I can't answer your question. I've not found any church that I'd want to go to. One thing you can do is check out various religions on the internet before you invest a lot of time and emotion into them.
Stick around, tell us your story and feel free to ask questions. Someone will surely answer them.
On the front page on the right hand listing is a "link" word, click on that , then go down to the drop down you will find several ex-way ministrys ETC.
most still believe as you do.
christian Education Service will redirect you to Spirit and Truth and they have listing of all the churches and fellowships they know of in your area.
It also has a link to the unitarian web site that is non trinity and their churches in your area
I'd look around for groups that are loving and giving... maybe everything they teach won't exactly agree with what you believe, it's hard to find any one group that does, but look for the love...
First, welcome to gsc. I've been where you are before. Hopefully the following will help:
**CAVEAT. I AM NOT TRYING TO RECRUIT YOU TO GO INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. JUST WANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL ADVICE**
One question to ask yourself...why do you want to find a church?
If you've just had a thought 'Gee, I'd really like to find a church to go to,' without answering that underlying question, then you may never, ever be satisfied...
So let's look at some of the possible answers:
You want a nice group of people to associate with in a relatively 'clean' environment.
You want to worship God in a valid fashion.
You want to get involved in the social ministries of some church and help the community.
You want to have a forum within which you'll be able learn and/or teach the Bible.
You have kids and want those kids to have a nice group of kids that have some kind of moral structure.
etc.
etc.
etc.
Any of those are valid areas of concern...and you may have one or more of them or may have a reason I haven't listed at all.
First, there are some theological issues that you will have to either deal with or will have to have to ignore. There are a few marks of Christianity that are out there that the vast, vast majority of groups believe.
The trinity
Water baptism admittedly, there are differences whether the baptism is considered a sacrament or an affirmation/ordinance, but baptism is done one way or the other
The destination of the soul after death
Your choices are extremely limited if you choose neither to subscribe to, or are able to ignore those three basic marks (particularly the Trinity):
Jehovah's Witness
Oneness Pentacostal (practice water baptism, in Jesus name only)
Unitarian-Universalist (not Christian, but a group of nice, accepting people_
Christian Scientist
And a few others...
And so, you can either ignore it or you can find one of these churches that agree with those perculiarities that distinguished TWI, or you will have to deal with those issues. (Or just stay away)
If you are simply looking for a church as a social exercise, there are a huge number of groups out there that provide that kind of environment. A lot of them out there mostly preach "positive thinking," "God loves you," "do good by others," and so on and really don't get into any kind of deep theology. There are a lot of good folks in those churches. And as long as you keep the TWI-unique beliefs to yourself, you're not going to run into issues with them.
If you are looking for study/worship experiences or if you have kids that you want to get some religious formation, you'll have to deal with the theological issues.
On that subject: I was where you are now about 8 years ago. I wanted to get back into church after being gone from TWI for years, being disgusted by the offshoots I'd seen, and so on. Maybe a nice Methodist, Lutheran, or UCC church. No interest in a fundamentalist church or a Pentacostal type church, of course (not after TWI). However, I'd allowed TWI to be able to knock enough holes in all of the issues I identified above and had 'learned' the TWI theology so well that it was tough to consider that they might be wrong. Repeatedly in the years after leaving TWI, I'd go through the 'proofs' that were shown in books like ADAN, JCNG, etc. and saw that, using Wierwille's methodology, he built his case.
Something happened about 8 years ago, though, and I decided to re-look at the key 'marks' of TWI (JCNG, ADAN, RHSN, PFAL, etc.) through a different prism: I decided to see if I could prove the traditional orthodoxy that these TWI 'marks' displaced could be proven. I reasoned with myself that those orthodox 'marks' had been in place for centuries before Wierwille. Many heroes celebrated in twi (Luther, Bullinger, etc) were always celebrated with the caveat, 'except they believed in the Trinity...,' 'they were great, but fear kept them from acknowledging that JC was not God,' etc....Well, I let myself consider the fact that maybe these great men were correct and VPW was wrong...(dangerous thought, I know). So, I decided to examine those doctrines through the prism of themselves. In other words, not can the doctrines be disproven by examining isolated scriptures, but can the doctrines be substantiated in scripture...and can the isolated verses be understood in light of these doctrines? And I found out that they could. But, as with everything, YMMV (your mileage may vary).
