Which denominations DON'T do children's church??

[tntgoodwin]

Check out NCFIC.org

 

http://www.ncfic.org/directorymodule/view_churchdetail/id/2758/src/@left/

 

National Center for Family Integrated Churches

 

or

http://familyintegratedchurch.com/

 

They both have links to churches that keep the families together during services. :)

[milovany]

Check out NCFIC.org

 

http://www.ncfic.org/directorymodule/view_churchdetail/id/2758/src/@left/

 

National Center for Family Integrated Churches

 

or

http://familyintegratedchurch.com/

 

They both have links to churches that keep the families together during services. :)

 

.... although these wouldn't be considered "liturgical," which was #1 on the OP's list of things she's looking for.

Edited April 11, 2012 by milovaný

[tntgoodwin]

None of the churches listed on there could be considered liturgical?

 

"Liturgy (Greek: Λειτουργία) is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions"

 

 

Those links are affiliated with many different churches, with varying traditions of customary public worship.

 

 

:confused:

Edited April 11, 2012 by tntgoodwin

[PaigeP]

Presbyterian (PCA, not USA)----(i don't know about if the USA'ers do or dont)

[Whereneverever]

None of the churches listed on there could be considered liturgical?

 

Liturgy (Greek: Λειτουργία) is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions

 

:confused:

 

Liturgical refers to a certain style of worship. It follows a set, prescribed, predictable pattern and isn't free form.

[milovany]

None of the churches listed on there could be considered liturgical?

 

Liturgy (Greek: Λειτουργία) is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions

 

:confused:

 

 

Well, probably not according to the meaning the OP associates with it based on her description in the OP (but she is welcome to jump in her and say yay or nay of course!!). It's a pretty common understanding that a "liturgical" church is one like Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican where there is typically some are all of the following: hierarchy with bishops/priests/deacons, vestments on said clergy, a full slate of sacraments (more than two), there's a yearly festal calendar, the services follow specific patterns based on historical practices and prayers, worship is fully sense-ual (incense, bells, candles, etc.), etc. etc. etc. I don't have a problem with people attending a "household of faith" type church in the least! They're just not usually considered "liturgical."

Edited April 11, 2012 by milovaný

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

We do not have many choices in our Bible belt. The closest church is just a handful of elderly and we visited when we had 2 children to hear a friend preach.

It is really different in different areas, but I have a dear friend who's family is happy in Peace Lutheran, and we have tried some different churches to

" socialize "our children, and stayed too long in a few that were too loud, too high pressure on nursery, children's church too.

Finally we are back where we started and it is so much better with all children in the service. It is a United Methodist Church. Our preacher now is so much better than when we left a few years ago ( the reason we left) and he was not raised in the Methodist Church, preaches from the Bible, and has a much better attitude.

 

Are all of our kids happy? Not always, but for the most part yes.

[tntgoodwin]

Fair enough, but there are multiple churches, with different customs and traditions of worship, represented by those organizations.

[Whereneverever]

Well, probably not according to the meaning the OP associates with it based on her description in the OP (but she is welcome to jump in her and say yay or nay of course!!). It's a pretty common understanding that a "liturgical" church is one like Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican where there is typically some are all of the following: hierarchy with bishops/priests/deacons, vestments on said clergy, a full slate of sacraments (more than two), there's a yearly festal calendar, the services follow specific patterns based on historical practices and prayers, worship is fully sense-ual (incense, bells, candles, etc.), etc. etc. etc. I don't have a problem with people attending a "household of faith" type church in the least! They're just not usually considered "liturgical."

 

:iagree:

[Alessandra]

Parochial schools seem to be a rarity in the EO. However, there are usually plenty of social community, particularly in the Greek parishes (this is the jurisdiction I am most familiar with). In parishes you may find a mix of public, private, and homeschool families. You may be the minority for homeschooling, but my kids have never felt left out like they did at other churches (other denominations). They are very involved in HOPE/JOY/GOYA (youth groups, but not like what I've seen in the past), Greek School (learning modern Greek one night a week), helping with Bazaar (Greek fest), Greek Dance, Choir, retreats, helping a couple of weekends a year at one of the monasteries, etc.

