Rapidmc Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 There is a non-denominational church nearby my house that I have been curious about for years. Today I stopped in for a visit. It was a very casual atmosphere. Everyone was very friendly and I met quite a few of them. As services got started I was really looking forward to feeling something good. But it felt like something was missing. Like it was just a group of people hanging out talking about the bible. Not that there is anything wrong with that and I fully appreciate anybody that makes an effort to learn about Heavenly Father. It just made me wish I had gone to my wards sacrament meeting. I have been struggling with my testimony lately and this experience today really helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LiterateParakeet Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 I am struggling too, and I have actually found it helpful to listen to podcasts from a couple other churches. What can I say? They fill a hunger and a need I have right now, that our church is not meeting. That said, I have no plans to leave our church. I believe in the Priesthood, and the Plan of Salvation, and that is enough to keep me in our church. I think it is nice that you were open-minded and tried something new, and I am also glad you felt a "yearning for home" or in other words a desire to be in Sacrament meeting. I think having these experiences will give us both a deeper, more meaningful faith than we had before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploomf Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 I've found I like the liturgical services of more traditional churches more than I like the services at Evangelical/non denominational churches. The Methodist church I attend now has beautiful traditional services, I love it, it seems to touch something within me. I sometimes attend Catholic masses as well and they are also quite beautiful. The Priest at the Catholic church gives such wonderful thought provoking homilies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Almost every year we vacation for a week after Christmas. The location is about 3 hours from our home--far enough that we need to go to church in the area. Since there is no church of our denomination in the town, we usually just go to the community church right outside the resort we stay at. It is a nondenominational, Bible-believing church. We like it okay, enjoy most of the songs, but yeah, there's that little something that seems to be missing. This year we trecked about 20 miles to the nearest Assemblies of God church. It was what we call a missions church (i.e. very small), and only had about 20 people. Yet, it was so fresh, anointed and familiar. We were home--with family. BTW, I fully expect to see those folk from the community church in heaven. I'm wondering if God will mind if I tease them, saying we sing just a little bit better. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finrock Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 In terms of baptisms, my mission was not fruitful. In my own personal efforts to try to relate with people so that I could be a better missionary, I decided that I wanted to visit as many different denominations possible. After convincing my companion(s) to do so, we started planning and sometimes just dropping by different services of various denominations. All-in-all, on my mission my companions and I took part in Lutheran, Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostal, and various other Protestant churches. We never proselytized while in their buildings unless they asked us questions. We were always respectful and participated in the services to the extent we were allowed and to the extent that it agreed with our sense of religious reverence. The services were all very interesting, if nothing else. We always met many people and I can't remember a single instance where we were treated poorly even though it was clear from our name tags that we were Mormon missionaries. True, some services were easier to relate to than others. I learned things about all of these religions that I never knew before. I don't know if this helped to make me a better missionary in the end - it certainly did nothing to help baptisms - but, I never felt that it was a waste of my time. Regards, Finrock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misshalfway Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Contrast is a good thing. It helps us see things more clearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnn727 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I grew up Protestant (C&MA) and have visited many different denominations in my search. While part of what drew me to the LDS Church 20 years ago was the member participation, there is something to be said to having a Professional Pastor give the sermon, especially after the speakers we had last Sunday in Sacrament meeting. The best speaker we had was the youth speaker, an autistic boy that did a really good job considering his limitations. The two adult speakers, lets just say that one tried to be funny(and failed), and the other should have spent more time on their talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I had a brief sojourn in a C&MA church while on an exchange in Hong Kong. The church has a relatively long history in China, and they saw fit to use me in their AWANAS program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 I like to think I am professional, but somehow don't like the sound of "professional pastor." These days, at least in evangelicalism, most of us see ourselves as spiritual coaches. Yes, we did have a few years set aside for full time study of the Bible. We took some counseling courses, a couple speaking classes, and--in my case--several courses on the history of our denomination. Yet, our role--our calling--is to equip the saints to represent Christ to a lost and dying world. It is the membership that shines Jesus in workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, etc. They are the players. Our role is to provide on-going training, practice sessions, and to cheer them on in the LORD. I guess if a coach is a professional athletic consultant than I am a professional pastor. However, on most days it's "Hey coach!" for them. For most pastors it's, "Hey preacher!" For me, it's "Hey chappy!