Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: credmond@watmath.waterloo.edu (Chris Redmond) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Choosing a local church Message-ID: Date: 29 May 90 08:37:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Waterloo Lines: 37 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In the recent draft document about "Finding a Church", our wise moderator responded to an inquirer beginning thus: I'm going to assume you are a Protestant. If you were a Catholic . . . I doubt that you'd be asking this question. And the bulk of the document deals with the differences between the various Protestant denominations -- interesting material of which many people are sadly unaware. However, another whole aspect of the question is not dealt with in the document, and I think that aspect applies just as much to Catholics as to Protestants. The sub-question is this: once I have decided that I want a Presbyterian church, (or, a Catholic church), which Presbyterian (Catholic) church should I choose? Possible considerations: Location (close to home). Size (do I want a small, intimate group or a large, probably more formal one) Music (style and, especially if the preferred style is "traditional", quality) Preaching (style and quality, again) Pastoral care (not too intrusive, not too distant, not too incompetent) Age profile of the congregation Midweek activities (Bible study? bridge? community service projects?) Sunday school and youth groups Perhaps it is not possible to give a sensible answer to "which of these factors is most important?" but at least seekers should be aware that Episcopal churches vary enormously on all these scales, as do Methodist churches. And Baptist. CAR credmond@watmath