Looking for place to worship (house, neighbourhood, college)

[Wanda Short]

Hey...I would love some feedback from southwest floridians (fort myers, cape coral, lehigh, bonita) on a church that I can visit that would be a good match for me...

Christian
Reformed (5 solas)
5 point Calvinist
Preterist

Want a church that has lots of serving opportunities and prefer one that has an established youth/teen ministry.

Thanks...W

[BakinMama]

No can do here - I have no idea what five solas or preterist means

[Ruby24]

Originally Posted by BakinMama

No can do here - I have no idea what five solas or preterist means

I'm with BakinMama here, no disprespect intended, but I just read about being preterist and I still don't know what it is.

There are a lot of churches to chose from, so you should find someplace.

[pool_ready]

I googled and found this one for you. They seem to have a large Youth Ministry

Home Page


i had no idea what preterist and five solas meant either, but now I know. (Thanks again google!) I learned something new today. =)

[Wanda Short]

thanks everyone! Pool Ready - are you a builder? I used to work in my (ex) husbands company here in fort myers...thanks so much for taking the time to look up the churches for me. Oddly enough the one you hit on (i am guessing you used preterist for the search term?) is the one that I helped to start last april...those were my closest friends but i have since left that church. they do NOT have a teen ministry..i made that page last year because we were hoping to start one but it never really took off and we focused on other things...so I am looking to get back into ministry here but it wont happen at that church.


For everyone else - a preterist is someone who has a fulfilled redemption view of eschatology...basically that most (partial pret like RC Sproul) if not all (full pret like Don Preston) of the prophecies depicted in revelations were fulfilled (completed) most at the fall of jerusalem (70ad). I am a full pret but there are no churches here (save the one pool found) so a church that is open to partial pret is fine by me. It is not a sticking point. I just really need to be able to serve locally again in ministry and my heart is for youth/teens...Thanks again everyone..please continue to post your thoughts and opinions and experiences (good/bad) at local churches here in fort myers.

[kroeran]

this is not the advice you asked for, but I feel compelled to make a suggestion...rather than focusing on a specific aspect of belief or service, my advice would be to spend a few months visiting various churches of any denomination in your area and let your heart tell you when you have found your spiritual home

such things should not be led by logic or mind or limited by prejudice, but rather feel your way through this

you could think about as well separating your need for spiritual community and your need to support youth. The latter could be expressed through a secular organization, existing or something you would start.

[Wanda Short]

Hey Kroeran - you give good advice.

I have spent the last two months visiting different churches and gone back twice to several since I was going during the advent season and it was lots of pageants and things that are season specific.

I think that you are spot on that maybe I am putting too much weight on my "requirements" and not enough trust in God's leading me where He wants me to be.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and if you have any suggestions I would be most appreciative to hear them! Blessings, W

[faithfulFrank]

Wanda,
First, welcome to the forum.
As to churches, I suggest that you perhaps look in the religion section of the local newspaper and look at the ads. Many churches have websites now that will give you a lot of info as to youth groups, doctrine, etc.

Also, go to the biggest Christian bookstore and ask them.they should have a exhaustive knowledge of the local church options.

What muddies the waters here is that you are not new to the area, thus you know more about the local churches then one usually does when making this type of inquiry. I suggest that you pray about it and shop around on different weekends to see what fits.

I think you are starting to realize that your first post lists many things that are NOT core issues.....they are minor secondary issues. While I DO believe that doctrine IS important, and that knowing what you believe is very important, it is more important to know the difference between core issues, the beliefs that are NOT negotiable, and the secondary issues that we "see through a glass darkly".

May God lead you to where you can thrive and serve.

Frank

[pool_ready]

Wanda

No, I am not a builder. I am a stay-at-home mom in Idaho, who is moving to Ft Myers soon. =)

Sorry I am not much help. That is too funny that I found the church you used to attend. Are preterist churches rare? I've never heard the term before now, and did a little googling to find out what they believe. Very interesting. I hope you find what you are looking for!!! Good luck!

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by Wanda Short

Hey Kroeran - you give good advice.

I have spent the last two months visiting different churches and gone back twice to several since I was going during the advent season and it was lots of pageants and things that are season specific.

I think that you are spot on that maybe I am putting too much weight on my "requirements" and not enough trust in God's leading me where He wants me to be.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and if you have any suggestions I would be most appreciative to hear them! Blessings, W

I look around my office and neighbourhood and take notice of things.

One of the truths that I am struggling with is my observation that Catholics are different, which is in tension with the intellectual problems I have with the Catholic Church itself.

I was raised by a regular secular mom, and a Dad who was kicked out of a very religious community (the mennonites), for smoking. Our house was very unreligious, VERY, but very pious. I didnt know this until I got to know the world.

I got involved with cults and various denominations and ended up with a rogue Baptist college and career group that had been kicked out their church for street prostelizing.

Most of us started out protestant, and most of us ended up in the older churches, Episcopal, Catholic...I kept going into Judaism for awhile...and then beyond

My intuition is that your next move is Catholic, maybe down in Ave Maria.