TCPC Message Board: Denomination/congregation Poll - TCPC Message Board

Jump to content

Discuss Point 4 of the TCPC 8 Points...

By calling ourselves progressive,we mean that we are Christians who invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to): * believers and agnostics, * conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, * women and men, * those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, * those of all races and cultures, * those of all classes and abilities, * those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope; * without imposing on them the necessity of becoming like us.

To read more about the TCPC 8 Points and the related study guide, please go to the "8 Points" area of the TCPC website (www.tcpc.org).

Note: This discussion is for those who generally identify as liberal/progressive/open Christians, or who want to understand more about it. To respectfully debate any of the underlying assumptions, please start your conversation in the "Debate and Dialogue" area.
Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

Denomination/congregation Poll What Christian community, if any, do you participate in?

Poll: Denomination/Congregation Poll

What Christian community, if any, do you participate in?

You cannot see the results of the poll until you have voted. Please login and cast your vote to see the results of this poll.

How comfortable are you with the sermon topics and the social/political agenda of that group?

You cannot see the results of the poll until you have voted. Please login and cast your vote to see the results of this poll.

To what degree are you satisfied with the liturgy and the spiritual nourishment you receive from church services?

You cannot see the results of the poll until you have voted. Please login and cast your vote to see the results of this poll.

How important is participating in a religious/spiritual community to your faith/practice?

You cannot see the results of the poll until you have voted. Please login and cast your vote to see the results of this poll.
Vote Guests cannot vote

#1 User is offline   tinythinker

  • New Member
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 46
  • Joined: 19-February 08
  • Location:
    Eastern USA

Posted 23 April 2008 - 10:43 AM

What/where are we inviting others to?

Let's see...
God is present in every house of worship, despite the efforts of some of their members.
0

#2 User is offline   McKenna

  • Experienced Member
  • PipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 425
  • Joined: 15-February 07
  • Location:
    USA

Posted 23 April 2008 - 04:48 PM

View Posttinythinker, on Apr 23 2008, 11:43 AM, said:

What/where are we inviting others to?

Let's see...


I'm a UU right now, but don't find it very spiritually satisfying, so when I move next fall I'll look around a bit...I've already looked into the UCC church where I'm going, it looks good :)
Peace, love, and God bless,
McKenna

"Give them not hell, but hope and courage. Preach the everlasting love of God." –John Murray
0

#3 User is offline   tinythinker

  • New Member
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 46
  • Joined: 19-February 08
  • Location:
    Eastern USA

Posted 24 April 2008 - 03:28 PM

View PostMcKenna, on Apr 23 2008, 05:48 PM, said:

I'm a UU right now, but don't find it very spiritually satisfying, so when I move next fall I'll look around a bit...I've already looked into the UCC church where I'm going, it looks good :)

I've tried UU a couple of times as well. You almost certainly already noticed, but I brought up UUism/the UUA in a new thread on the Debate and Dialogue forum. I must agree with the reply that suggested the post was too long, but for brevity's sake I also have a blog entry on my hopes and concerns regarding UUism. I have a high regard for the UUs I know, but often it just seems something vital is not quite "right" for me in the actual services. But hey, if it helps to spiritually nourish others, then more power to them!
:)
God is present in every house of worship, despite the efforts of some of their members.
0

#4 User is offline   McKenna

  • Experienced Member
  • PipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 425
  • Joined: 15-February 07
  • Location:
    USA

Posted 25 April 2008 - 05:38 PM

View Posttinythinker, on Apr 24 2008, 04:28 PM, said:

I've tried UU a couple of times as well. You almost certainly already noticed, but I brought up UUism/the UUA in a new thread on the Debate and Dialogue forum. I must agree with the reply that suggested the post was too long, but for brevity's sake I also have a blog entry on my hopes and concerns regarding UUism. I have a high regard for the UUs I know, but often it just seems something vital is not quite "right" for me in the actual services. But hey, if it helps to spiritually nourish others, then more power to them!
:)


