Denominational Preferences

I'm really struggling with church selection. In Utah, we LOVED our non-denominational church. It was very conservative, but the people were wonderful and Terry and I learned so much about the Bible and authenticity and supporting other believers.

Upon our return to Florida, we realized that the church we used to attend, an E-Free church, didn't fit us anymore. Some of the teachings weren't Bible based and we were uncomfortable with that. So then we went to a Baptist-based church. The people are nice enough, many of our friends attend there, and it works okay for us, with the exception of requiring a believer's baptism. Terry and I were baptized in Utah because we felt it was a demonstration of our commitment to Christ, a rebirth in our spirits and obedience to what we believed we were called to do. Of course, United Methodists practice infant baptism in place of circumcision, essentially. And UMCs only baptize once, because to be baptized as an infant and then again as a believer is like saying the first baptism didn't count.

Baptists and proponents of believers' baptisms would say that the first one really DIDNT count. They have infant dedications, instead. I know I've over simplified, but stay with me as I go through this.

When we first began looking for a home church, we checked out the local Methodist church and found it to be more the country club types. clearly we did not fit. But we wanted a larger church with solid Biblical teaching, children's programs, contemporary music and small groups to get to know each other. Which is how we ended up at the Baptist church, despite some theological differences which we have chosen to keep to ourselves.

So back at camp last week, some things hit me. I love the United Methodist Church, despite its imperfections. I grew up United Methodist. I went to a United Methodist College and majored in Religion and Christian Education. I was a camp counselor at the United Methodist Camp. I worked for United Methodist Churches. And I think, deep inside, that is who I am.

At camp, I listened to the children's pastor and really liked what he said. The teenagers and children from his church were insightful, thoughtful, deep and well behaved. It turns out they are from a UMC located less than 12 minutes from us (yes, we visited and yes, we timed it). Grace really liked Sunday School and I really liked the sermon and church service. Several people spoke pleasantly to us in passing. AND I recognized several people who used to attend a different UMC in the area, which was kind of neat for me.

I don't really know where this leaves me. Terry has expressed interest in visiting this church and I suppose we'll take it from there. It's hard with children, because if we didn't have the kids, we'd probably go back and forth for a while. But small children can't take that. We need to commit somewhere. So we'll see.