What Denomination Are You?

[wil]

The poll only allowed 10 options...way too short for the number of denominations possibly represented here... a quick list of possible responses.. apologies to anyone omitted...feel free to respond without one listed!

-AME[FONT=&quot]
- Anabaptist
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Anglican
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Apostolic[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Baptist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Catholic[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Charismatic[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Christian Science
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Christian Science[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Eastern Orthodox[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Episcopal[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Evangelical[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Gnostic[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Jehovah’s Witness
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Lutheran[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
-Messianic Judaism[/FONT]
-Methodist
[FONT=&quot] -Mormon[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Pentacostal[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Presbytarian[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Quaker[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Religious Science[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Rosicrucian
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Seventh Day Adventist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Unitarian Universalist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 -Unity
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Other[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -None of the above, I consider myself Christian but do not fit any of these molds[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
For the record, I was babtised in a Presbytarian Church, attended Sunday School as a Presbytarian...in highschool years went to a Methodist Church (the rest of my family still does) While I've been at numerous other churches, and a variety of other faiths places of worship, I spent some time in a Baptist Church and currently attend Unity.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

 

[lunamoth]

-AME[FONT=&quot]
- Anabaptist
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Anglican
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Apostolic[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Baptist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Catholic[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Charismatic[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Christian Science
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Christian Science[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Eastern Orthodox[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] 1-Episcopal[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Evangelical[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Gnostic[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Jehovah’s Witness
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Lutheran[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
-Messianic Judaism[/FONT]
-Methodist
[FONT=&quot] -Mormon[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Pentacostal[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Presbytarian[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Quaker[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Religious Science[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Rosicrucian
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Seventh Day Adventist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -Unitarian Universalist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 -Unity
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] -Other[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] -None of the above, I consider myself Christian but do not fit any of these molds[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
For the record, I was babtised in a Presbytarian Church, attended Sunday School as a Presbytarian...in highschool years went to a Methodist Church (the rest of my family still does) While I've been at numerous other churches, and a variety of other faiths places of worship, I spent some time in a Baptist Church and currently attend Unity.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

What is Unity Wil?

lunamoth

 

[seattlegal]

generic

 

[wil]

What is Unity Wil?

lunamoth

Unity was developed by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore a system for all religions to obtain a deeper understanding of the bible through extensive prayer and meditation. As time went on, folks formed groups studying metaphysical principles and churches were born.. The Fillmores, Mary Baker Eddy and Ernest Holmes, were all exploring this at the turn of the century...sort of an evolution from the Trancendentalist movement...Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Phineas Quimby and....

Many have heard of the Daily Word...a Unity daily prayer book mailed out to millions monthly for decades...

Anyone interested can click on my preacher's talks here or check out Unity online.

 

[Faithfulservant]

Im non-denominational ... partly for this reason.. the body of Christ is not a denomination.. or seperated into denominations. I also follow no doctrines other than that God imparted to us.. most denominations have doctrines that cloud the intent and purpose of the body.

The trinity Father Son and Spirit.
The bible as infalliable and inspired Word of God.
Jesus's virgin birth death and resurrection.
The gospel message of salvation.. Jesus is the ONLY way..

 

[Bandit]

generic

i was going to say Amish, but i think i will join you in the generic section.

 

[wil]

i was going to say Amish, but i think i will join you in the generic section.

I didn't put Amish or Mennonite on here....as I thought they wouldn't be using the computer...

 

[bruceg]

I didn't put Amish or Mennonite on here....as I thought they wouldn't be using the computer...

Well, from my understanding of what I was told on our school field trip to learn about the Amish many years ago, there are degrees of accomodation to technology among their faith. The "new order" may utilize modern technology in their daily lives, while the "old order" is what we more commonly think of as Amish, with there being a continuum between them in how and what they use.

 

[wil]

Well, from my understanding of what I was told on our school field trip to learn about the Amish many years ago, there are degrees of accomodation to technology among their faith. The "new order" may utilize modern technology in their daily lives, while the "old order" is what we more commonly think of as Amish, with there being a continuum between them in how and what they use.

We'll see how many brethren of Bandit hit the enter key....in my neck of the woods and travels...they still have payphones out at the street, and the youngsters still wear traditional clothes... the carpenters building sheds and pallets use diesel engines to compress air and use air saws, screwguns, sanders, and nailguns...but not electricity...some have bare bulbs in the house, but not outlets or appliances...some have gas refridgerators...

I've seen them utilize cars...but hire them out or a non amish friend drives...must be a challenge. My apostolic friends can't understand...they do all this to honor G-d, yet smoke...and dirty the temple.

