Meredith, (who’s singing the praises of “crazy cream”; go see!), wants to know how we ended up in an AMiA church.
Like most Biblical journeys, it involved a little faith, some times of waiting, times of following, times of discerning, and times of blessing.
(Warning: long answer begins here!) I grew up Lutheran and was baptized, confirmed, married, and my children were baptized all in the same church in South Carolina. We weren’t necessarily looking for anything new or different after we moved to the Midwest. But God had something different for us. (Warning: short answer begins here) Basically, we just felt at home in our new church, and we’re stickin’ here ’til He tells us to move again.
I don’t have a long list of qualifications or principles that my new church must embody or embrace. We loved that the AMiA grew out of a cross-cultural concern from Christians in Rwanda for the unchurched in North America. We love that sense of grassroots connectedness, that sense that God is and has been at work across the globe. And we love jumping on the bus to join in however we can.
I’m not attached to a particular denomination at this point in my life, but I am still attached to liturgy. (I’m glad God hasn’t asked me to give that up yet. But I think I would have; though there was a point when I probably wouldn’t have. How sweet of Him to let me keep it! He knows what I like, and He wants to make me happy. Ok, end crazy talking…) One of the great pleasures of my newfound Anglicanism is this portion of the liturgy:
Great is the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.
That just about sums it up for me. The closer I grow to Christ, the less attached I feel to any one denomination, and the more appreciation I develop for His Universal Church.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
Please don’t debate theology in the comments; but if you want to, you can tell me how much you love Jesus. ; )
Meredith, I’m not even quite sure this is a satisfactory answer to your question!
What about you guys? Why do you go to the church you do? Or don’t? … *cough* you know who you are *cough*
Thanks for answering…like you, I LOVE liturgy. I grew up Catholic, but in junior high my family started attending a Southern Baptist church (huge change!). I married the son of a SB pastor, and a month after we were married, he began seminary…studying to be a SB pastor. Five years ago, we moved here for him to co-pastor a non-denom church (another huge change). It wasn’t a very good fit for us, so he resigned about a year later, and we found ourselves (for the first time in ages) looking for a church home that wasn’t tied to a ministry position. Interesting, to say the least. We came across a local author’s book, and in the foreword, she mentioned her church–an AMiA congregation. John looked it up on the web and felt strongly that we should check it out.
I think we both cried throughout the entire service the first time we visited. We KNEW that our hearts had found a place to land…at least for awhile. “Awhile” has turned into four great years.
For me, anyway, AMIA feels like I’ve come full circle. It’s the best of my Catholic and evangelical heritage all wrapped into one. I love the international flavor, and the global mission of the church. And of course, liturgy is huge for me.
This is turning into a novel, but as to why I go to church. Very simply–communion. I absolutely need it. No matter if the sermon is lame or if I can’t get into worship, communion (eucharist) is my constant. I am reminded of God’s great love, and grace and mercy for me, and it reaffirms my devotion ot the Lover of my Soul!
I liked your answer very much. My denomination? Unimportant to me, as I’ve never had just one.
In fact, I thought of your husbands post many moons ago recently….when I was at my dear friends Lutheran church and it was communion day. (her son was being confirmed) All of my children take communion now and I think it was taboo. But I just knew in my OWN heart that God understands all this, and of course I didn’t stop my children from participating, regardless of the stigma. They love Jesus and understand fully what they’re doing, each one of them…..
just like a little toddler who wanted to take communion with daddy.
I haven’t ever set about finding a church, in my lifetime. I wait for the right church to find me (us). God has, in His own time, always led me right where He’s wanted me to be. We are feeling a tug right now and are collecting ourselves for the journey to a new church home, right around the corner. Once again, He’s in charge of the decision, and we’re in awe of His wisdom. And … cleverness?
I go to church to be encouraged, motivated, challenged, blessed, and to hear truth and grace, love and mercy, and to fellowship with other believers.
My church is another home to us, with friends we consider family.
nice post. i have some of the same feelings. like:
The closer I grow to Christ, the less attached I feel to any one denomination, and the more appreciation I develop for His Universal Church.
couldn’t agree more. have a blessed weekend.
Denomination used to be extremely important to me, but since returning to the Midwest we struggled to find a church where we felt at home within our denomination. We have switched to another church and it has been a struggle, but I am trying to remember the reason why we all come to worship, which is to just love and praise Jesus. That crosses all denomination barriers and I have found a new and different way to worship. I will tell you that this has been an easier transition for me then it has been for my family, as they are deeply rooted in their faith and are very focused on where we worship. They are quieting down about it, but I know it is a source of sadness for them, even though we are happy and loving Jesus in a different place.
PS- Thank you for the comment, you made my day. TRULY!
I grew up in the church of Christ; no liturgy, no instruments.
I still love many a folk there, and it has its points, but I knew I wanted to raise my kids with something different and to my mind, something more.
We’ve attended a different church the past few years, enjoying advent and lent and all the traditions.
We’re about to move soon, and I wonder where we will land. (We live in the Pacific NW; church pickings can be few.)
I always love reading about other people’s journeys, finding their way…
First, thanks for following me on Twitter, which led me to your blog and to this insightful post. Next, I’ll tell you that we are a Reformed Baptist family worshipping in a Family Integrated Church (no Sunday School, nursery, or other age-segregated programs). The journey to this point has been circuitous and very worthwhile, since it is that journey that causes us to be so acutely aware of how blessed we are in our current church.
See you in Twitter-land!
Friend…are you alive and well? Cause I miss you!
Short answer. The husband has been in Indonesia for a few weeks, and I’ve been single parenting w/ no time to blog. I’ve been meaning to blog about that! Nice to be missed. I miss you all too.
Well, I too haven’t seen you around in a long time and came over to find out why. Glad to know you are good. I am ripping you off for WFMW this week, but I am giving you credit. Just so you know.
Hi Lainey–
Fun to read this post and fun to catch up with you overall!
I totally get your struggles with finding time to blog–me, too. It does seem like I can either read blogs or write blog posts, but not both! So, with our move, I’ve been concentrating only on keeping up with mine…but then I feel like I miss so much!
Like I didn’t know Meredith was from an AMIA church!
Glad to know.
Blessings to you all–
~Jeanne