UU has been my only real spiritual community during my life (I don't think my mother taking me to a few Quaker and Congregationalist services when I was 5 really counts), so I have great respect for it, but at the same time, I find myself ready to move on. I have heard it remarked (sometimes in frustration) by other UUs that UUism is for many people a "stopping point" along the way, rather than their final destination. (I think I saw a statistic somewhere that the average length of a membership in a UU church was 7 years, but I may be confusing that with the current average duration of US marriages; the point is, it was only a few years.) This makes sense to me. I think many come to UU because they feel they have nowhere else to go; that was my experience, and it was a great "intro" to having a spiritual community. But then I think many also leave because the ambiguity loses its comfort and begins to be irritating. I want to hear to word "God" spoken in church occasionally! (Some UU churches do speak of Him often, of course, but mine doesn't; it tends more to a vague sort of spirituality rather than either solid theism or atheism.) So, I'm ready to move on. But I agree that if UU suits you, more power to you! It's just not for me anymore.

I've read about half of your post on the other thread so far, am hoping to finish it tonight :)
Peace, love, and God bless,
McKenna

"Give them not hell, but hope and courage. Preach the everlasting love of God." –John Murray
0

#5 User is offline   minsocal

  • Senior Contributing Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 835
  • Joined: 22-December 05

Posted 26 April 2008 - 08:59 AM

The United Church of Christ suits me best. But then I grew up in the UCC. I recently read that it has become common for young people today to leave their family Church for other options.
0

#6 User is offline   tinythinker

  • New Member
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 46
  • Joined: 19-February 08
  • Location:
    Eastern USA

Posted 26 April 2008 - 09:10 PM

Yes, I've been hearing a lot about UCC (and not just because of the Rev Wright conflaguration in the news), including (ironically enough) from some UUs. I am going to have to move again sometime between mid-June and mid-July, and there are two UCC and one UU church in the area general area.
God is present in every house of worship, despite the efforts of some of their members.
0

#7 User is offline   Russ

  • Regular Member
  • PipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 113
  • Joined: 30-July 06

Posted 19 May 2008 - 10:18 PM

Guess I'm the local neighborhood Quaker. :)
0

#8 User is offline   kiwimac

  • New Member
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 12
  • Joined: 10-May 04
  • Location:
    Deepest, Darkest New Zealand

Posted 21 May 2008 - 12:52 AM

View PostRuss, on May 20 2008, 03:18 PM, said:

Guess I'm the local neighborhood Quaker. :)


I am both Quaker and an ordained Priest in the Anglican Church International.
Posted Image

He aha te mea nui?

He tangata
he tangata
he tangata!
0

#9 User is offline   tinythinker

  • New Member
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 46
  • Joined: 19-February 08
  • Location:
    Eastern USA

Posted 21 May 2008 - 01:21 PM

I just realized I can't participate in my own poll because I don't attend any kind of service for any religious community. Nuts.

:P
God is present in every house of worship, despite the efforts of some of their members.
0

#10 User is offline   October's Autumn

  • Master Contributing Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 1,022
  • Joined: 22-August 05

Posted 05 June 2008 - 11:51 PM

View PostRuss, on May 19 2008, 10:18 PM, said:

Guess I'm the local neighborhood Quaker. :)


I can't sit still long enough to be a Quaker ;)

I joined the UCC 2 years ago, now. I'm 38 and it is the first church I ever joined! That is saying something, at least about the congregation I am in.

This post has been edited by October's Autumn: 05 June 2008 - 11:52 PM

0

#11 User is offline   grampawombat

  • Oldtime Member
  • PipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 103
  • Joined: 07-December 04
  • Gender:
    Male
  • Location:
    Ann Arbor, MI

Posted 06 July 2008 - 10:19 PM

I have been Presbyterian most of my adult life, and was a very active lay person for many years. I have almost always belonged to congregations that were politically liberal, and my present affiliation is with such a congregation. My theology, such as it is, is less conventional that most of my fellow congregants, but I still find the language of Christianity so rich in metaphor that it is necessary for helping me discover who I am and what is of value to me.
0
Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

1 User(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users