Yes, it is Doc. When I went to confirmation classes, they told us that Episcopalians don't view the world as a bad place. It's a good place where good and bad things happen. They don't tell you not to drink, gamble, smoke or have sex outside traditional marriage. They respect your need to come to your own conclusions about spirituality and morals. They know if you love you and others, you just will and those who don't love themselves and others, well, church can't hurt them. They view church as a spiritual hospital and the perfect place for hypocrites. I am very glad my mother wisely raised me in the church. I just wish she had not have stopped taking me in 1970. I don't think the JW's would have gotten their hooks in me had I been still involved with the Episcopal Church.
** Asking the Hard Questions **
by FlyingHighNow 73 Replies latest jw friends
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Deputy Dog
FHN
Dep, you won't be getting drunk or smoking during a service
Why not? Are there rules against such behavior?
and I don't think it's a good place to find sexual conquests.
Couples don't meet at this church? If that's what a person is looking for, why would this not be a "good place"? I think you're fooling yourself to think this doesn't go on. Actually what I was getting at, was, does this church offer any answers to the "Hard Questions", or do they just listen, like the local bartender at the local pub.
They take communion if they are baptized, even the babies...
What does "communion" mean at this church? Who and or what, does the ceremony represent? What does "Baptism" mean in this church?
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FlyingHighNow
Dep, you asked this:
Forgive me for asking. What's the difference between this "church" and the local "pub"
I told you the difference.
Dep, you won't be getting drunk or smoking during a service and I don't think it's a good place to find sexual conquests.
Dep, there's a time and place for everything. There are fire department regulations about smoking in theaters, auditoriums and places like the sanctuary of a church. You can burn candles though. I guess they are safer than cigarettes. If you want to smoke, it would just be courteous to go smoke outside. I don't think there are rules against getting drunk, but I think you'd be less conspicuous getting drunk at the pub. Your question about couples meeting at church? You're intelligent, I think, you figure out. Same for baptism, you've got the internet right there at your fingertips. You can look it up easier than I can sit and type it out.
Couples don't meet at this church? If that's what a person is looking for, why would this not be a "good place"? I think you're fooling yourself to think this doesn't go on.
That what doesn't go on? Oh yes, you're right. People go to the episcopal church to hook up and get laid.
We all went to the White Caps minor league baseball game Thursday night. The priest, his wife and several of the adults including the senior and junior wardens had some beer, did the chicken dance and the YMCA. But sorry, if they wanted to smoke they had to go to the special room at the ball park provided for smokers. They were the most enthusiastic, loud group there. It was fun. And it was Pink Floyd night, no less.
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BurnTheShips
Kurt, the High Episcopal service is so beautiful
Holy smokes!
The Rastafarian Church has a very High service too!
BTS
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FlyingHighNow
Yes. Different churches, different methods.
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shopaholic
Maybe it was joke and I didn't get but...what's the difference between a High church and a Low church?
Is this church more of a social club than a religion?
Is Joyce Meyers of this church...I've watched her a couple of times and her style/message sounds like it may be from this church.
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Scarred for life
I like the Episcopal Church also. I am a member of a Methodist Church. I am comfortable there also. There are definitely people at my church that are willing to discuss all these questions. There are some that are more conservative but almost everyone is willing to have intelligent discussions and welcomes questions.
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PrimateDave
FHN, it seems like a nice Church. I don't think there are any Episcopal Churches near me, but next time I find one I would like to visit. I'm pretty much past looking for answers to "hard questions" these days. I'll just settle for living a good life.
Dave
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Deputy Dog
Dep, you asked this:
Forgive me for asking. What's the difference between this "church" and the local "pub"
I told you the difference.
So I was right? In regards to the "Hard Questions" it's just like local pub, they don't have answers either. They just don't like drinking an smoking the sanctuary of a church.
I want to note that the Episcopal Church does not disagree with Evolution. The church is ecuemenical. The church is mostly Universalist in it's leanings and inclusive, save a few conservative thinkers. They will serve you communion if you've been baptized, doesn't matter if you are an atheist or agnostic or have converted to Muslim, etc. You're welcome there.
If this statment is true, it looks to me like most people don't know or don't care what is going on there.
I thought church was about worship.
I did find some interesting things on the website. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/visitors_16999_ENG_HTM.htm?menu=undefined It looks like there are more answers there, than you're letting on. I hope these things are precheded there.
The Bible as the Word of God
Christians believe that the Bible is “the Word of God,” and as such, “contains all things necessary to salvation.” While there have been countless books about Christianity written since the Bible, and while many of the other doctrines essential to Christianity have been worked out in them, the Bible is sufficient to knowing God through Jesus Christ and to benefiting from the saving act of the Resurrection. Christians may disagree regularly, however, on how to interpret or apply what the Bible says.
The Trinity: One God in Three Persons
Christians believe in one God, whom we understand to exist in three “persons,” traditionally referred to as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” The three “persons” of the Trinity are God, who created all things, Jesus Christ, his fully human—and at the same time, fully divine—son, and the Holy Spirit of God who gives life to all things and moves through all living things. Contemporary language now acknowledges other images of the Trinity, such as “Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier,” but the Trinity remains: One God in three persons.
The Incarnation: God Became Human
Christians believe that Jesus Christ was, at the same time, completely human and completely God, all in one person. This idea was articulated and adopted to address variants to Christian theology (known as “heresies”), which arise from time to time throughout history. One heresy has claimed that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross because he wasn’t really human. An opposing heresy claims that he was really just an important guy with some great ideas, and that he wasn’t really God.
The Crucifixion and Resurrection
Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth died completely on the cross, that he was buried in a tomb, and that on the third day, he was raised physically again to life to return to his disciples.
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/19625_14482_ENG_HTM.htmHell
In the NT and Apocrypha, Hades is mentioned as the place of all the dead (Lk 10:15; Acts 2:31; Rv 20:13; Bar 2:17). Gehenna, the "hell of fire," is where the wicked are punished (Mt 5:22, 10:28, 18:9; Mk 9:43; Lk 12:5; 2 Esd 2:29). NT concepts of hell reflect the darkness of Sheol (Mt 8:12, 22:13, 25:30), and the fire of Gehenna (Mt 3:12; Mk 9:43; Lk 3:17; Rv 20:14-15). Vivid poetic descriptions of hell are provided by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and John Milton's Paradise Lost. Jesus foretold the coming judgment in which the Son of Man will come in glory and separate the righteous from the unrighteous as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The Son of Man will send the unrighteous to eternal punishment and the righteous to eternal life (Mt 25:31-46). In the parable of the talents, the Master commands that the "worthless" servant who buried his talent is to be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 25:14-30).PS I wouldn't want to go to a church, where drinking and smoking are going on either. I would look for a place that has answers not just questions. But most important would be the worship of Christ.
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PrimateDave
Deputy Dog, have you actually been to an Episcopal Church? Do you think all Christian churches should believe exactly as yours does? How do you feel about those who judged Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners? What if some had accused Jesus of running a brothel every time prostitutes came to hear him teach?
I'm not a Christian because I've had it with religious zealots. However, in FHN's original post I sense a sincere desire to reach out to others with love and kindness. How do you feel that your posts come across?
Dave