Church

The hubby and I are looking at starting to take the kids to Church. I am not super religious by any stretch but I would like to give my kids a foundation to work from. Does anyone here go to Church? Can you recommend a good Church?

I think you need to ask yourself which church YOU would be willing to attend before you worry about your kids.

Attending church FOR your kids does nothing for them, as they are more inclined to copy your role than to be dedicated to a religion.

If you insist on attending a church though, I'd personally recommend the Unitarians Universalists.

They have a general belief in a Supreme Being, provide moral and social activities and structure, and are not over-demanding on their congregation. I have not personally attended here in Winnipeg, but the couple of branches I have attended in other areas were this way.

it really depends on what you are looking for in a church as well. If you are looking for your kids.

Is maybe scouts acceptible enough for you?http://www.scouts.ca/dnn/AboutUs/OurMissionPrinciplesandPractices/tabid/55/Default.aspx

Scouting is based on three broad principles which represent its fundamental beliefs. These include:

• Duty to God: Defined as, The responsibility to adhere to spiritual principles, and thus to the religion that expresses them, and to accept the duties therefrom.
  
• Duty to Others: Defined as, The responsibility to one's local, national and global community members to promote peace, understanding and cooperation, through
  participation in the development of society, respect for the dignity of one's fellow-beings, and protection of the integrity of the natural world.
  
• Duty to Self: Defined as, The responsibility for the development of oneself to one's full potential physically, intellectually, spiritually and socially.
  

We attend ( sporadically due to work and other commitments).

Our church is one of the major denominations. We have a traditional Sunday morning worship and a more contemporary/casual evening pot-luck gathering, which may be more to your liking. ( And our priest plays in a bar band).

PM me if you want more info.

AGEsAces wrote:I think you need to ask yourself which church YOU would be willing to attend before you worry about your kids.

Attending church FOR your kids does nothing for them, as they are more inclined to copy your role than to be dedicated to a religion.

If you insist on attending a church though, I'd personally recommend the Unitarians Universalists.

They have a general belief in a Supreme Being, provide moral and social activities and structure, and are not over-demanding on their congregation. I have not personally attended here in Winnipeg, but the couple of branches I have attended in other areas were this way.

We aren't only doing this for our kids we also would like to start embracing our Christian beliefs. I was raised United and the hubby was raised Lutheran. I have a friend who attends Calvary Temple and he has invited us to check it out. He has nothing but great things to say about the pastor.

Deank wrote:it really depends on what you are looking for in a church as well. If you are looking for your kids.

Is maybe scouts acceptible enough for you?http://www.scouts.ca/dnn/AboutUs/OurMissionPrinciplesandPractices/tabid/55/Default.aspx

Scouting is based on three broad principles which represent its fundamental beliefs. These include:

• Duty to God: Defined as, The responsibility to adhere to spiritual principles, and thus to the religion that expresses them, and to accept the duties therefrom.
  
• Duty to Others: Defined as, The responsibility to one's local, national and global community members to promote peace, understanding and cooperation, through
  participation in the development of society, respect for the dignity of one's fellow-beings, and protection of the integrity of the natural world.
  
• Duty to Self: Defined as, The responsibility for the development of oneself to one's full potential physically, intellectually, spiritually and socially.
  

Depending on the scout troop there is little to no emphasis on the duty to god part.

I'm a scout leader and most of the focus is on outdoor skills, although we do try to bring in a citizenship emphasis.

Goth_chic wrote:

AGEsAces wrote:I think you need to ask yourself which church YOU would be willing to attend before you worry about your kids.

Attending church FOR your kids does nothing for them, as they are more inclined to copy your role than to be dedicated to a religion.

If you insist on attending a church though, I'd personally recommend the Unitarians Universalists.

They have a general belief in a Supreme Being, provide moral and social activities and structure, and are not over-demanding on their congregation. I have not personally attended here in Winnipeg, but the couple of branches I have attended in other areas were this way.

We aren't only doing this for our kids we also would like to start embracing our Christian beliefs. I was raised United and the hubby was raised Lutheran. I have a friend who attends Calvary Temple and he has invited us to check it out. He has nothing but great things to say about the pastor.

I think Calvary Temple may be closer to baptist/evangelical than to United/Lutheran, but I may be wrong.

Duty to God in the Scouts is usually based upon the sponsor. Churches quite often sponsor the troops...so the emphasis would be higher in those.

Yes GC, if you want Christian belief, but "generic" in nature, I've heard Cavalry isn't bad. They had (or are having) a big thing at the MTS Centre. Supposed to be with 20 other churches...perhaps find out which ones were on that list too...might find one of them to have the faith you're looking for.

GC if you have someone to go with, it makes it alot easier when checking out a church for the first time. However, if you find the church is not to your liking it may cause tension with your friends when you decide to check out a different one depending on how religous they are. I have heard good things about the Pastor at CT and good things about that church in general.

you could always worship with Father Tommy Dean Michael Koshelanyk I heard that he is one heck of a good religous guy.

AGEsAces wrote:Duty to God in the Scouts is usually based upon the sponsor. Churches quite often sponsor the troops...so the emphasis would be higher in those.