The point is that you can, if you're willing, come up with an understanding that they (regular churches) could actually be right!
Now as to what type of church. That is as much a matter of style as anything. I personally prefer the beauty of a nice liturgical service. And, in fact, even though I am Catholic, the Latin Rite liturgy is not my preference: I actually prefer the beauty of the Eastern churches. There is a tremendous amount of symbolism in the services that, if you understand the significance of the symbols, makes for a tremendously rich worship experience. However, I fully acknowledge that some people don't feel comfortable with the liturgical worship style. Once again, it's something that (imho) for a person in your position, is a matter of comfort. The only advice I'd give is to:
understand the nature of the liturgy used -- there are plenty of resources on the web to explain any liturgy used in by any church in this country. If not a liturgical service, try to understand the order of how they worship.
Whether liturgical or not, once you understand what is going on, you need to feel comfortable with it. All should be 'decent and in order' (IMHO)
Anyway, hope this helps!
(btw, if you want something that comes close to resembling the 'first century church,' I'd suggest finding either a Chaldean church, or if one of those is not near where you live, a Maronite or Melkite church. The Chaldeans are from Mesopotamia (Aramaic), the Maronites (Syriac) and Melkites (Greek) are both from Antioch. Even if it's not your cup of tea, it is very interesting to see how their liturgies operate)
Thanks to all who responded. in good faith and fairness to you who took the time to read my rant and "pen" a response, i shall look into what each of you suggested.
...or possibly Anthony Buzzard's group...they have home fellowships (I've been told) and they're all around...even in other countries. They're also very loving and accepting (I've been told by one of my dearest friends who associates with them)...
What I am especially blessed by with the "offshoots' is their integrity. Christian Family Fellowship (Milford Bowen, Wayne Clapp etc.), liberating Ministries for Christ International (Dale Sides et al), Association of Christian Fellowships (Frank Tulak et al) are a few of the ones I know personally, and they all are committed to walking the walk as well as talking the talk to the best of their ability. I love them all.
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Jim
Welcome Ammo, glad to hear you made it out.
I can't answer your question. I've not found any church that I'd want to go to. One thing you can do is check out various religions on the internet before you invest a lot of time and emotion into them.
Stick around, tell us your story and feel free to ask questions. Someone will surely answer them.
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pond
On the front page on the right hand listing is a "link" word, click on that , then go down to the drop down you will find several ex-way ministrys ETC.
most still believe as you do.
christian Education Service will redirect you to Spirit and Truth and they have listing of all the churches and fellowships they know of in your area.
It also has a link to the unitarian web site that is non trinity and their churches in your area
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Tom Strange
I'd look around for groups that are loving and giving... maybe everything they teach won't exactly agree with what you believe, it's hard to find any one group that does, but look for the love...
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johniam
My first choice would be to get hold of someone you knew in TWI and check out the fellowship they go to.
My second choice would be to go to a church and just bite your tongue about the trinity and see if you liked it ANYWAY.
Or maybe scrap the above and just pray; see where God leads you.
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WhiteDove
Here is another link for you!
Faithful Word Ministries
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markomalley
Ammo,
First, welcome to gsc. I've been where you are before. Hopefully the following will help:
**CAVEAT. I AM NOT TRYING TO RECRUIT YOU TO GO INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. JUST WANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL ADVICE**
One question to ask yourself...why do you want to find a church?
If you've just had a thought 'Gee, I'd really like to find a church to go to,' without answering that underlying question, then you may never, ever be satisfied...
So let's look at some of the possible answers:
Any of those are valid areas of concern...and you may have one or more of them or may have a reason I haven't listed at all.
First, there are some theological issues that you will have to either deal with or will have to have to ignore. There are a few marks of Christianity that are out there that the vast, vast majority of groups believe.
