Multiple churches- acceptable or not?

[butterflybuns]

I am a member of a really lovely friendly church- high CofE and have been going fir nearly 2 years. Myself and my dcs were baptised there and I do feel "at home". I love the liturgy and the choir, we have communion weekly, and the readings are one of each of OT, NT and Gospel which I think is a great mix. I don't go every week probably make it 2- 3 times a month depending on work and family commitments.

Today though I went to a christening at a nearby church- evangelical CofE. The christening was beautiful and I really enjoyed the change. What I loved though was the music- all faith songs sung with great gusto along with a band. The feeling of worship there was amazing, very different to my usual church. I felt moved in a way I never am at church.

I was thinking about moonlighting maybe once a month at this evangelical church to experience this way of worship in addition to the high church type practices I still love. Does anyone do this multi church type worship or is one church family enough!

At various times of my life I've done it in a slightly different way.

1. Kept going in the mornings to my Church, then gone off in the evenings to a completely different Church experience
2. Gone to my Church 3 times a month, then with my children to the Church they have been at Church Parade with Cubs, etc., once each month.

I have friends who have different church backgrounds, where they all go to her Church once a month, they all go to his Church once a month, and the other 2 weeks they each go to their own. Worked fine befroe they had dc, becames more complicated once the dc were taking part in things at the one church.

I know quite a few people who mix evangelical and high church, usually in a 3:1 ratio, or by going twice on a Sunday. It embraces the breadth of Anglican worship that no other denomination can match.

I would say though that belonging to the church is for every day of the week, not just Sundays. And it's not just about worship. You might find that the evangelical church offers a lot more in terms of midweek activities - bible study, prayer and mission.

I am a firm believer it it not being "either/or". Appreciate the diversity of our faith, value it, protect it, and encourage others through it.

I'm in a similar position, OP, although I am thinking of changing to a more happy clappy church altogether.

I know this will sound naive, but are the more evangelical churches often homophobic, or how does that work? How on earth do you find out if they are or not? I can't condone homophobia, so that is completely a deal-breaker.

I enjoy experiencing different styles of worship, but as I'm a minister, my absences tend to get noticed :o

As for working out whether a church is homophobic or not, you can sometimes tell from their website, if they have one. Phrases like "inclusive" tend to crop up if the church isn't homophobic. Some sort of statement about biblical beliefs may give an indication that a church is, but this isn't necessarily the case. But none of this is a hard and fast rule. What you tend to find is that if they are homophobic, they will be other types of phobic too.

Am already a part of a home group with my current church so to be honest I'm not really interested in, or indeed have the time for further groups- would this be frowned upon? Was just thinking it would be nice to sit at the back at mix it up a bit with a different worship style but keep 'my' church as my main one.
My church is an all inclusive tolerant church so I will definitely be looking on the Internet at their website to look at their values- could not tolerate going to a church which is homophobic or anything else phobic. Something else to consider....

I think that going to different churches is a positive experience. Christians are part of a wider church family/ community.

mamamamoose sad to say I think you can kind homophobia anywhere there are human beings. The only way to see what a church is like is to try out.

Having Bible based teaching doesn't necessarily mean that a church is homophobic. Homophobic people tend to pick bits of the old testament to suit.

I go to an Anglican - Evangelical wing church. In the 20 years that I have been going, I can't recall a single sermon, teaching or discussion on homosexuality. The only time it has been mentioned in church was when the vicar had to read out some kind of announcement regarding the Windsor report. I don't know anyone who is homophobic.

There is far more to the Christian faith than being dragged down by secular agendas. Those outside the church seem to think that it is all about who has a willie and what they do with it. How wrong they are.

Websites say a lot: any church where all the leaders are men but they are all shown with their wives, is unlikely to be at the forefront of inclusivity. I agree with Marybs that talk of 'sound, bible based teaching' is a red flag. It always annoys me - what do they think every other Christian bases their preaching on?

I preached last Sunday on homosexuality. But only about what the rest of us can sometimes take for granted - a loving relationship blessed by God in church.

It's confusing, though. I think there should be some kind of Find a Church facility provided by the C of E. I was just getting excited about one that looked possible for me, but all its leaders are men, except the woman who organises women.

It's not really feasible to schlepp round every church, is it?

If you want to know about a specific church, you could try asking on the Ship of Fools website, I can almost guarantee you that someone on there will know about it...

And IME "inclusive" means "actively campaigning to undermine the Church of England hierarchy and banging on about their iniquity all the time". Which again, is not necessarily what the ordinary punter wants.

I agree, mama.

Really? I'm a bit that it's a common experience!

It's kind of strange to join a community which actively works to undermine the wider community without having a manifesto saying so, and without people who join the church having the means to know that that's what they're signing up to.

Also, if your church suddenly goes "inclusive" (which sounds impeccable BTW; who would want a church which wasn't?) and you're suddenly subjected to all the banging on and complaining, how do you find a church to go to without the banging on?

I think "inclusive" can often mean creating God in our image rather than the other way around.

That's how it feels. It feels like an absence of God.

Research says that most people start going to church and keep going to church based on the friendships they make rather than church doctrine or worship style. Obviously, if you don't like the attitudes of the church members, you aren't going to make strong friendships and will fall away and look for something you click with.

When we moved into the area, we just went to our local parish church and it is wonderful - evangelical with lively worship and a commitment to mission and growth. I can safely say that it transformed my life. :)

We have lived in places where the local church wasn't great but persevered with it, acknowledging that there is no such thing as a perfect church (and if there were, we would only spoil it).

What if attitudes of church members change because of all the eye-rolling about archbishops?

I think there is an issue when politics becomes the centre of worship than God. I feel its a mistake to follow the latest fashion.

To me inclusive means welcoming people with learning difficulties. Helping the new polish family follow the service when they struggle with English, making sure the hearing aid loop works, improving wheelchair access even if it makes the building less pretty, welcoming children and community outreach.

In my experience bible based churches are far better at practical inclusion.