 

[Bandit]

i happen to like the amish people. i went to school with two amish girls. i also grew up with an amish family with several children who attended our church for years. the father became an evangelist & all the children grew up & moved away. they still held to a lot of their own traditions while breaking free from their dogmatic religion & old fashioned culture and being excommunicated. i remember when their house & barn burned to the ground one year. the church had to find places for all the children to live in other peoples homes while they sorted through the disaster.
Later, Brother Miller became an elder on the platform at our church after years of evangelizing & just before he retired.

they were real good people. the father & children did a lot of hard work. i remember Brother Miller the father, coming to our house & built a new chimney for the house i grew up in. His wife got alzheimers later on & then passed away, then he passed away right after her.

these people were Holy Ghost filled & had a lot of love & i am glad for the opportunity to get to know them.
No, I am not Amish & neither is my church.
i am generic. my church is independant.
do not label me.

 

[lunamoth]

Episcopalian. I love the liturgy and Eucharist. The combination of tradition, scripture and reason suits me well. Not quite Catholic, not quite Protestant, but somewhere in the middle, like me. However, I harbor my own little set of non-orthodoxies...

luna

 

[Quahom1]

I didn't put Amish or Mennonite on here....as I thought they wouldn't be using the computer...

Mennonites have refrigerators, trucks and even computers with internet...

but they use the stuff only for business...

v/r

Q

 

[Quahom1]

Episcopalian. I love the liturgy and Eucharist. The combination of tradition, scripture and reason suits me well. Not quite Catholic, not quite Protestant, but somewhere in the middle, like me. However, I harbor my own little set of non-orthodoxies...

luna

Americanized version of the Anglican or Church of England I think you'll find.

v/r

Q

 

[lunamoth]

Americanized version of the Anglican or Church of England I think you'll find.

v/r

Q

Hi Q, yes I know this. There is quite a bit of diversity within the Anglican Communion, conservative to liberal, high church to low church. So far the Episcopal Church has not been split off from the AC, but the case of the gay Bishop is pushing the envelope on that. I hope it stays together. luna.

 

[Quahom1]

Hi Q, yes I know this. There is quite a bit of diversity within the Anglican Communion, conservative to liberal, high church to low church. So far the Episcopal Church has not been split off from the AC, but the case of the gay Bishop is pushing the envelope on that. I hope it stays together. luna.

I do too, that's where i go...

 

[seattlegal]

i was going to say Amish, but i think i will join you in the generic section.

Plenty of room over here.

 

[path_of_one]

I guess generic. I go to an Episcopalian church, primarily because I love the symbolism, art, and the way they do eucharist and all. I appreciate the thoughtfulness involved and the tradition, though I have my own non-Orthodox interpretations of a lot of it.

Mostly, I'm a sort of mystic- that's how I was raised and what fits my personality. But that isn't a denomination, more an ongoing journey or experience.

I don't do well with doctrine and being told what to think about everything- I'm more in the camp of each person studying and praying over the scriptures and cultivating a relationship with God. Yet I do value church and clergy. Just as I teach anthropology in a way that encourages my students to explore data on their own, to make their own theories, to ponder on their own culture and relationship to it, but I'm around to take questions and help out with background information- I value pastors/priests in the same way. I see them as potentially useful experts who have had more time to study the linguistic, cultural, historical, etc. contexts of the scriptures and the history of the church, so I can take this information and use it in my own study and meditations on the Word. So I think they are important, but not in the way many people treat them- as having the "right" answer to scriptural intepretation- hence, the avoidance of doctrine.

I believe God's Word is, like many Jews believe about the Torah, a living document in a sense- that speaks to each of us with various meanings, tailor fit by the Spirit for what we need at this moment in our lives. Thus, I believe it to have multiple intepretations that only seem contradictory. I believe the Bible is infallible, but not in the fundamentalist sense. Instead of believing that the literal interpretation of it (which is never literal, because it is colored by our own cultural and historical and linguistic perspectives) is infallible, I believe that the literal story has deep meanings. Meanings- plural. The Word is infallible in that it is, as lunamoth has said, a "thin place" between God and humanity- it is a point of contact. If we prayerfully and meditatively contemplate the Word, and bring our questions to God, we will be guided toward understanding the Word as it is meant for us. This is why one verse can bring quite different feelings and interpretations at different times in our lives- God guides us to the understanding of the Word that is relevant and necessary for us at that moment. Thus, the Bible is not only our sacred history, and is certainly not a document with a one-size-fits-all simplistic meaning, but is instead the nexus for a conversation between humans and the Divine. It is, in fact, the ongoing attempt of humans to express their relationship with God, and becomes the sacred place in which we can also experience a relationship with God. Not a document, or a book, or even a story... but a conversation, a communion, a relationship. Thus, no one person can say what "it" means. Because "it" is a conversation between each of us and God.

