Q & R: How to find a church when you don’t quite fit in?
Here’s the Q:
You (and a few other great thinkers) have been so formative in my faith journey that I must say thank you. However, I am in need of some assistance.
Through books such as “The Story We Find Ourselves In” as well as going back to the early christian fathers I have found myself being more than protestant, not quite Orthodox, and not fully Catholic. I know I have brothers and sisters in all these religions, but am having a difficult time connecting.
I recently returned from the 3rd world – being a missionary for a protestant denomination for a few years and now find myself even less at home in most protestant circles. I cannot bare to sit through yet another Sunday morning of hearing the story that an angry God had to murder Jesus so that my sin could be eradicated from my life and I could get my ticket punched to go to heaven. However, I still want contemporary music that speaks to my faith journey and believe it is imperative to find a faith community to do life with.
The Q – is there a home for me in the traditional sense of Sunday morning church? Where might I find it?
Here’s the R:
People have been asking me this for years, and for years, I haven’t been able to answer. But I’m glad to say (please help spread the word) that a network has formed to help people find churches like you’re looking for. It’s called the OPEN Network, and here’s their website:
http://www.theopennetworkus.org/#home
There are probably a lot of churches that would like to be part of OPEN but just don’t know about it yet. I hope folks will spread the word to them too. They’re having a big gathering October 5-7 in Indianapolis. Details here: http://www.theopennetworkus.org/events/