Hi. Does anyone know much about Presbyterians? Are they basically normal Christians? There is a Presbyterian church right across the street from my apartment complex, and I'm thinking of trying it out for my first ex-mo religious experience.

Yeah, are pretty normal and mainstream. A lot depends on the congregation

Presbyterians used to be rather conservative, but they are loosening up.
They may no pounce on you and hover over you. It should be fairly relaxing. No one will be crying and sobbing.

You will attend a service with someone who studies and wanted to head the service.
The singing totally depends on who shoes up that day. They may pass a basket around to get tithing, but you don't have to put in. A lot of them have envelops just to stuff your bills in, you don't have to fill out a slip saying I gave this much.
I'm talking years ago, but used to be people would "rent" pews for a year. That was a way they had of setting their budget, money they could count on.

Thanks. This is the church I'm going to try out

www.calvarypca.org

The site makes them seem fairly normal. I am not going to attend a Sunday service, but a Wednesday night one, because I've heard it's more relaxed. Also, there is free food (hey...I've still got some Mormon in me, lol). Does anybody know if they tend to dress down on Wednesdays? I have a Baptist friend who goes to Wed night services in jeans and a t-shirt.

Also, does anyone know about basic beliefs. Are these the "saved" people?

suz, i have been presbyterian for over 49 yrs. pca= pres. church of american. it's a nice, fairly laid back service. they'll have a sermon on sunday's lots of the larger churches have sunday evening as well as wed. evening services. also,k the church i belonged to had a gr8 youth group. we raised $ and had lots of fun trips, etc. we participated in. almost left pres. faith and became of mormon faith, but, did not. Got leary of what i was learning/discovering. Go to the church, if you'd like. Oh, and btw, they don't try to disrup or disturb your everyday life but they are "here for you" if you need them, as well. imho.

Sorry :) My mom calls me "Susie Q-zee" all the time :P didn't mean to steal your name.

Your moniker is clearly different. I seems to me that SusieQ#1 is being overly sensitive.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 12:43AM by MJ.

SusieQz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry :) My mom calls me "Susie Q-zee" all the
> time :P didn't mean to steal your name.

You did not steal my moniker. I just made a clarification. No harm, no foul.
Ignore MJ.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 01:41AM by SusieQ#1.

As far as I can see there was NO reason to clarify anything. Absolutely nobody was giving any indication that the two of you were being confused, not-a one.

Sorry, As far as I am concerned it appears to me to be an over reaction. Jumping in with the capitalized NOTE and NOT when there was no need for any clarification at all, pure over reaction. Get it SusieQ#1, when no clarification is needed or called for, a clarification IS an over reaction.

Just clarifying SusieQ#1, no harm done. But GEZZZ it's getting so you can't even be supportive of a poster without being snarled at around here.

Yes, SusieQz, ignore the people that are being supportive of you and believe the people that are snarling at you, if that sort of snarling is what you want in your life.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 01:52AM by MJ.

MJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As far as I can see there was NO reason to clarify
> anything. Absolutely nobody was giving any
> indication that the two of you were being
> confused, not-a one.
>
> Sorry, As far as I am concerned it appears to me
> to be an over reaction. Jumping in with the
> capitalized NOTE and NOT when there was no need
> for any clarification at all, pure over reaction.
> Get it SusieQ#1, when no clarification is needed
> or called for, a clarification IS an over
> reaction.
>
> Just clarifying SusieQ#1, no harm done. But GEZZZ
> it's getting so you can't even be supportive of a
> poster without being snarled at around here.
>
> Yes, SusieQz, ignore the people that are being
> supportive of you and believe the people that are
> snarling at you, if that sort of snarling is what
> you want in your life.


This is why ignoring MJ is a good idea. :-)

There was nothing wrong with what I posted to SuzQz. NOTHING AT ALL.

You are just one another of your personal vendettas.

SuzQz, I support you. So, if you want to choose who to ignore, do look at who was doing the supportive behavior and who went on the warpath.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 03:10AM by MJ.

SusieQ#1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MJ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > As far as I can see there was NO reason to
> clarify
> > anything. Absolutely nobody was giving any
> > indication that the two of you were being
> > confused, not-a one.
> >
> > Sorry, As far as I am concerned it appears to
> me
> > to be an over reaction. Jumping in with the
> > capitalized NOTE and NOT when there was no need
> > for any clarification at all, pure over
> reaction.
> > Get it SusieQ#1, when no clarification is
> needed
> > or called for, a clarification IS an over
> > reaction.
> >
> > Just clarifying SusieQ#1, no harm done. But
> GEZZZ
> > it's getting so you can't even be supportive of
> a
> > poster without being snarled at around here.
> >
> > Yes, SusieQz, ignore the people that are being
> > supportive of you and believe the people that
> are
> > snarling at you, if that sort of snarling is
> what
> > you want in your life.
>
>
> This is why ignoring MJ is a good idea. :-)

+1. Since when Is clarifying the same as snarling? The names are similar and someone could have been confused. Geez



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 01:45PM by bona dea.

Of course a person can be snarling and clarifying at the same time. Snarling and clarifying are not mutually exclusive terms. If she was just clarifying, why all the "yelling"?

