Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

End of day Sunday will be 1 month visiting the Church we found, (our first Apo' Church aside from a school I went to as a teen).


So the question comes... how does one know if they are actually welcome?
(we don't wish to be those that are not)

Any good ways to test this to actually know?

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

Try to start a "wave" during the sermon, and see if everyone joins in.

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

Most churches are actively in the business of recruiting others so they should 'want' you there. In most UPC type churches them continuing to want to keep you around will depend a lot on how well you conform to whatever they are teaching.

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

LoL

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

You will likely need to conform within a certain undetermined time frame. But you will be welcome for at least a few months without doing anything. ;)

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

Your churches must be a lot more liberal than ours, where a pastor approached a visitor we had invited on his third visit... draped his arm over the fellow's shoulders, and within my husband's hearing, said "You see all those good men out there?... You notice what they don't have?... Yes, a mustache... and next time I see you, I don't want you to have one either." ... And Rodney, after over 20 years of his adult life wearing facial hair came back to church the next service clean shaven... Of course a couple services later he disappeared and was never heard from again... I wonder what was asked of him that time...

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

True on the conformity, we're honestly a very close match socially, at this point in time at least....

Just for interest...
Top 3 nonconformity issues that led to friction with the Menno's....
1. 24/7 Prayer covering
2. Miss Misfits CCW (Other non-defensive related areas)
3. Working on Sundays = had the job before we started attending (demanding every Sunday off = termination, from a boss who was Jewish?) and we just can't not pay the bills.


Top 3 nonconformity issues that led to friction with the Baptist...
1. Failing to be not-overactive (dead) in the Church < I know this sounds odd
2. Failure in keeping our mouths shut over Church's direction and insane financial decisions.
3. Failure to make our hearts cold enough to be accepted socially in their "non-conformist" conformity. <<<< read it 3x and it makes sense LoL



Top 3 nonconformity issue with the Apo's after 3.5 weeks....
1. Nothing ( and this is after we both openly discussed this for 5minutes+
2. Same as above
3. Same as above

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

Cool! If the shoe fits :) I liked our second UPC church much better than the first... Issues there... I was already too damaged by the first to be able to listen to the evangelists that had the 'screaming preaching' style and spent a lot of services sitting in the foyer or in the bathroom to avoid it... It was still very attendance and performance based and I work long hours and have a farm.

And yes I do know what you mean about the dead Baptists... we belonged to a Baptist church that called a new preacher and within 2 weeks wanted to fire him because his wife lifted her hands during worship and they thought it as 'charismatic'... Sheesh!

Hope it works out for you! :)

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

I can't think of anything, nor witnessed anything in conformity we would need to change. If there is any change needed (very plausible), I would assume they are very small things.



Now there are many things that we are not a custom to, but that is in worship, not conformity...... Unless their worship is conformitive.... They've told us "We respect freedom in worship, personal preference, there is no wrong way to worship God..."

SO.... Based on what they said I would agree..... but then the Menno's used the term "personal preference" very often which was very weird - as that very term practiced led to very thick sheets of ice...

Re: Any "Are You Welcome" tests out there?
 

These are the stories that makes my heart ache for the ignorance. These men who feel they have been called of God to proclaim the gospel are going to stand before God in judgement of ignorant things they have done to come between people and God.