 

Definately OCA, Orthodox Church of America on all points. The services are about worship & communion. Adults & children together, without question. No instruments, just the many beautiful voices of the choir & congregation. Lots of homeschoolers in my parish, but also some who Ps & pvs. Conservative on the essentials, and room for many political stances. Totally liturgical.

 

Here's their website http://oca.org/

 

I'm liking the sound of visiting an Orthodox church-both because it's close (I KNOW from experience that being part of a church that's too far from home tends to make participation less common) and because I think it will appeal to DD, who loves classical languages and ritual and is fascinated by that sort of thing (this is a child who, when I had a conference at a Catholic college, spent most of the week talking to the nuns, especially the older sisters who still wore the traditional habit, and came home being able to say sections of the mass in Latin). I especially think she'd love learning modern Greek, as much as she's enjoyed exploring Koine and Attic Greek and being with other kids who are learning a language with her. If it's doctrinally a good fit for me, that may work well.

 

This is Memphis-if you throw a ball randomly, you'll hit a church, so finding one shouldn't be hard, right?

 

Another suggestion would be Anglican Rite Catholic churches. I am familiar with ones that are part of the new Anglican Ordinariate -- a non-geographical diocese of the RC church whose liturgy is that of the Episcopal/Anglican church before it got modernized. (There are also other Anglican Rite churches that turn up when I googled, but I think they are a bit different -- sorry not to be better informed here.)

 

Some Anglo Catholic parishes might be a good fit -- they vary a lot -- so don't judge by the first place you visit.

 

I am pretty familiar with Greek Orthodox and with Orthodox Church in America. This is just my opinion, but I would choose OCA over a Greek church. Sure, Greek parishes can be super active -- HOPE, JOY, GOYA youth groups for different ages that meet at least once per month; EOCS (Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting) + scout troops; Greek school (often a 4 hour/week + homework commitment). But my impression has always been that, deep down, many parishioners want their dc to marry other Greeks. Yes, they are welcoming, but you can still be left feeling like an outsider. Oh, the sermon may also be in Greek.

 

OCA, on the other hand, although it has Russian roots, has a large proportion of converts, so it is possible to be an integral part of the church community no matter what your background. In the churches I have been in, the main liturgical language is English, and sermons are in English. The music is often Kievan chant style --melodic & hauntingly beautiful, quite different from the Greek style.

 

I have also heard good things about Antiochian Orthodox -- I have only been to two of these. One was very Middle Eastern, the other had Old Catholic roots (the entire church converted). Maybe someone else can add an opinion here.

 

Here is an OCA directory

 

http://oca.org/parishes

 

and I see Memphis in this thread -- here is a parish

 

http://oca.org/parishes/oca-so-memssc

 

You might want to try Saturday evening Vespers -- it is not a communion service and might be a good service for a first visit.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Alessandra

[mommaduck]

Another suggestion would be Anglican Rite Catholic churches. I am familiar with ones that are part of the new Anglican Ordinariate -- a non-geographical diocese of the RC church whose liturgy is that of the Episcopal/Anglican church before it got modernized. (There are also other Anglican Rite churches that turn up when I googled, but I think they are a bit different -- sorry not to be better informed here.)

 

Some Anglo Catholic parishes might be a good fit -- they vary a lot -- so don't judge by the first place you visit.

 

I am pretty familiar with Greek Orthodox and with Orthodox Church in America. This is just my opinion, but I would choose OCA over a Greek church. Sure, Greek parishes can be super active -- HOPE, JOY, GOYA youth groups for different ages that meet at least once per month; EOCS (Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting) + scout troops; Greek school (often a 4 hour/week + homework commitment). But my impression has always been that, deep down, many parishioners want their dc to marry other Greeks. Yes, they are welcoming, but you can still be left feeling like an outsider. Oh, the sermon may also be in Greek.

 

Depends upon the parish. Ours is known for being very diverse. The Liturgy is MOSTLY in English. Many parts are done first in Greek and then in English or first in English and then in Greek. We have many Greeks that have married non-Greeks. The main concern would be are they marrying Orthodox. Everything can vary parish to parish. My advice would be to check out the varying EO parishes that are in the area and find the one you are drawn most to. We each have our comfort zones. I do better at being outside of the box (I'm not Greek and no one expects me to be, but they appreciate that our family has tried to make connections and be involved. In fact, our children have been told they are "Greek"...kinda like MBFGW "you Greek now!").