So I guess we should ALL be clarifying every time somebody posts with a similar but clearly distinct name? NONSENSE.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 03:00PM by MJ.

also, the dress code is relaxed as well. you can even wear pants on sun. morning. (i wore dress slacks to lds church) wed. nights are casual though. even on sun. they don't mind if you wear pants. (i wear pants, anytime)

Thanks a bunch Deb! I had no idea that PCA denoted something particular. I've read a lot of your posts and know about your experience. I was a convert myself. I never bought the whole thing hook, line, and sinker, but I loved the people. I also loved the attention of the mishies...I was truly attached to them...and the constant dinner invites, etc. I know many people on this board say they got dropped immediately after baptism, but my experience wasn't like that. I made a lot of friends in the church, still keep in touch with my mishies, and always felt encouraged/loved. I tried to get whatever spirituality I could out of it, and it wasn't a bad experience. In the end, though....I just wanted to be accepted for who I really was. And I didn't like all the demands on my time or the lack of respect for boundaries. People would call/email me SEVERAL times about visiting teaching responsibilities, and I just felt like I HAVE A FULL TIME JOB!!! Anyway, I guess I'm writing all this to say I really identified with your experience. I was very lonely when I found the church, and I just really wanted to be a "perfect family" like they all were. I've always been the type of person who doesn't have many close friends. But in the end, I joined for the wrong reasons, and it's probably good you didn't do the same.

SORRY I WROTE A BOOK!!! lol

A Presby minister officiated at my second wedding. I did not belong to the church but a relative of mine did. I was pregnant and everybody knew it. After the wedding, I never heard from the minister or anyone in the congregation again. That was decades ago. It all seemed pretty mainstream--and laid back--to me. ... But that was years ago, so what do I really know? ;-)

Presbyterians tend to believe in predistination...which simply means some will go to heaven and others will not. It doesn't matter how good you are earth it's all decided before hand. There is nothing you can do to change it.

Otherwise, they will leave you alone...

stormy

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

She is a "companion" to elderly ladies. She joins the church "her lady" is a member of and participates according to how much her boss wants her to. When "her lady" dies, she moves on.

The Presbyterian church she joined this way was outraged when she left. She got a number of calls and letters both from the clergy and other members. She was stumped as to why they were angry.

http://www.standard.net/topics/religion/2011/03/29/presbyterian-court-reaffirms-minister-violated-policy-marrying-gay-couple

"Presbyterian court reaffirms minister violated policy by marrying gay couples"

But it seems they do allow gay clergy


http://blog.beliefnet.com/beliefbeat/2010/07/presbyterian-assembly-approves-gay-clergy-not-gay-marriage.html

I am not sure exactly what defines them differntly from other Christian (Bible) based faiths, however, being ex-mo RM, I can tell you, there is a lot of contradiction in the Bible. The biggest problem I have with the Bible is that ppl can be very selective in how they read and interpret the Bible.

I mean I actually still feel emotional over the words of Christ in the NT, but it is amazing how ppl can take it and percieve it one way versus another. During my mission, I could blow away most Christian based faiths just by showing in the OT/NT where Christ claimed to be Jehovah. Now I have been seeing Christian based churches that are evolving in that direction too in light of, what I believe to be, the ex-mo revolution. Its like vultures waiting for an ex-mo testimony to die and they dive in and try to take a turn at taking your time and money.

Now I could be wrong, but the way I see it is, why be socially pressured to waste time and money on a man made, and prolly money driven organization. Isn't that what we fled from in the LDS church? Its all a lack of truth and transparency. But if it really floats your boat, then the more power to you. It will eventually cost you and you might end up in a ex-pres forum.

Welcome, SusieQz. I am wings. There is a new poster, brokenwings. Not the same person, obviously. I sent her a welcome to RfM this morning and joked about my wings are the flying kind....so we see names that are similar, not the same all the time. A lot of variations of a name have been on this board. Do not fret. Keep yours, it has meaning to you and the offended can change their board name if they take it personally.
;)wings

They are one of the main branches of normal Christianity. Just check it out for yourself.

I know that visiting a new church can be daunting for those coming from a closed religion like Mormonism. Have courage!

I went to a small Presbyterian college. Church influence was undetectable. It had big party school reputation. The only requirement was that two board members had to be Presbyterians.
The girls had a curfew at the time and no alcohol was allowed on campus but that was no obstacle to getting blasted off campus.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2011 11:01AM by verdacht.

I grew up in the mainstream Presbyterian church (PCUSA), which is a different branch than the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA). PCA is usually more conservative than PCUSA is. Several of my cousins are PCA and they remind me a little of southern Baptists.

Anyway, compared to the Mormons, they're really laid back. They also embrace education... I mean, the ministers are expected to be highly educated and everything...

suz, as a matter of fact, whenever my parents moved into another town (1995) they attended the local pres. church for a while but then decided to go w/the methodist church for a little while b/c of co-workers, fellow golfers, etc. Whenever they changed and began attending methodist church, there wasn't any harrasment from the pres. church and also whenever there was a death in family, even though they weren't active the pres. minister stopped by house and expressed condolences. (he is in mid forties and pretty neat acting guy)

The Mt. Olympus PC (PCUSA) in SLC is the church my wife and I ended up in when I did officially resign from TSCC. I enjoyed attending there and never felt any overbearing pressure to participate. The pastor there even baptized our baby before we were officially members even.

I think PCUSA and PCA came about because of the Civil War. PCA are typically in the south I think. And they definitely are more conservative than PCUSA churches are.