Seeking Young Church with Liberal Views

[BirdieBelle]

Part of what makes this question difficult is that it feels like there are two different issues here.

There are a LOT of different kinds of churches here, from start-up "faith groups" that meet in an empty storefront each week to the gamut of various denominations.

Some churches that SEEM laid-back in the "Come as you are! Wear jeans to church! We have a rock band!" kind of way are VERY pentecostal and conservative in their teaching, while some of the organized denominations that have organ music and gray heads in the pews may have very liberal beliefs.

Finding the right place will take earnestness on your part, patience and a lot of visits.

Having said that, I have a friend who attends Brookmeade Congragational Church, and while it is small it is welcoming.

Progressive Christianity | Brookmeade Congregational Church, UCC

I've also heard good things about 2nd Presbyterian.

http://secondpresbyterian.org/

[mad fiddler]

You might try Vine Street Christian near Vanderbilt.

[number1coltsfan]

We have lived her for 3 years and have been looking for something like this as well. The problem we have found is the churches that are more open minded seem be very traditional in other ways, which we don't like. Would love to find a true "come as you are , wear jeans and be yourself" with rock band included, but also not held to conservative views on women and marriage.

[sucrose]

How about an old liberal church - Unitarian Universalist?

[balatro]

That's a rough one - progressive churches tend to tie themselves to a denomination for various reasons. So yes, while there are progressive churches in Nashville and throughout the US, they're all generally aligned to a denomination and thus tied to that denomination's tradition to a degree.

Nondenominational churches generally exist b/c they disagreed with the progressive attitude of denominations, thus they broke off and went at it on their own. So finding a progressive one is going to be tough.

That said, here are some ones I suggest you take a look at - look at their websites, call them, talk to their members on Facebook, visit them on a Sunday, etc.

Glendale Baptist Church

Metropolitan Interdenominational Church - more or less an exclusive African-American church. Certain members of society would find it problematic to not know this ahead of time. That said, they're really affirming and their ministries team does a lot of great work, especially their HIV/AIDS prevention and education efforts.

Holy Trinity Community Church - I've never attended but I've spoken with people that have and they enjoy it. I do believe it's affiliated with the United Church of Christ but individual churches in the UCC denomination vary to large degrees since they get to express their own views. Their gallery shows worship services where it looks like nearly everyone is in jeans and tshirts/polos so there's that. Certainly one that I'd check out.

Unity of Nashville (Unity of Nashville) - I know absolutely nothing about this denomination or the church specifically. Here's the Wikipedia page on it (Unity Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). So, you'll have to check it out on your own.

[balatro]

Originally Posted by sucrose

How about an old liberal church - Unitarian Universalist?

I got the impression they were looking for a strictly Christian church. But there are some decent UU options in Nashville.

[Ksmart]

Originally Posted by balatro

I got the impression they were looking for a strictly Christian church. But there are some decent UU options in Nashville.

This is correct, we're looking for a Christian church. Liberal and Christian don't have to be mutually exclusive!