Your choices are extremely limited if you choose neither to subscribe to, or are able to ignore those three basic marks (particularly the Trinity):
And so, you can either ignore it or you can find one of these churches that agree with those perculiarities that distinguished TWI, or you will have to deal with those issues. (Or just stay away)
If you are simply looking for a church as a social exercise, there are a huge number of groups out there that provide that kind of environment. A lot of them out there mostly preach "positive thinking," "God loves you," "do good by others," and so on and really don't get into any kind of deep theology. There are a lot of good folks in those churches. And as long as you keep the TWI-unique beliefs to yourself, you're not going to run into issues with them.
If you are looking for study/worship experiences or if you have kids that you want to get some religious formation, you'll have to deal with the theological issues.
On that subject: I was where you are now about 8 years ago. I wanted to get back into church after being gone from TWI for years, being disgusted by the offshoots I'd seen, and so on. Maybe a nice Methodist, Lutheran, or UCC church. No interest in a fundamentalist church or a Pentacostal type church, of course (not after TWI). However, I'd allowed TWI to be able to knock enough holes in all of the issues I identified above and had 'learned' the TWI theology so well that it was tough to consider that they might be wrong. Repeatedly in the years after leaving TWI, I'd go through the 'proofs' that were shown in books like ADAN, JCNG, etc. and saw that, using Wierwille's methodology, he built his case.
Something happened about 8 years ago, though, and I decided to re-look at the key 'marks' of TWI (JCNG, ADAN, RHSN, PFAL, etc.) through a different prism: I decided to see if I could prove the traditional orthodoxy that these TWI 'marks' displaced could be proven. I reasoned with myself that those orthodox 'marks' had been in place for centuries before Wierwille. Many heroes celebrated in twi (Luther, Bullinger, etc) were always celebrated with the caveat, 'except they believed in the Trinity...,' 'they were great, but fear kept them from acknowledging that JC was not God,' etc....Well, I let myself consider the fact that maybe these great men were correct and VPW was wrong...(dangerous thought, I know). So, I decided to examine those doctrines through the prism of themselves. In other words, not can the doctrines be disproven by examining isolated scriptures, but can the doctrines be substantiated in scripture...and can the isolated verses be understood in light of these doctrines? And I found out that they could. But, as with everything, YMMV (your mileage may vary).
The point is that you can, if you're willing, come up with an understanding that they (regular churches) could actually be right!
Now as to what type of church. That is as much a matter of style as anything. I personally prefer the beauty of a nice liturgical service. And, in fact, even though I am Catholic, the Latin Rite liturgy is not my preference: I actually prefer the beauty of the Eastern churches. There is a tremendous amount of symbolism in the services that, if you understand the significance of the symbols, makes for a tremendously rich worship experience. However, I fully acknowledge that some people don't feel comfortable with the liturgical worship style. Once again, it's something that (imho) for a person in your position, is a matter of comfort. The only advice I'd give is to:
Anyway, hope this helps!
(btw, if you want something that comes close to resembling the 'first century church,' I'd suggest finding either a Chaldean church, or if one of those is not near where you live, a Maronite or Melkite church. The Chaldeans are from Mesopotamia (Aramaic), the Maronites (Syriac) and Melkites (Greek) are both from Antioch. Even if it's not your cup of tea, it is very interesting to see how their liturgies operate)
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ammo
Thanks to all who responded. in good faith and fairness to you who took the time to read my rant and "pen" a response, i shall look into what each of you suggested.
Thanks again!
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waterbuffalo
...or possibly Anthony Buzzard's group...they have home fellowships (I've been told) and they're all around...even in other countries. They're also very loving and accepting (I've been told by one of my dearest friends who associates with them)...
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Kit Sober
What I am especially blessed by with the "offshoots' is their integrity. Christian Family Fellowship (Milford Bowen, Wayne Clapp etc.), liberating Ministries for Christ International (Dale Sides et al), Association of Christian Fellowships (Frank Tulak et al) are a few of the ones I know personally, and they all are committed to walking the walk as well as talking the talk to the best of their ability. I love them all.
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