Looking for a church (Cincinnati, Forest Park: live, nondenominational, catholics)

[jase86]

Crossroads is not what I'm looking for. I don't mind the "largeness" off it. But, the worship wasn't really there. The music was great, but no one was participating, it was very observatory. I want to raise my hands with everyone else and I might even want to cry. Anyone have a recommendation? Thanks

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by jase86

Crossroads is not what I'm looking for. I don't mind the "largeness" off it. But, the worship wasn't really there. The music was great, but no one was participating, it was very observatory. I want to raise my hands with everyone else and I might even want to cry. Anyone have a recommendation? Thanks

Can you tell us a little more specifics about churches you've attended in the past? Do any of them have a web site I could look at? I'm not sure I could help, but I might have some ideas.

I absolutely get what you're talking about with the non-participation. This is a lot more common than not with so-called "contemporary" or "praise" worship style. Yet what you described you were looking for did not seem to fit the traditional, mainstream Protestant style, either.

Direct message me if you'd like.

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by jase86

Crossroads is not what I'm looking for. I don't mind the "largeness" off it. But, the worship wasn't really there. The music was great, but no one was participating, it was very observatory. I want to raise my hands with everyone else and I might even want to cry. Anyone have a recommendation? Thanks

Hmmm.....so you're looking to really feel it? Most big white churches in the Midwest are what you described as observatory (at least in my experience). What you seek is in Cinti....you're going to have to look harder and ask around. Have you tried Pentecostal? I've heard they preach the fire and brimstone.....according to a former NKY co-worker who attended one.

My in-laws are former Ethiopian missionaries......and they attended an Ethiopian church service recently in the Clifton area which they said was pretty raucous....but I suppose you don't speak Amherek, do you?

[natininja]

I think flashes1 is right. If I were you I'd start looking in the black neighborhoods/at black churches. If you're in the northern burbs, maybe check out churches in Forest Park.

Or you could always convert to Roman Catholicism. I hear their services are a roaring good time.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by natininja

...Or you could always convert to Roman Catholicism. I hear their services are a roaring good time.

(oops! ) Sure hope you got a flak-jacket handy--somehow I think you're gonna need one real soon...

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by natininja

I think flashes1 is right. If I were you I'd start looking in the black neighborhoods/at black churches. If you're in the northern burbs, maybe check out churches in Forest Park.

Or you could always convert to Roman Catholicism. I hear their services are a roaring good time.

In your zeal to be maybe humerous, I somehow doubt if you hit the right fly ball.

[natininja]

The Catholic thing was a joke. I think everyone, including Catholics, can agree Catholic mass is pretty dry. It's meant to be solemnly spiritual. Nothing wrong with that, but complete opposite of what OP wants.

The black church thing was not a joke. I've been to black churches that have very exciting services. If that's what you want, it may be the best place to find it in Greater Cincinnati. Besides, for all I know, OP is black.

Anyone know what Solid Rock Church is like? Their ostentatious statue(s) and large size put in my mind a possibly lively service. But I know nothing of their services or beliefs, except for their flamboyant taste in statues.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by natininja

The Catholic thing was a joke. I think everyone, including Catholics, can agree Catholic mass is pretty dry. It's meant to be solemnly spiritual. Nothing wrong with that, but complete opposite of what OP wants.

The black church thing was not a joke. I've been to black churches that have very exciting services. If that's what you want, it may be the best place to find it in Greater Cincinnati. Besides, for all I know, OP is black.

Anyone know what Solid Rock Church is like? Their ostentatious statue(s) and large size put in my mind a possibly lively service. But I know nothing of their services or beliefs, except for their flamboyant taste in statues.

Can you look at those statues they put out front and not believe Solid Rock is not a Jim and Tammy Baker type of operation? If that is their keisch fine and dandy. I have no problem with what they are proposing.

[natininja]

In my mind, most churches are not far removed from Jim Bakker land. But I'm trying to be tolerant and helpful, and not point fingers.

[goyguy]

I've never attended a "Primitive Baptist" service, but that might fill the bill. This offshoot of the infamously un-progressive (by and large) branch of Protestantism is rooted in Appalachia. Don't go thinking they're into snake handling, there's none of that. But they're definitely from the holy-roller school of worship: speaking in tongues, falling out in the name of the Lord, and so on. One of their congregations was "planted" on Parkway Ave in Hartwell sometime around WWII, when the mid-20th-century Great Migration brought thousands of Southerners to Cincinnati and other cities farther north. A sizable majority of these new arrivals started out in the Vine St corridor communities from Hartwell down to Elmwood Place. (The Great Migration and its effects on Cincinnati, and where Appalachians settled and where they've dispersed since, have been elaborated on elsewhere in this forum.) Hartwell itself began much like its neighbors Wyoming and Glendale beyond the city limits. The three communities grew up around the railroads which cut through their eastern portions. I bring this up because a remnant of those times is prominent on Parkway: the street goes into a substantial traffic circle, better known as "The Bowl," a couple of blocks east of Vine St. Situated within The Bowl are two beautifully detailed church buildings, one serving Methodists and the other catering to Presbyterians. In contrast, the Primitive Baptists convene in a far more humble one-story white structure between Vine St and The Bowl. Architectural merit notwithstanding, there's no question which of the buildings sends out the most noise and energy - "spirit" if you will - on Sundays.

Sunday is said to be "the most (racially) segregated day of the week" in a country which remains divided along those lines as a rule. Part of the refuge provided by African-American (AA) congregations is refuge from day-to-day living in American society. The "flock" in attendance at services would for the most part be less than thrilled, shall we say, to find any Caucasians in their midst. Few harbor any actual ill will. They want only to be in a safe space shared exclusively with others journeying through life as people "of color," who need no explanation as to what that entails. I've never been so presumptuous as to visit a Black house of worship without being accompanied by congregant(s) or having a compelling reason to be there. ("You must know so-and-so, the soprano third from the left in the second row? She told me about this concert." "Mr Smith's son has welcomed me to some of his amazing cookouts. It's the least I can do for him to be here for the funeral.") Some churches - especially in Washington DC and in New York's Harlem - have been practically reduced to tour stops for gawking Europeans and other Caucasians. Please be respectful and don't venture into an AA faith community without street cred.

One more very important word to the wise: There is a "church" which makes much of its unusually diverse following and in reality is a mind control cult. (It's from the same mold as the "Moonies" that are still out there but getting far less attention than during the '70s and '80s.) Potential members are monitored 24-7 by "minders." Unmarried people are steered into home-share situations with others of the same sex, needless to say guarding against any "sodomite fornication ." When two "church" adherents become engaged it may not have been arranged, but it was "strongly encouraged" (I understate.) This particular sect originated in Boston and at first included that city in its name. Through various changes its title still contains the deliberately deceptive "Church of Christ." No less than its founder was forced out when his daughter renounced the cult, but they found ways to carry on. I know of this far too well. A sibling was lured in by a work colleague during a vulnerable phase of her life, after which she abandoned plans for educational and professional advancement while veering far to the right politically. Over the past 17 years or so she's lost much of her individuality and charm in her zeal to keep "drinking the Kool-Aid" (an expression which originated after another "Christian" cult's mass suicide.) Stay far far away from anything with "Church of Christ" in its name until you find out the real deal. I can clue you in that one of the buildings of the group which "appropriated" it is on Galbraith Rd in Deer Park. That's where my sister and her "God-chosen" husband and their child head on Sundays when they're in Cincinnati. As for the Protestant branch that had the name first and has owned it for much longer, their "ordered" services and decidedly liberal leanings mean that the OP is probably not interested anyhow.

Peace be with you!