Is there such a thing as a non-evangelical Christian church?

[clarabelle]

Well, yes. Going back to the start of this thread, christianity is evangelical and they are nice people and you are a nice person and they want you to be saved and go to heaven just like them. See?

No not necessarily -I think you can read my earlier post. Not all Christian denominations do "saved". You are misinformed.

 

[RadioNate]

Well, if someone's mom was catholic and never took them to church and had a giant crucifix in their living room, does that make the child catholic??

I don't think my husband has the slightest idea of Jewish teachings. I know more about Judeaism than he does (except maybe how to spell it )

IMO yes, that would make them Catholic. I still say I'm Catholic for that very reason. I haven't made a decision about my faith but I'm sure people consider me Catholic because my family is. Personally, I'm leaning towards Judaism.

I still say Episcopalian

 

[MrsPete]

Evangalism, as I understand it, is spreading the news of your church and I think all churches do it to some extent. It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, the Evangalism committee just does things like keeping up with publishing worship times in the local paper. It's like advertising...some do it more aggressively than others. Am I wrong?

No, you're not wrong. My church is evangelical, and your is the best definition I've seen on this thread.

WHY do churches do this? Because the last thing Jesus did before He ascended to heaven again after his resurrection was to command His followers to spread the news of His return to life. It's called the Great Commission. My pastor is fond of saying that it's not the Great Suggestion!

 

[My2Cinderellas]

Is that the same as the American Lutheran Church? Missouri Synod is the conservative one, right?

yes, the ELCA was created 15-20 years ago by joining 3 similar groups, the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church. and despite the "Evangelical" in it's name, a previous poster is correct. The churches I've attended and been a member of try to be welcoming, not judgmental, and help people learn more about God wherever they are in their faith journey. Not in your face about it. the ELCA is a traditional mainline denomination. Fairly liberal, we ordain women.

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in general is much more conservative in their beliefs, both socially and in how they interpret the bible. to what extent is like in every denomination, a lot depends on the individual congregation.

there are a couple of other Lutheran organizations that I don't know as much about, Wisconsin Synod is one.

best of luck to the OP and DH in finding a place they are both comfortable.

 

[eclectics]

yes, the ELCA was created 15-20 years ago by joining 3 similar groups, the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church. and despite the "Evangelical" in it's name, a previous poster is correct. The churches I've attended and been a member of try to be welcoming, not judgmental, and help people learn more about God wherever they are in their faith journey. Not in your face about it. the ELCA is a traditional mainline denomination. Fairly liberal, we ordain women.

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in general is much more conservative in their beliefs, both socially and in how they interpret the bible. to what extent is like in every denomination, a lot depends on the individual congregation.

there are a couple of other Lutheran organizations that I don't know as much about, Wisconsin Synod is one.

best of luck to the OP and DH in finding a place they are both comfortable.

Thanks for the info on all the different Lutherans! I just remember the American and Missouri.

 

[punkin]

No not necessarily -I think you can read my earlier post. Not all Christian denominations do "saved". You are misinformed.

Really? Correct me then. I thought all christians believed that. Which denomination does not?

 

[my4kids]

Evangelical means (as far as I understand it) trying to convert others to the "true" religion. All christianity is evangelical. Those are its roots. Some denominations ae more vocal about it than others.

It means speading the word of God. "The good news" that was are saved.
All Christian religions are supposed to be Evangelical, some just take it more seriously, and some take it out of context, thinking it means to convert or your not saved. Anyway, I think your best bet is Luthern or Episcapol (sp.?).

 

[JennyMominRI]

Really? Correct me then. I thought all christians believed that. Which denomination does not?

It's really more of a Protestant thing..Baptists etc... A Catholic won't ask you if you are saved. It's not Catholic Termnology..
Let me explain better...Many Baptists(and other religions) will have a moment when they tell you they accepted Christ..They can even give you (often) a time and date of when they were saved or accepted Christ.. Catholics don't use such terminology..They won't tell you of a time and date when they became a Christian..Most of them will tell you they were just raised that way,have always been a Christian but don't have that defining *saved* moment

 

[Galahad]

Really? Correct me then. I thought all christians believed that. Which denomination does not?

If we're going to perform some pilpul on the question - all of them use the word in Hymns and such. But Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc. None of them ask "are you saved" or declare "you are now saved" or even ask one another "how many did you save today".

 

[JennyMominRI]

If we're going to perform some pilpul on the question - all of them use the word in Hymns and such. But Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc. None of them ask "are you saved" or declare "you are now saved" or even ask one another "how many did you save today".

Yeah,I guess my Protestant example is too general as Episcopaliand and Lutherans will be raised in the faith like Catholics usually are without a *saved * experience

 

[my4kids]

It's really more of a Protestant thing..Baptists etc... A Catholic won't ask you if you are saved. It's not Catholic Termnology..
Let me explain better...Many Baptists(and other religions) will have a moment when they tell you they accepted Christ..They can even give you (often) a time and date of when they were saved or accepted Christ.. Catholics don't use such terminology..They won't tell you of a time and date when they became a Christian..Most of them will tell you they were just raised that way,have always been a Christian but don't have that defining *saved* moment

I find it is the Southern Baptists and the Born Again Christians (although, around my area for some reason they don't refer to themselves as Born-Again, but just as Christians) that ask you if you are saved. It's like they are racking up points in Heaven for saves or something. I have not met any Catholic or other Protestant religion that would ask you that. I am Catholic, and we are encouraged to invite people to church. (Someone may have a desire for religion, but feel they need to be invited or not know how to approach it) But we do not believe you have to be a Catholic to be saved. The Born-Agains around here think you have to be Born Again to be saved, and I have even had one tell me that I was not saved or a Christian because I am Catholic.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I find it is the Southern Baptists and the Born Again Christians (although, around my area for some reason they don't refer to themselves as Born-Again, but just as Christians) that ask you if you are saved. It's like they are racking up points in Heaven for saves or something. I have not met any Catholic or other Protestant religion that would ask you that. I am Catholic, and we are encouraged to invite people to church. (Someone may have a desire for religion, but feel they need to be invited or not know how to approach it) But we do not believe you have to be a Catholic to be saved. The Born-Agains around here think you have to be Born Again to be saved, and I have even had one tell me that I was not saved or a Christian because I am Catholic.

