A question for practicing Christians

[TheListeners]

So I'm not religious but I did used to attend church as a child on key dates at Christmas it was Christingle and carol concerts by candlelight. The type of Christianity that the churches I attended was very much Jesus loves everyone and was kind and forgiving.

My local church I've tried attending a few times but the message to me was very much believe in God or go to hell. Be a good person or burn in hell. Even the leaflets that came through the door were like this. It totally put me off ever going to the services.

Now we have a new vicar and my question is does the vicar determine the Christianity they preach or the church they're attached to?

Its a bit of both. When we needed a new Vicar we had a couple of sessions where any members of the church could attend and we discussed what we wanted from the new Vicar and what direction we saw the Church going. (There's probably a name for it, it was run by people higher up in the hierarchy). These were then collated and the job ad was created.

Then on "interview day" a handful of Church members (both from Sunday Church and the midweek communion, across as many age groups as possible) had a shared lunch with the applicants. We were asked to feedback who we thought the best fit was for our vision. All this was used to decide who to offer the job too.

Church has changed as the the Vicar has changed (this is the 2nd we've had since I started attending this particular Church, but the 1st was new when I started and implemented changes slowly.)

But if they were radically different I suspect they wouldn't have been offered the job.

I hope that actually makes sense

That's interesting @TheFormerPorpentinaScamander but also a bit scary - what does it say about the local congregation if they wanted the non-believers to all burn in hell? The old vicar was even in favour of the death penalty which for me is completely at odds with the Christianity I was taught. I'm hoping the new vicar is more of the love thy neighbour type of Christianity.

Goodness. That's not positive is it
I don't know really. My church is the opposite and is very liberal. We were asked things like "if you were in the local shop and you heard people saying "did you hear what St David's have been up to. They've..." and what would we like them to have been doing (eg opening a food bank, organising trips for deprived children, or hanging criminals).

Out of interest what denomination is your local church? I live within walking distance of 2 different ones. One is much more fire and brimstone than the other.

What sort of church is the ‘burn in hell’ one?

I suspect not C of E, which tends to be very mild.
Not for nothing did someone (Eddie Izzard?) say its motto should be, ‘Tea and cakes or death!’

Church (I am RC, my Dsis is Lutheran) is very much what the congregation / community makes of it.
Mine is heavily working in the fields of homelessness, refugees and education - oh, and music.

@TheListeners

That's interesting *@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander* but also a bit scary - what does it say about the local congregation if they wanted the non-believers to all burn in hell? The old vicar was even in favour of the death penalty which for me is completely at odds with the Christianity I was taught. I'm hoping the new vicar is more of the love thy neighbour type of Christianity.

I thought the whole point of Christianity was that everyone else burns in hell. I vividly remember being taught as a child that all the people in remote civilisations who had never heard of Christianity were automatically going to burn in hell. And I asked why, when it's not their fault? And was told it was Adam and Eve's fault.

I think if it's RC then you get the priest the bishop/archbishop sends. You can complain to the diocese but with the shortage of new priests you may not get much relief. My parents church had a priest covering two parishes (not rural) plus working part of the week in the diocese office. With the shortage may not be long before the RC church allows women priests.

@TheListeners

Any church I've visited has always been more of the 'love your neighbour' kind . If you are interested I would suggest visiting a variety of your local churches to see if there is one you feel 'at home' at.

It's definitely C of E which is why I was surprised because I'd never had that before. I know that Christianity does say non-believers burn in hell but I'd never heard it being preached as the basis for the sermon. In my experience the sermon usually illustrates how we should behave using Jesus as an example. While I'm not religious treating others kindly and helping those in need aren't bad tenets to live your life by.

I know I could try other churches @shinynewapple2020 but I sort of wanted to be able to walk to the local church hear a nice service and sing some carols and wander home again (possibly via the pub). Basically like I did with my parents. Obviously not possible this year due to Covid.

I too would visit all your local Churches and see what suits you.
One CofE can differ from another CofE. One evangelical can differ from a different evangelical. There are Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, and all sort of free churches.

Yes, the Vicar / Minister / Rector / Pastor influences the way the Church is, but, in Protestant Churches, as someone has alluded to upthread, there is usually a 'matching process' so the Congregation or representatives of will usually be able to have a say, from those available.
However there is a real shortage of ordained people in relation to the number of Churches, so many Churches do have to take what they get offered.