Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

    ...because many, *many* years ago (before any modern liberation movements)
    they would let women preach -- and Southern Baptists wouldn't!
    
    Nancy

I used to be a Quaker.  I joined the United Methodist Church for two
reasons:

1. I was not required to compromise my Quaker beliefs.

2. They had a program for children and the Quaker (Religious Society
   of Friends) Meeting offerred little more than babysitting.

Our bond with the United Methodist Church was strengthened through
Marriage Encounter and a program called "10 Brave Christians".

Some of the things I've come to appreciate about the UM Church are:
o the connectional system.
o the Social Principles.
o the acceptance of plurality.
o the ecumenicity.
o the emphasis on the responsibility of the laity (which is called the
  General Ministry).  In the United States, particularly, the Methodist
  movement was led by laity, much to the dismay and chagrin of John
  Wesley, an ordained Anglican priest.

Peace,
Richard

    I was raised a United Methodist, the son of a minister. I still attend
    mostly Methodist churches and consider myself a member. I like the
    openness of communion and the order of service generally. There is
    a lot of lay involvement as well which I think is good. The laity is
    involved in annual conferences and most all meetings. In fact there
    are several forums where *only* the laity may vote. Interesting
    difference for some other denominations. There are some "liberal"
    issues that almost drive me away though (some political activism
    and I'm still unsure of having female clergy) but I have yet to
    find a denomination I feel more comfortable with.

    		Alfred

    PS Interestingly enough women clergy is one of the few religious
    issues my father and I disagree on. And he supported women in the
    clergy even before his wife (my step mom) was ordained in the
    Methodist church. An other topic perhaps?

    Life is the temple I worship in.  I am in it wherever I go, at every
    moment in time.  All the relations I have been blessed with in my 
    brothers and sisters, and the earth and all her kingdoms, and
    throughout the heavens are the sermons I listen to and the hymns 
    I sing and dance to.  In the offering plate I place my love and my
    kindness, as well as my pain and ignorance, but especially I place my
    willingness to continually grow in Divine Grace, Wisdom and Generosity.
    
    At this time, no other religious organization provides for my needs so 
    completely as does Creation itself.  I guess that's why Creation
    Spirituality speaks to me so profoundly.
    
    peace & blessings,
    Karen                       

    
    
     To be a Buddhist is to be true to one's own nature and to have
    compassion for all sentient beings.
    
    
                                                      Mike

    	I became a UU after attending a number of services and liking their
    approach to "religion". They are not much on dogma or articles of faith
    and are rather short on litmus tests. They are long on discussion and
    prefer multiple sources for their insights. So most of them did not
    accept the label "Christian", they were involved in their religion,
    rather than accepting of it, and they were deeply concerned about
    "being good", "living a good life" and "doing the right thing". My
    Roman Catholic upbringing was suffocation by comparison.

    
    Why I am a  'christian'.
    
    	I became a christian because God by His grace drew me to Himself.
    It was not my choosing Him, but He chose me.  I 'attend' a Baptist
    church because God by His Spirit led me there because of the need and
    the ministry of that church.

    
    As far as 'religion' goes, I don't have an answer to this, so I'll
    have to leave it blank!
    
    Carole
    

  Why I am a Christian.

I, too, like Ed, don't wish to primarily identify myself with a denomination,
but rather with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am His because he
chose me before the foundation of the world, he predestined me to live
with Him for eternity.  Praise be to God the Father and His Son, Jesus
Christ.  And to the Holy Spirit who accomplished the work by moving my
spirit to respond to God's invitation.

I currently attend a 4C's (Conservative Congregational Christian Church - I
think that's what it stands for) church.  When we moved a year ago, we
visited a few churches.  When we visited this church, it seemed right to
both Robyn and I that this was the church to attend.  The reason was that
people *worshipped* God; they were also very friendly and sharing.  But it
was the worship that made me say, "this is the church for me".

Previously, I have been members of two inter-denominational churches
(the first with an average attendance of 2,000, the second with an
average attendance of 25) as well as several United Methodist churches.

We expect to be moving again next year and are trusting that God will
provide a new congregation of worshippers to share with.

Collis

Why I am an agnostic.

I don't know...

				-- Bob

Re:  .11

I thought it was so you could disagree with what others knew!  :-)

Collis

    ... because I love
                I hate
                I lough
                I cry
                I think I know
                I find out I don't know
                I seek
                I find
                I have a million different faces
                I have only my own face
    		I think
                I feel
                I am
    
    Love,
    Karin

    Ah, Karin.  Nobody is *just* a human being. :-)
    
    Peace,
    Richard

    
    Re.14
                                                           
    Richard:
    
            On the other hand everybody is *just* a human being. :-)
    
              
                                                       Mike

    re .15
    Mike,
    	but if everyone is just a human being are they a just human being?

    
    Re.16
    
          Dave:
    
               Typical Zen answer: Yes and No.
    
    
                                                       Mike

    My son must be Buddhist!!  Whenever I ask him anything, his answer is
    always, "Welllll, it is and it isn't!"