[MrsBasil]

Depends upon the parish. Ours is known for being very diverse. The Liturgy is MOSTLY in English. Many parts are done first in Greek and then in English or first in English and then in Greek. We have many Greeks that have married non-Greeks. The main concern would be are they marrying Orthodox. Everything can vary parish to parish. My advice would be to check out the varying EO parishes that are in the area and find the one you are drawn most to. We each have our comfort zones. I do better at being outside of the box (I'm not Greek and no one expects me to be, but they appreciate that our family has tried to make connections and be involved. In fact, our children have been told they are "Greek"...kinda like MBFGW "you Greek now!").

 

:iagree: The Greek mission parish I attend is probably 70% convert, so it's going to look different than a deeply ethnic Greek parish. Almost everything is in English too.

[JFSinIL]

Catholic fits all of your criteria really.

 

Yup. Time to come back to the fold.

[WIS0320]

Catholic is the obvious choice.

 

 

 

:iagree:

[Alessandra]

Depends upon the parish. Ours is known for being very diverse. The Liturgy is MOSTLY in English. Many parts are done first in Greek and then in English or first in English and then in Greek. We have many Greeks that have married non-Greeks. The main concern would be are they marrying Orthodox. Everything can vary parish to parish. My advice would be to check out the varying EO parishes that are in the area and find the one you are drawn most to. We each have our comfort zones. I do better at being outside of the box (I'm not Greek and no one expects me to be, but they appreciate that our family has tried to make connections and be involved. In fact, our children have been told they are "Greek"...kinda like MBFGW "you Greek now!").

 

That's interesting. The two Greek parishes that I am familiar with are extremely Greek -- people have relatives in Greece, go to Greece for vacations, often speak Greek. Not to say that people aren't friendly, just that everything is very Greek. The priest is much more comfortable speaking Greek than he is English. Most of the people I know who go to the church near us are Greeks married to other Greeks.

 

I second the idea of checking out as many parishes as possible. I have certainly seen OCA parishes that we more Russian than the ones I am most familiar with.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Alessandra

[mommaduck]

That's interesting. The two Greek parishes that I am familiar with are extremely Greek -- people have relatives in Greece, go to Greece for vacations, often speak Greek. Not to say that people aren't friendly, just that everything is very Greek. The priest is much more comfortable speaking Greek than he is English. Most of the people I know who go to the church near us are Greeks married to other Greeks.

 

I second the idea of checking out as many parishes as possible. I have certainly seen OCA parishes that we more Russian than the ones I am most familiar with.

Ditto on the bolded part. Everyone seems to make yearly trips to Greece. Most of the older people and some of the younger are immigrants. A few of the yiayias and grandfathers ONLY speak Greek still. Everyone has relatives in Greece. One of my daughters' friends lives in Greece, but comes to the US once a year for a couple of months (they did summer tennis together). They chat on FB.

 

I believe our parish is considered one of the more "progressive" ones though when it comes to reaching out in the community, etc. This area, EVERYONE seems to be involved in the community. Crop Walk, City Council of Churches, Transitional Living Center, Crispus Atticks, Waterstreet Mission, etc. So maybe it's the culture of this area? *shrugs*

[Alessandra]

Ditto on the bolded part. Everyone seems to make yearly trips to Greece. Most of the older people and some of the younger are immigrants. A few of the yiayias and grandfathers ONLY speak Greek still. Everyone has relatives in Greece. One of my daughters' friends lives in Greece, but comes to the US once a year for a couple of months (they did summer tennis together). They chat on FB.

 

I believe our parish is considered one of the more "progressive" ones though when it comes to reaching out in the community, etc. This area, EVERYONE seems to be involved in the community. Crop Walk, City Council of Churches, Transitional Living Center, Crispus Atticks, Waterstreet Mission, etc. So maybe it's the culture of this area? *shrugs*

 

:iagree:

We are another non-Greek family in a Greek Orthodox parish. :) We would have missed out on having some very wonderful, loving people in our lives, if we had avoided this parish because it is a "Greek" parish. So, please don't let that deter you from visiting. I think MommaDuck's advice to visit varying EO parishes and find the one you are most drawn to, is a great idea.

 

Thanks to both of you. I love that, whenever I go on this board, I learn something new!

 

I hope op finds a place she likes too.