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LiterateParakeet Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 We took some counseling courses, a couple speaking classes, and--in my case--several courses on the history of our denomination.OT question (sorry). PC, do all Spiritual Coaches take classes in counseling? I'm wondering because I really love listening to the sermons of Dr. Ernie Hess of Covenant Presbyterian Church. (I just stumbled upon his podcasts on accident.) One of the things I like about him is that he is so validating of emotional pain. I am wondering if that is due to his counseling background. My own leaders feel less validating (that is not a criticism, just something I am struggling with), but they come from backgrounds of being doctor, lawyer, etc, so perhpas that is the reason for the difference. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnn727 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) I had a brief sojourn in a C&MA church while on an exchange in Hong Kong. The church has a relatively long history in China, and they saw fit to use me in their AWANAS program.Growing up C&MA gave me an excellent base in the Bible and was a very good place to grow up in the gospel (if you have to do it outside the LDS Church )You're right about China and in fact that entire part of the world. My Pastor as I was growing up left our Church to go to VietNam as a missionary.As far a 'Professional Pastors" I am talking about people who have been trained as speakers and 'sermonizers' (if that's a word) Edited February 25, 2013 by mnn727 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) OT question (sorry). PC, do all Spiritual Coaches take classes in counseling? I'm wondering because I really love listening to the sermons of Dr. Ernie Hess of Covenant Presbyterian Church. (I just stumbled upon his podcasts on accident.) One of the things I like about him is that he is so validating of emotional pain. I am wondering if that is due to his counseling background. My own leaders feel less validating (that is not a criticism, just something I am struggling with), but they come from backgrounds of being doctor, lawyer, etc, so perhpas that is the reason for the difference. What do you think?Most pastors have had at least one or two classes in counseling. These are not clinical courses, but rather offer guidelines for effective listening, and some approaches to short-term help. We also learned for signs that when the individual might need more extensive help (i.e. professional counseling). The courses I took were geared towards the person who would need 4-6 sessions. Beyond that, and we were encouraged to develop relationships with professional Christian counselors, so we could make referrals.As a bottom line though, I have definitely learned to be a better listener. Lawyers are usually good at listening too, though they do so with the purpose of finding the winning argument, more than to help the speaker discover their solution, with the help of God.As far a 'Professional Pastors" I am talking about people who have been trained as speakers and 'sermonizers' (if that's a word)That's fine. I know it's not meant as a negative label. Ironically, most clergy training programs I am aware of only have one or two courses in preaching itself. :-) I think we come across more polished simply because we do so much public speaking. Edited February 25, 2013 by prisonchaplain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahlia Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Lawyers are usually good at listening too, though they do so with the purpose of finding the winning argument, more than to help the speaker discover their solution, with the help of God.I dunno, the client came to me for help. I had to listen and try to find a solution, or help the person find a solution (some clients were incapable of critical thought and you had to think and problem solve for them. That's OK, that's why they paid you.). A lot of legal problems that the 'little people' have don't deal with winning arguments, but remembering to get some paperwork in on time, not understanding a contract, or trying to avoid a problem. You really try to do what you can outside of court, so that you don't always get to a 'winning the argument' stage. I will agree that I didn't help clients problem solve with God's help. Wasn't even on the radar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnn727 Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) Ironically, most clergy training programs I am aware of only have one or two courses in preaching itself. :-)really? that surprises me. Both of my former Pastors could talk for 45-60 minutes without (as far as I saw) notes on a subject and make it very interesting. Of course this was not their first Church either.I think we come across more polished simply because we do so much public speaking.But what were your first dozen or so like? Edited February 25, 2013 by mnn727 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 But what were your first dozen or so like? Uh...er...well, let's see...We are in Genesis...I think that's in the Old Testament...yes, uh...here in chapter one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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