Monday, 21 July 2008
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Left a Charismatic Church, Attending a Conservative One
by mrs violet
For the past four months, I've attended an evangelical Church of England (Anglican) church here in the UK. Not being bound to any particular denomination meant that my criteria for finding a new church when we arrived was simple:1) They must preach the word of God and be faithful to the whole gospel.
2) They must be in my community and actively reaching outwards and inwards.
I prayed that the Lord would lead me to such a church because I don't really like to church shop.
Ours was the second church we visited and we never bothered going anywhere else after finding it. It definitely fulfills my criteria and has the added bonus of being a ten-minute walk away from my front door.
Because I only had two mandates, I have found there are a lot of differences in the worship to what I was used too. Previously coming from a charismatic church, I found the singing somewhat more sedate as is the manner in which people worship.
I wonder sometimes if everybody at some point should learn to worship in a church that challenges their mindset. It is a great exercise in learning to identify and overcome the "fleshly areas" of our lives.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that any particular style is fleshly because worship really is an attitude of the heart and should be an overflow of our everyday lives. What I am saying is that often we become so comfortable to a particular way of "doing church" that when we are confronted with something very different, it can often be our flesh that reacts since doesn't feel like what we are used to.
I have never sang as many hymns, said so many written prayers or partaken in as many kneeling communions as I have in the last 4 months. Prayer has always been a spontaneous affair, hymns if sung were accompanied by drum beats, and for communion we stayed in our seats and had it brought to us.
Yet they preach the gospel week out and week in, and they are a lovely outward-looking community that is welcoming and caring.
Learning to fellowship in a different way not only taught me a lot, but it made me think a lot about our Western idea of church. Have we become so accustomed to things needing to be a particular way? What would we do if our church suddenly changed the way they do church? How much do we think our flesh plays a part in how we like to worship or fellowship? How would I cope in the persecuted church?
I don't know the answers to those questions on a broader level, but they are certainly issues I have had to confront in my own life, and before the Lord, in the past couple of months.
Have you ever attended a church or fellowship that did things in a way that you weren't used to?
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Comments (15)
Wow this is really encouraging for me.
I'm actually contemplating moving churches because i moved up from the high school department to the College department.
I've been at my church for my whole life almost and it's become a bit too comfortable. Being that it's a very big church, I have become accustomed to my usual group of friends and such. but this really is encouraging. I'm still in the process of moving out of my house; so i'm just waiting for now.
I would like to also say... that if Jesus is presented at a church the was the Bible presents Him... and if we communicate Jesus the way the Bible presents Him... doesn't matter if it's Charismatic or Southern Baptist... doesn't matter if it's a home-based church or a megachurch... doesn't matter if it's an all black church or an all Asian church... Jesus needs to be talked about, communicated, exalted, presented Biblically, and always...
yes....
When we first started attending Calvary Chapel, the way they did things were new to us.
We love it now and call it home
I've converted from Southern Baptist to Roman Catholic, and now regularly attend an all-Latin Tridentine mass. So, yes!
i've been going to an Assemblies of God church my entire life (my dad is an AG pastor) and they have very charismatic worship. one time we went to a conservative presbyterian service and it was very strange to me. the person in charge wore robes i think (i dont know whether to call him a priest or a pastor). he would talk for a while, then we'd stand up and sing a hymn, and sit back down.
i get tired of the same style of worship though. i would love to attend a church like you are, mrs. violet! for some reason a quieter way of worshipping appeals to me. i'd be totally fine if i had to kneel the whole time and pray while a choir sang or something like that.
if i get the chance to attend a different type of church service, i definitely will take advantage of that.
I attended a Presbyterian (PCA), reformed, very strict church with my husband when we were searching for a new church home. It was awful. I won't go into it here, but the mindset does not jive with what I need. We are at a non-denominational now. We are still members of the Episcopal Church, however, we have chosen to distance ourselves from that denomination because we no longer feel that the Bible is preached or that the absolute truth of God is being taught.
The church I attend now does things different from what I am used to. It still weirds me out a little that our service is only about an hour from start to finish. I'm so used to it being at least 2 hours.
What I miss the most from other churches I have attended is the spontaneity in worship. I know that worship leaders have a list of songs, but I love it when the Spirit moves and completely rearranges the music selection. It keeps us fresh and ever-seeking.
Whenever I go to another church, whether in the same denomination where I regularly attend (Presbyterian) or any other denomination, I expect things to be not as I am used to. While there is similar structure in a worship service, each service to some extent reflects the personality of the leader and the congregation.
