Over the last four years, I have struggled with not having a church home. Growing up Catholic gave me an identity I welcomed and as I grew up in the church my faith grew as well. Even after MANY years studying theology I still felt like going to a Catholic church was a homecoming each week. I left one where I'd volunteered for three years here in Cincy and I haven't found anything yet.
I put a post on FB a few weeks ago and it sparked the idea of turning this process into a blog.
"I am in a state, and have been for quite some time, where going to church feels false to me but I still need something. I can't go to a service without getting angry about what is being said, not said, or how they are completely missing the point. But I miss the service. I cannot jump back into a community where I cannot speak aloud my beliefs about the role of women, the sacredness of homosexual monogamous relationships, and where the F-Bomb won't get me 10 Hail Marys. For years I have been a seeker and sporadic in my faith and in those same years I never learned to trust God or myself. I have had suggestions from friends to check out Crossroads or the Quaker communities. Heck, I even looked into Baha'i Faith, but they disapprove of the gays as well. Where's a girl to look? I think I'll pose a few questions from time to time, because I need a community of honest thought and exchange. Just wanted to invite you into the conversation."
I've decided to start a blog as a means of adding an accountability component to my search for a new church home. I always need a place to share my thoughts on things and now if a few folks are keeping up with me maybe it'll help me get out there and just do it.
And so my path continues.
We loved Holy Name in Mount Auburn. I feel like it embraced all that I loved about Catholicism, without the frustrating parts. It's a gospel style service, and very relaxed.
ReplyDeleteAlison, I know how you feel....maybe the Catholic guilt has taken the same effect on you as it has on me. Catholic school x 16 years is enough to make a girl question things. I know it is corny, but have you read Eat, Pray Love? I really liked it. There is a passage that sums up how I feel. On Page 208:
ReplyDeleteI think you have every right to cherry-pick when it comes to moving your spirit and finding peace in God. I think you are free to search for any whatsoever which will take you across a worldly divide whenever you need to be transported or comforted. .... The Hopi Indians thought that the world's religions each contained one spiritual thread and that the threads are always seeking each other, wanting to join. When all the threads are finally woven together, they will form a rope that will pull us out of this dark cycle of history and into the next realm. ...God might be bigger than our limited religious doctrines .... Don't we have the right to not stop seeking until we get as close to the source of wonder as possible? That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight. Coosing my religion.
-I liked that :)
-Beth V