Eric Gage said:
It's done--I said goodbye and walked away.
Eric
Hopefully Eric will share with us his plans and experiences now that he has left his long time church. His dilemma was on my mind yesterday. Specifically, I was thinking about the many different approaches people take to community worship. To selecting a church. To leaving and changing churches.
I'm thinking here of "church" in the very local sense. i.e. a church building, a couple of ministers, and a local group of members. Most churches are aligned with broader denominations and faiths, but that is not the aspect I was pondering.
Churches are clearly many things, a place for group learning and a place for group worship for sure. But also social organizations for people to do things together; big things like community work and small things like pancake breakfasts and bingo. What aspect of his or her church is most important to each member? Obviously that depends on the member.
A scholar like Eric values honest compatibility with the theological message over the still very important social ties. The pain in his poem makes it clear that this value structure makes for a grievous and painful split in view of the unfortunate change of ministry.
I'll bet most other folks value the social aspects over theological focus. Most don't have the aptitude or desire to worry too much about the doctrinal message. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here.
Perhaps most folks worship where they do without specific choice. (Eric mentioned this below.) For example, I'm Catholic because my ancestors were all Catholic. With Catholics and Jews I suspect (but I don't know) that the heritage/community ties are stronger than with less historically-culturally based churches. I could be wrong.
My impression is that Protestant Christians are more likely to shop around for a compatible church than Catholics or Jews. It would be interesting to hear about how some of you ended up in your specific church. Was it a decision? An evolutionary process? An accident of birth? What values were weighed? What is important to you about the church you joined? Has your appreciation of your church changed as you moved through life? For me it has, a ton.
Jim