This is an incredible post, and I'm really glad to see someone who is willing to accept that it's ok to worship in a variety of different ways. I've attended a lot of different churches, partially because I left my old church a few years ago and ended up in a very different place, and partially because I study religion and am very interested in how people worship. It can be challenging to worship in a church that is very different from what you were used to, but I think it can be a good experience.
I've just switched over churches, so it's a big adjustment. My old church kept everybody in line so much so that I don't know how to express myself in worship. There are people who are clapping, jumpping, whistling loudly, and raising their hands and I just stand there thinking, "Were these people at my old church, the members wouldn't stand for it much. They've have everybody knock it off in a week or two." What's really cute though, are the two little boys who dance in the front row, it's like they're doing a hopskotch-playing robot to the beat.
I grew up UMC that was more of a social club. When I was rescued by Jesus in my early 20's my first parachurch at FSU was mainly PCA so I attended that church. We lost track of each other over the summer so I ended up with another parachurch which was mainly So Bap. There I stayed until all my friends graduated and left town. I graduated and stayed.
There were folk who breezed through the So Bap churches who spoke of things of the Holy Spirit. I was interested. Why was He mentioned as part of the Trinity if He's not important. Meanwhile the leader of my most recent parachurch started a home church Evangelical Free style. Shortly thereafter I met the woman who became my wife who was attending a charismatic Episcopalian church where, incidentally, my best friend was attending. I decided to join them.
This was the greatest change for me - all the ritual and formality with freedom in the Holy Spirit. At first I turned my nose up at it, but as I began to understand what all the rituals were about I began to appreciate it greatly. There were so many parts of the service where Holy Spirit could find His way into my brokenness.
That church went the way of churches such that we had to leave. This was the second time my wife had been hurt by a church and she never went back to another, though she was fine with small groups. I ended up in a Vineyard. They are all different though in some ways the same. This one was relatively new and very shaky. The style was completely opposite that of the Episcopal church, but by then I could handle just about anything. I was mainly looking for a safe place to seek Abba with others who wanted to grow into Him as much as possible.
By the time that church died the Western ways of doing church had become quite repugnant to me. I'm in two small groups, now, and the only thing I miss is being able to play bass in a band. However, I believe Abba will be calling me back into the Western style church either to further refine my prejudices or because they will be refined enough for me to help those who are interested in moving ever deeper into Abba's love for them do so.
I have attended church services before that were different from my own. Since I am a worship leader, I don't get that privelege too often. Something I see, as a worship leader is that churches with contemporary style have what I call a boo-boo problem. My two year old falls down and she gets a boo-boo, so we have to put a bandaid on it. It seems that a lot of congregation members in charismatic churches use worship as a bandaid. We fall down during the week, but worship makes it all right again, and then we can go back out and fall down again next week. I don't think that's the way worship is supposed to work. For my part, I have found that members of more liturgical churches are much more interested in going deeper and deeper in their faith and exercising their minds along with their hearts and souls. I also notice, from my dealings and oberservations of both types of worshippers that the liturgical (this does not include Catholics, as I have very little experience with them because there are very few Catholics where I live) church members have a much more consistent witness.
I grew up in a Baptist church, northeast USA not southern, and I visited different denominations and different church buildings. I'm currently reforming my idea of "church" so I won't say I've been to many different churches. I think we all need a refresher in the idea of God's one Church. But getting back to the point, I visited stricter Baptist churches, a Presbyterian church that did not use musical accompianment in worship, a couple others that I don't recall the denom but were pretty standard (I felt pretty comfortable, not out of my element), a Lutheran church where I attended school (really hated that), the chapel hosted by the college I attended, and the one I currently attend with my husband is a nondenom with a big emphasis on the Kingdom of God. I'm pretty good with jumping into new situations and seeing how other Christians do things. I enjoy the observation and I try to learn what I can. Sincere churches all have their strengths and weaknesses. I've attended one where the teaching was a strongpoint while the worship lacked an emphasis on the Spirit and I now attend one where the worship is almost always alive but the teaching is not as scholarly (actually it's kind of a breath of fresh air for me...they're very practical!).
I think we do need to be open to change. I think being afraid to experience new things is being afraid to change. Being afraid of change usually indicates feeling comfortable and "safe" rather than a totally necessary dependence on God arising from faith in His sovereignty. When we are trusting Him, we often change. When we shy away from change, we are often not trusting Him.
That's been my experience, anyway.
~V
Have you thought about attending the Orthodox Church?
Interesting blog. I found it because I was wanting more information about charismatic churches. I have attended only conservative churches and am not currently in a church at all. Tonight I attended a women's disciple group at a charismatic church where the teaching was spot on, the fellowship sweet, and the presence of the Lord could be felt. I had a problem though with the praying in tongues and somewhat emotional atmosphere. But the word of God was definitely being preached so this has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and return.