churchy stuff
Dec. 4th, 2018 01:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vlionStudying Christian denominations. I have quite definitely departed the House of Evangelicalism (not that Pentacostals ever really are comfortable there, individually or institutionally).
The irritating bit is that Pentacostal denoms are really quite conservative in most of the unpleasant ways: hardcore inerrant on Scripture, anti-intellectualism, anti-gay/trans, and many lean towards the Mango Menace. I'm actually very much at home in the AG from a base theological perspective, but from a broader culture & introspective perspective... no. Just, no.
Given that I am, bone in my bone, a Pentacostal (and if you're not quite sure what that means, it translates, technically, to - Protestant Christian mystic with a lived ecstatic experience usually including glossolia), I feel somewhat adrift. I think - but am not sure - the UCC denomination is probably the one I would feel most at home in; possibly a UMC. I made a semi-conscious decision about... 3? 6? years ago to avoid non-denom churches. My observation is non-denominational churches, in practice, translates to "unaccountable leadership" - the Board (elders, members of congregation) won't go against the local "anointed man of God". So pure congregationalist organization or non-denoms are out the door - too corruptible.
The other thing I've noticed is that when there's the actual ability of the pastor to be fired by a regional board, their ego trip seems to be shrunk. Which is one of my major beefs with the whole clergy in general - they are, theologically, servants and assistants, not superiors. A whole kyriarchy of religion, if you will...
I noticed that there's a Charismatic UCC up in Seattle - I'll have to visit it one of these weeks.
The irritating bit is that Pentacostal denoms are really quite conservative in most of the unpleasant ways: hardcore inerrant on Scripture, anti-intellectualism, anti-gay/trans, and many lean towards the Mango Menace. I'm actually very much at home in the AG from a base theological perspective, but from a broader culture & introspective perspective... no. Just, no.
Given that I am, bone in my bone, a Pentacostal (and if you're not quite sure what that means, it translates, technically, to - Protestant Christian mystic with a lived ecstatic experience usually including glossolia), I feel somewhat adrift. I think - but am not sure - the UCC denomination is probably the one I would feel most at home in; possibly a UMC. I made a semi-conscious decision about... 3? 6? years ago to avoid non-denom churches. My observation is non-denominational churches, in practice, translates to "unaccountable leadership" - the Board (elders, members of congregation) won't go against the local "anointed man of God". So pure congregationalist organization or non-denoms are out the door - too corruptible.
The other thing I've noticed is that when there's the actual ability of the pastor to be fired by a regional board, their ego trip seems to be shrunk. Which is one of my major beefs with the whole clergy in general - they are, theologically, servants and assistants, not superiors. A whole kyriarchy of religion, if you will...
I noticed that there's a Charismatic UCC up in Seattle - I'll have to visit it one of these weeks.