I have yet to find a denomination that is really "me" but Celtic Christianity comes close. I know, it's considered heresy. But who decides who is a heretic? Since there are no Celtic Christian churches I know of, I just go with Episcopalian- I appreciate that there is an openness to personal interpretation. There is a focus on joining together as a community of followers of Christ to fellowship and worship God without the attempt to tell me every last thing I should believe about the Bible and God.

 

[Quahom1]

I guess generic. I go to an Episcopalian church, primarily because I love the symbolism, art, and the way they do eucharist and all. I appreciate the thoughtfulness involved and the tradition, though I have my own non-Orthodox interpretations of a lot of it.

Mostly, I'm a sort of mystic- that's how I was raised and what fits my personality. But that isn't a denomination, more an ongoing journey or experience.

I don't do well with doctrine and being told what to think about everything- I'm more in the camp of each person studying and praying over the scriptures and cultivating a relationship with God. Yet I do value church and clergy. Just as I teach anthropology in a way that encourages my students to explore data on their own, to make their own theories, to ponder on their own culture and relationship to it, but I'm around to take questions and help out with background information- I value pastors/priests in the same way. I see them as potentially useful experts who have had more time to study the linguistic, cultural, historical, etc. contexts of the scriptures and the history of the church, so I can take this information and use it in my own study and meditations on the Word. So I think they are important, but not in the way many people treat them- as having the "right" answer to scriptural intepretation- hence, the avoidance of doctrine.

I believe God's Word is, like many Jews believe about the Torah, a living document in a sense- that speaks to each of us with various meanings, tailor fit by the Spirit for what we need at this moment in our lives. Thus, I believe it to have multiple intepretations that only seem contradictory. I believe the Bible is infallible, but not in the fundamentalist sense. Instead of believing that the literal interpretation of it (which is never literal, because it is colored by our own cultural and historical and linguistic perspectives) is infallible, I believe that the literal story has deep meanings. Meanings- plural. The Word is infallible in that it is, as lunamoth has said, a "thin place" between God and humanity- it is a point of contact. If we prayerfully and meditatively contemplate the Word, and bring our questions to God, we will be guided toward understanding the Word as it is meant for us. This is why one verse can bring quite different feelings and interpretations at different times in our lives- God guides us to the understanding of the Word that is relevant and necessary for us at that moment. Thus, the Bible is not only our sacred history, and is certainly not a document with a one-size-fits-all simplistic meaning, but is instead the nexus for a conversation between humans and the Divine. It is, in fact, the ongoing attempt of humans to express their relationship with God, and becomes the sacred place in which we can also experience a relationship with God. Not a document, or a book, or even a story... but a conversation, a communion, a relationship. Thus, no one person can say what "it" means. Because "it" is a conversation between each of us and God.

I have yet to find a denomination that is really "me" but Celtic Christianity comes close. I know, it's considered heresy. But who decides who is a heretic? Since there are no Celtic Christian churches I know of, I just go with Episcopalian- I appreciate that there is an openness to personal interpretation. There is a focus on joining together as a community of followers of Christ to fellowship and worship God without the attempt to tell me every last thing I should believe about the Bible and God.

Ah, but there are Celtic Christian Churches. In fact there are Cathedrals.

You happen to walk through one most every day...



v/r

Q

where ever two or more are gathered in His name, there is the church...

 

[path_of_one]

Q. I certainly feel like my wild forest grove is a cathedral... I often go there alone but I never feel alone- somehow the trees and animals seem to be congregation.

And of course, yes, we are a church here as well... One I am quite fond of...

 

[Bandit]

Plenty of room over here.

Cool & it is WONDERFUL

I have yet to find a denomination that is really "me" but Celtic Christianity comes close. I know, it's considered heresy. But who decides who is a heretic? Since there are no Celtic Christian churches I know of, I just go with...

you know the word heretic/heresy is not even in my vocabulary. my church & i have been called that name more times than i can remember by local institutions. but what they dont know is we have a huge fellowship with bible believers around the world & missions in many countries.
i will remain a generic & independant bible believer.
there is a big celtic church just a few blocks away from me that i have been wanting to visit. it even looks kind of gothic.