I was also raised Catholic and we also got a bit of that.

 

[clarabelle]

Maybe I overstated it a bit -let me try to clairfy. I am Presbyterian
We don't do the thing where you Make a choice to be "saved". We do have salvation but we believe it is by the Grace of God. Not a human action a Godly action. So we are not out trying to save you so you can get to heaven -because we don't believe we have that power.

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

I'm a member of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church and I probably would steer clear of that if I were you, although you can always try it. We're very conservative in our beliefs, however, we are low-key when it comes to "converting." We do believe that Jesus is the son of God and there's no deviation from that. I don't think your husband would be comfortable with that, but everyone is welcome at our church, no judgements are made.

We dress in blue jeans or whatever at our church. My brother is probably the "worst-dressed" in our church. On days he ushers, he dresses up by wearing his old army fatigues. One of his only 2 pairs of pants. The rest of the time it's shorts and they won't let him usher in shorts. I always have to laugh when I see him ushering in his crappy old t-shirt, fatigues and sandals, but he's there doing it.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Also keep in mind that all Baptists are not the same as Southern Baptist. You will not hear terminology regarding "saved", or handing out tracts, long guilt ridden altar calls, or pressuring kids to bring friends to church at our church. We are Baptist; not Southern Baptist.

Like many denominations, there are different flavors Our church is full of people from various denominational backgrounds because we are a unique flavor of Baptist and they feel comfortable here.

Just like any autonomous church, it's imperitive to look at the specific church more than the specific denomination. They are not all alike.

 

[tinkerrn]

I don't know anything about catholisism (even how to spell it) so I can't answer your question, but If his mom was Jewish, then so is he. If he knows nothing about Jewish teachings, then he is a lost Jew, but a Jew nonne the less. I like Jenny's idea about a reform temple. I'm sure he'll feel more comfortable there than in a church.

I agree with the idea of a reform temple. I have been involved with many theological affilications in my +30 years. My older bro was a Baptist Minister, sis was a Latter Day Saint (Mormon), mom was catholic, and dad was Lutheran. I was born late in life so, I attended many different religious functions. I was baptized LDS (Mormon). It was not until I attended a Reform temple a few years back with a friend, that I truly felt at 'home'.
I am sure that sounds sooo weird to both of those of jewish and christian faiths. So, maybe try out a Friday night service and see how it feels. I have been on the fence over religion for years. I started asking questions and it lead me down a totally different road. Good Luck!!!

 

[JoyG]

It's really more of a Protestant thing..Baptists etc... A Catholic won't ask you if you are saved. It's not Catholic Termnology..
Let me explain better...Many Baptists(and other religions) will have a moment when they tell you they accepted Christ..They can even give you (often) a time and date of when they were saved or accepted Christ.. Catholics don't use such terminology..They won't tell you of a time and date when they became a Christian..Most of them will tell you they were just raised that way,have always been a Christian but don't have that defining *saved* moment

Although the common catholic layperson might not know the answer to this question, I believe the official catholic church response to the question of "Are you saved?" is:

1. I'm saved
2. I'm being saved
3. I will be saved....

So the catholics definitely see it as more of a process.

Like you said, evangelical, fundamental christians definitely see it as more of a moment in time when a conversion took place...the point in time when the individual decided he was going to follow Jesus.

I believe the Episcopal church, Methodists and Lutherans would be what the OP is looking for.

Demoninations that are probably not what the OP is looking for include Baptists, Wesleyans, Non Denominational, and Pentecostal

 

[Tifffany]

Have you considered a nondenominational Christian church? I've been going to one pretty much my whole life, and I've always found the church to be extremely welcoming and they try to make anyone who's interested in Christianity to feel comfortable.

 

[jimmiej]

The Born-Agains around here think you have to be Born Again to be saved

I'm Southern Baptist & this is indeed what we believe. We get that term from this Scripture:

John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 5"no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Although the common catholic layperson might not know the answer to this question, I believe the official catholic church response to the question of "Are you saved?" is:

1. I'm saved
2. I'm being saved
3. I will be saved....

So the catholics definitely see it as more of a process.

Like you said, evangelical, fundamental christians definitely see it as more of a moment in time when a conversion took place...the point in time when the individual decided he was going to follow Jesus.

Yes, we do believe that there is that moment when a person makes a conscience decision, but the Scripture also encourages us to "work out your salvation" (do good works, strive for spiritual maturity), hence, "being saved." We also believe that we "will be saved" from God's Wrath. Where we differ from Catholics (and others) is, we believe the individual must "choose" Jesus.

 

[amy4bruce]

Well, I was born Jewish and my wife was born Catholic. We've found a home in a Unitarian Universalist church. No two churches are alike, and there are some that really bother me. Someone was right, though, this may be too non-Christian for you. (For the record, if you asked DW, she would say that she was a Christian UU, whereas I would not.)

Have you looked at beliefnet.com? They have a "test" you can take, to determine just where your religious beliefs are. You could take that and then come to some sort of choice.

Or you can follow the suggestion of several posters, and try different churches on different Sundays. Eventually, you'll hit one where both of you feel comfortable.