Yes GC, if you want Christian belief, but "generic" in nature, I've heard Cavalry isn't bad. They had (or are having) a big thing at the MTS Centre. Supposed to be with 20 other churches...perhaps find out which ones were on that list too...might find one of them to have the faith you're looking for.

That event was a couple of weeks ago.

The problem with using a mass gathering like that to check out a denomination is that some denominations really vary within, and the parish represented may not be representative of the denomination as a whole.

The denomination I belong to runs the gamut from theologically liberal to theologically conservative. The theologically conservative from our denomination were represented there.

I think it also depends on what style of church you are looking for. I have been to services at Calvary and while I did enjoy Pastor Bruce, I found the congregation toooooo big. I have also been to services at Maples Community Church and did enjoy that as it was similar to Calvary but on a much smaller scale. My daughter used to attend the Meeting Place on Smith and again they are much more of a modern style evangelical church with a "rock" band playing at the services. Lots of fun, which I like to think is the way to get the message across and make the kids and young adults interested. There are lots of these style of churches and places in the Garden City, Tyndall, North End area, all you have to do is drive around and see them. For me it is not so much the location but the pastor and his/her delivery of the message that is important to me. I have listened the shows from Springs as well as from Church of the Rock but again congregation is way to big for me (I hate large crowds).

apparently the Salvation Army ones can be very good and very oriented for kids as well. But again it really depends on what message you want to receive.

Yeah - service size I think is an important issue.

Calvary is big. I've heard the Springs church wants to see your tax return so they can calculate how much you must give to be a member there.

We have friends that attend the Salvation Army Church oin Richmond West. They like it.

St Norberter wrote:Yeah - service size I think is an important issue.

Calvary is big. I've heard the Springs church wants to see your tax return so they can calculate how much you must give to be a member there.

not sure about them, but several churches still Tithe, some do it on gross, some on net, regardless giving up 10% of your income can be very difficult sometimes.

Deank wrote:

St Norberter wrote:Yeah - service size I think is an important issue.

Calvary is big. I've heard the Springs church wants to see your tax return so they can calculate how much you must give to be a member there.

not sure about them, but several churches still Tithe, some do it on gross, some on net, regardless giving up 10% of your income can be very difficult sometimes.

Most are voluntary. Most that expect a certain percentage of your income let you calculate it.

Springs is the only one I know of that demands to see your tax return.

Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches
everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll
to to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves
you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money! ~George Carlin~

St Norberter wrote:

Deank wrote:

St Norberter wrote:Yeah - service size I think is an important issue.

Calvary is big. I've heard the Springs church wants to see your tax return so they can calculate how much you must give to be a member there.

not sure about them, but several churches still Tithe, some do it on gross, some on net, regardless giving up 10% of your income can be very difficult sometimes.

Most are voluntary. Most that expect a certain percentage of your income let you calculate it.

Springs is the only one I know of that demands to see your tax return.

I have heard that from a few people. Seriously, how can a Church expect to see your tax return? I would tell them to Fcuk off. I don't mind giving what I can afford but no way in hell am I going to five 10% per month.

Ahhhhhh yes......but the 10 things are open to interpretation and have a little latitude. They were also developed during a certain time frame to address the society of the time. So, like most in the old testament, has to be looked at in the context of when and why they were written and sometimes can't be applied to today's society, or if they are applied to today's society, they are applied in a different manner that originally intended.

Goth_chic wrote:
I have heard that from a few people. Seriously, how can a Church expect to see your tax return? I would tell them to Fcuk off. I don't mind giving what I can afford but no way in hell am I going to five 10% per month.

Heh..... one reason why I don't go to Springs!

Your decision on what to give should be your decision, not anyone else's.

St Norberter wrote:

Deank wrote:

St Norberter wrote:Yeah - service size I think is an important issue.

Calvary is big. I've heard the Springs church wants to see your tax return so they can calculate how much you must give to be a member there.

not sure about them, but several churches still Tithe, some do it on gross, some on net, regardless giving up 10% of your income can be very difficult sometimes.

Most are voluntary. Most that expect a certain percentage of your income let you calculate it.

Springs is the only one I know of that demands to see your tax return.

There are far more then just Springs. Heck there are some that have monthly financial meetings that are almost a requirement to attend and at those meetings every single dollar is accounted for.....especially the WHOM it was from part.

When I was a kid I remember the collection plate being passed around....everyone gave what they could. I hear that pastor from Springs lives in quite the fancy house here in Winnipeg plus he owns a home in Vancouver. Doesn't seem right to me.

My wife was raised catholic.

When we first started dating, we went to her church. They passed the collection plate around, but it was on a long stick that the sidesgreeters held.

Something about that in a church just doesn't seem right

many catholics have a very fond memory of the first nickel, dime, quarter, dollar, whatever that they were given by the parents to make a donation when the collection plate came around.

it was an exciting time, it meant you were growing up and had some responsibility.

Oh, I have no problem with a collection plate, but it seems kind of strange that in a church ( a place that where you think the attendees would not steal), the collection plate was attached to a long stick as opposed to being passed from person to person.