Re: Church
Asked by inquisitive-creatures

Question:

I would like to be able to go to church or to speak to someone in the church about the true meaning of Christmas or how to interpret the bible. Would I be accepted in a church

as I am an unwed, young mother? Also I wanted to go to a Christian Church but are they all pretty much the same as I was raised an Anglican as a child and I have a couple of Anglican churches really close by to me? I am just really frightened about how to approach a Church and I am actually scared of being tossed out of the building because of my marital status and having a child out of wedlock. Please help fellow Mintiers!! Oh and my son isn't baptised either . . .

My Advice:
 

There are so many different churches.  If the people there are true Christians they won't judge you.  If Christains were perfect we wouldn't need church.  I go to a baptist church.  But I believe that churches should be taken on an individual basis.  One Baptist church might be great and another terrible.  It all depends on the people in the church and what they teach.  It is important that they teach from the bible. 

God did not have rules about who could and couldn't believe in him.  A lot of the time it was the most down and out people that found God in their time of need.  Prostitutes, tax collectors, single mums, the sick and so on.  God wants us to help and love others no matter what they have or haven't done. 

Now is a great time of year to visit a church as it is Chistmas time and a lot of people go just to visit.  So you shouldn't be the only one there that is new.  It is usually a good time for the kids too.  We have a service this Sunday where the kids are doing lots of things to do with Christmas.  It is always a fun service.  But not always the most informative.

The other option would be not to go to the church on a Sunday at all, but to ring the church office and make an appointment to speak to the minister or pastor.  This way you would get time to ask your questions and there would be less things to distract you both from your conversation.  Perhaps after meeting with the minister or pastor it would be less scarey to go to a church service on a Sunday.

Our church also runs a playgroup 2 days a week.  This is a great opportunity to sus out the church and what they do and also meet people from the church.  Which again might make visiting the sunday service less scarey.  The kids have a great time too.

I hope that you are helped by this advice and that most of all you have the courage to go and seek answers to your questions.  Just posting this question on Minti was courageous.  Don't forget that there are christians here on minit who would be happy to talk to you about Christmas, church, christianity etc...

God Bless