    
    Re.18
    
          Obviously a very bright young man. :-)
    
    
                                                      Mike

    
    
    RE: .18
    
    Or the other possibility Nancy is that he has a strong Libran
    influence in his birth chart! ;^)
    
    Carole

    I think it's really his way of saying, "Mom, you're nosey -- butt out!"  
    
    Nancy

     Hello,
     
    My name is Donna and I grew up Anglican Catholic (sp?) in a sense 
    that I went to Church on Holidays and followed the leader without
    knowing who the leader was or what the leader was doing.
     
    I have been to many churches in my past but have never 
    learned much. I was almost married in a a catholic church but 
    the Wedding was cancelled three weeks before. When I called the
    minister and told him he said thank you. He never asked if he could
    help or anything. I am assuming he was just not as good as some
    other ministers could have been. FYI this was 1987 I am now happily
    married.
    
    Many of my friends are Christians but I don't
    know what I am .. yet? I have never read more that a Chapter
    in the Bible I seem to get lost with everyone being someone's
    son or daughter.  But I feel like something is missing in my
    life so I guess I am looking for something but I don't know 
    what. So right now I am just an observer with an open mind.
    
    Thank you for listening and I am sorry for rambling.
    Donna 
    
    
    
    
    
   
    
 

	This coming Sunday, Palm Sunday, I will be accepted into the
membership of the local Metropolitan Community Church.  Thus, a new
chapter begins in my odyssey of affiliation with the organized church.

	For some time now, I've been in prayer about this.  It feels
right, at least for now.  About this, I'm at peace.

In union with Christ,
Richard

    Congratulations, Richard!  :-)
    
    Many blessings...
    
    Nanci

	Good choice Richard! :-)


Glen

Thanks, Nanci, Glen and others who've written me offline.

I had been searching for a while, now.  I'd visited the local
unprogrammed Friends Meeting (Quaker).  I'd visited some of the
nearby United Methodist Churches.  I've had spiritually enriching
experiences in the past through worshipping with both.  I shall
try to carry the best of both with me always.

I think my decision this time was somewhat tipped in favor of
which religious collectivity seemed to most want my presence.

I pray that this affiliation will prove to be mutually edifying
and beneficial.

Peace,
Richard

>>I think my decision this time was somewhat tipped in favor of
>>which religious collectivity seemed to most want my presence.
    
    
    sigh....you should have come out here, Richard.  I know of at least one
    Quaker who would have collected you right up into a joyous hug of
    welcome to hir Meeting.
    
    
    E Grace

    
    I'm a Unitarian Universalist member because the choir director asked me
    to sing in the choir a few year ago, and I liked it so I stayed. (;^0  (;^)
    All people of all religions, cultures, races, sexual preferences, and
    any other difference one can think of, are all welcomed with open arms.
    
    I'm also on the yogic path, and aspire to be a yoga instructor within
    the next 2-3 years.  I've been studying the teachings of Yogananda and
    of Yogi Amrit Desai at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Mass.
    
    Cindy

>If you do
>not mind sharing it with me, what led to your decision to leave the Methodist
>church in favor of MCC.

The answer is complicated.  Let me see if I can give you the abridged version.

I consider myself primarily a Christian mystic.  And because of this, I'll
probably always be a Quaker at heart.

As a Quaker, I found myself frequently preaching to the convinced.  I do
recognize that the convinced need reinforcement, and that that is a valid
ministry.  However, I was not satisfied and I perceived God calling me out.

I found that United Methodism fulfilled a number of needs, and did so
without compromising my basic Quaker beliefs.

I became very involved.  For my local church, I chaired the Church and Society
work area, I taught adult church classes, I preached on occasion, I served as
liturgist, and I was the lay delegate to Annual Conference.  I served on the
District and Conference levels in various capacities.  Additionally, I became
a candidate for the Diaconal ministry.

A pivotal event was when my spouse, Sharon, accepted a position on the staff
of All Souls Unitarian Church as Director of Religious Education.  Her job
requirements, plus our marital and parental requirements, demanded that I
abandon many of my interests.  And eventually, just attending worship on 
Sunday mornings became a chore fraught with obstacles.  I began attending MCC
out of a need for community worship at an hour that would not conflict with the
needs of our complicated household.  The pastor arranged for someone to drive
me, thus allowing my spouse to remain unburdened by my attending MCC Sunday
evenings.  I cannot drive.

As you have in your church, I had been working within the UMC towards
the full acceptance of gays and lesbians as brothers and sisters in Christ.
I've always been something of a crusader, I guess.

In time, I joined the Pikes Peak MCC.  I felt wanted, needed and appreciated.
I think I'd rather be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big
pond.  I was accepted into the membership on Palm Sunday..  It's kind of
unusual being straight and in the minority, I must admit.  But, the love and
acceptance I've encountered among society's disenfranchised is simply
incredible.  I truly feel that I'm right where God wants this Christian to be.

Peace in Christ,
Richard

We're currently members of Calvary United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs.

It's important to me at this point in my life that I'm part of a church where
I'm *not* too comfortable, where there exists points of view significantly
different from my own, and where there's an atmosphere that encourages
spiritual growth.

Worship for me is a starting point rather than an end in itself.

Shalom,
Richard