What liberal churches are out there?

[CubsFan1982]

I've been in what some might call a "seeking" status for quite a few years, I haven't been able to find a church that fits with my beliefs. I consider myself very liberal, both in politics and religion; pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, anti-death penalty, etc., etc. Are there any good churches out there that I could feel welcome in? Am I just looking in the wrong places? Many thanks in advance if you can help. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. The Unitarian-Universalists are pretty liberal across the board, but

if you want more religion in your religion, try the local parishes of the mainstream denominations. You might want to shorten your search by phoning the local headquarters of the various denominations (Episcopal, ELCA Lutheran, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian) and asking them what the most liberal parishes are in their area. Then go down the list until one feels right. Even the Catholics usually have one "maverick" parish in large cities that quietly does things that are officially forbidden.

I've always felt that finding a church is a very personal thing. You can't explain why one just feels right.

[hvn_nbr_2]

2. Good suggestions.

I never would have guessed that denomination HQs could or would tell you which congregations were more liberal, but maybe so.

You might also check out the DU group "Seekers on Unique Paths" or something like that. Likely suggestions from that group would include Church of Religious Science (AKA Science of Mind and not to be confused with Christian Science), Unity, and maybe a couple others. If you're not looking specifically for Christian, you might try Buddhist, pagan, and various independent or non-denominational groups. You'll have to screen the non-denominationals a bit--lots of such far-out fundies there that they can't even fit in with the usual fire-and-brimstone crowd.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. "Non-denominational" or "community church" almost always

means "we're really Baptist or Pentecostal, but we know that those groups have a bad image among the affluent suburbanites that we target."

I've never heard of a "non-denominational" church that wasn't at least evangelical, if not fundamentalist.

[hvn_nbr_2]

4. Not always, but it may be somewhat regional

I agree they usually are, which is why I advised checking them out. Near me there's a "non-denominational" church that are followers of Yogananda, also the Vedanta Society, something called Spirit of the Lotus (sounds eastern, I should check them out). Metropolitan Community Church is also listed in the yellow pages under non-denominational. I've seen Religious Science churches listed there too. But then this is northern California, and even here most of the non-denominationals are "Bible This" or "Faith That".

I never realized that the placement in "non-denominational" was a marketing thing. I thought it was a statement that "we're so far out that we don't even fit in one of the 439 Baptist varieties."

[demosincebirth]

9. I agree.

[RevCheesehead]

5. Rockford? Hi, neighbor!

I was wondering what area you were from. I grew up in southern WI.

I think many of the Methodist churches would probably have liberal pastors. The northern IL conference is notoriously liberal, and quite socially active and aware.

I'd also check out Congregational (UCC), Unitarian (UU), any ELCA Lutheran church (AVOID Missouri or Wisconsin Synod!!), and Presbyterian churches.

Good luck in your seeking. And if you ever head to Door Co, WI, stop in Algoma and say Hi. I'm pastor of the Methodist church there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. See what denoms have churches in your area, then call their pastors and

ask them how they feel about issues that you believe are important.

http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/liberalchristians.htm#denom

[hvn_nbr_2]

7. I thought you said "See what **demons** have churches..." :-)

Then I looked again.

The link you gave has a whole column of denominational websites that might be of interest.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Yeah, I get that a lot... the demon thing *g*. Hope the "right" church is

in the list. :^)

[Maat]

10. Yep. All of these are good suggestions.

I did not attend church for 30 years. I went to Beliefnet.com and took their test. I also met the pastor of the Religious Science Church nearby at a party at a friend's house. It is a very progressive church whose chief characteristic is affirmative prayer.

I recommend trying:
1) Church of Religious Science (rsintl.org).
2) Unitarian-Universalist (uua.org),
3) United Church of Christ (ucc.org),
and 4) Episcopalian.

And our Seekers on Unique Paths DU Group Introductory Thread has referrals to some of the websites.

Going to the various websites and looking at the Frequently-asked Questions sections helped me quite a bit.

I'm very glad I found my church.

One consideration for me involved whether or not the national administrative body was also progressive, because when one gives to the local church, sometimes $ flow upward, and I wanted to make sure I was not supporting a sexist or anti-GLBT effort.

My church is not a cult - because no one there tells me what to think, with whom to associate, or what I can or cannot believe or do. The teaching is healing, and denies that there is a vindictive punishing God out there. These are factors I took a look at.