sms104 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Hello- Just kind of stumbled on the TCPC website recently, and I have to say that I'm very intrigued by the 8 tenants. A little about myself... Dad's family is Catholic and after attending Catholic schools, he lost interest in the whole thing. Mom's family were not regular church-goers. By the time my brother and I came along, it was not a priority in our lives. We went through phases where my mom thought that we should all be attending church on Sunday as a family, but it was on and off. In Junior High and High School, I became a regular at Youth Group. I admit, it was mostly for the social benefits. I guess I just never really bought into everything. I felt that if I could only accept bits and pieces, then I couldn't really call myself a "Christian." Church pretty much moved to the back burner. Recently I've been reading about Buddhism, and found that I agree with a lot what I am reading, but again - not quite all of it. Which I guess has led me to a lot of google searches and eventually here. After browsing around the website, I find a lot of this to combine the Christianity and Buddhism that I believe to be true. Some questions though.... Would most of you consider Progressive Christianity an actual separate denomination of Christianity? If so, are there churches that identify themselves as Progressive Christian churches? I can't seem to find any in the Chicago area.... I see alot on this board about UCC churches... can someone summarize the differences? I'd appreciate any advice and maybe some other material to get me through Progressive Christianity 101. Thanks Much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystictrek Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Hello- Just kind of stumbled on the TCPC website recently, and I have to say that I'm very intrigued by the 8 tenants. A little about myself... Dad's family is Catholic and after attending Catholic schools, he lost interest in the whole thing. Mom's family were not regular church-goers. By the time my brother and I came along, it was not a priority in our lives. We went through phases where my mom thought that we should all be attending church on Sunday as a family, but it was on and off. In Junior High and High School, I became a regular at Youth Group. I admit, it was mostly for the social benefits. I guess I just never really bought into everything. I felt that if I could only accept bits and pieces, then I couldn't really call myself a "Christian." Church pretty much moved to the back burner. Recently I've been reading about Buddhism, and found that I agree with a lot what I am reading, but again - not quite all of it. Which I guess has led me to a lot of google searches and eventually here. After browsing around the website, I find a lot of this to combine the Christianity and Buddhism that I believe to be true. Some questions though.... Would most of you consider Progressive Christianity an actual separate denomination of Christianity? If so, are there churches that identify themselves as Progressive Christian churches? I can't seem to find any in the Chicago area.... I see alot on this board about UCC churches... can someone summarize the differences? I'd appreciate any advice and maybe some other material to get me through Progressive Christianity 101. Thanks Much! Welcome. Stay with this forum and you will learn a lot. Please visit my website and email me and let me know how I am doing at offering Progressive Christianity 101. I hope we can become cyber friends. My Connections Galore page has all kinds of PC links and spiritual formation links and peace and justice links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 What suburb are you in? I used to live in Evanston, and also in Chicago. I went to Wellington Ave. United Church of Christ (in Chicago). Very active- activist church, lots of lay involvement in the service. --des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sms104 Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 Thanks for the link to your page Trek - there's a ton of info there! I live in the South Suburbs (Homewood) and have actually heard of Wellington Avenue before. I haven't had a chance to make it there yet, but I have it on my list of churches to try. Thanks for the tip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I don't know where Homewood is (Chicago is a BIG place :-)). But if you get a chance, Wellington is definitely worth a visit. Try to go the first of the month for communion, though that doesn't really work for holy week and maybe a week or so thereafter. I think the way they did (hopefully still do) communion is particularly neat and meaningful. I'm not surpised that you have heard of Wellington, as it has a kind of reputation--depends on where you are whether it is good or not. :-) --des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclectic Chad Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Welcome! I'm actually hoping to move to Chicago sometime next year. I don't really consider myself 'Christian' anymore. I'm more Pagan than anything. I'm also a member of UU - Unitarian Universalism. Perhaps that is something you would be interested in looking into. Why do I stay at the TCPC boards if I'm Pagan, you ask? Well, because the people are nice, discussions are interesting, and although I'm not on often(work, etc.), it's giving me a place to seek and explore my views on Jesus himself, without the bitterness I've accumulated over the years towards the way Fundie Christianity portrays him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowperson Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Hi Chad: Nice to hear from you again. Sounds like some real change has transpired in your life. Keep up the good work and keep us posted from time to time. flow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowperson Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 sms104: I grew up near Chicago Hts. in the 50's and knew a lot of people from Homewood and Flossmoor. Before their high school was opened in 1960 half of the kids went to Thornton and the others went to my school Bloom. These two schools were big rivals in just about every way, kind of like Ohio St. and Michigan today. The kids from there in my senior class were given the choice to graduate from Bloom or go to the new school and be the first to graduate from Homewood-Flossmoor. About two thirds chose to stay at Bloom. Supposed to be a god pizza place there, Aureolio's or something like that . Keep us posted on what goes on up there. Flow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystictrek Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Would most of you consider Progressive Christianity an actual separate denomination of Christianity? If so, are there churches that identify themselves as Progressive Christian churches? I can't seem to find any in the Chicago area.... I see alot on this board about UCC churches... can someone summarize the differences? You have to look carefully for truly progressive congregations but I am sure Chicagoland has many. The UCC seminary, Chicago Theological Seminary, is quite progressive and many of its graduates are quite progressive. I was in Hyde Park in the 80s and both UCC congregations were and I believe still are quite progressive. The congegations of the Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran, Disciples of Christ and other denominations are all over the map theologically and politically and culturally. Since I am a Presbyterian, I wish I knew which Presby congregations to recommend. I do know one: an outstanding one is Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.