad, church used to really be a great way to start the week. Now it's just too political.

to see what is taking place in His name. The current political atmosphere has driven tons of people away from church, I don't believe they have all been driving from God though.

This is a struggle my husband and I have had forever. We both have a very strong personal faith but as my husband said so eloquently "show me where in the Bible Jesus got up on a soap box and tried to ram his views down other people's throats"

Jesus said come as you are, and he welcomed all people from all walks of life and called on all of us to support each other and spread peace and unity. This new breed of "pseudo-Christian" has been aptly dubbed "Jesus Nazis" by my older daughter and that about sums it up.

Any movement motivated by hate, revenge and exclusion is not Christ-centered. I'm so tired of having to explain I'm not one of those type of Chirstians!

I gave up the Churches of the Pharisees years ago. Now I go to the Unity Church. I think Unity Church is a great option for liberal Christians who feel alienated from their former churches. http://www.unity.org/

and what churches you have but some people have suggested a UU church, United Church of Christ. I go to a Church of Christ. Them and the UCC used to be one but the UCC left the CoC a couple years ago for whatever reason. :shrug: I've never heard any rightwing GOP messages from my preacher. Today he takled about remembering the people who make sacrifices like the military and then eventually led up to Jesus and all that. He's been a pretty good preacher. I know a lot of people in my church are rightwing but I've never had any problems anywhere with biased messages.

The Unitarian Universalist church. Fits us to a "t."

http://www.uua.org

Find one near you. VERY liberal, creedless, open to all beliefs, faiths, no beliefs, etc. (My congregation has agnostics, atheists, Christians of all kinds, Jews, one Muslim member, several Buddhists, Pagan, etc.)

On edit, my husband and I are Christian, and we enjoy attending services with people of other beliefs. We talk, learn from each other, bridge some gaps, it's incredible.

Also, the UU church is concerned with peace, social justice, fighting poverty. All the things I always thought church SHOULD be about, but the mainstream Christian churches (most) seem to have gotten away from. My husband and I are still on the rolls of the United Methodist Church, but have just joined our UU congregation. The people there are just lovely.