Spiritual Journey Thursday - Diversity in Denominations

    

 I look forward to Thursdays when I can publish thoughts on my spiritual journey and hear the thoughts of others on a weekly theme topic.  It has become a space for an encouraging and fortifying community to come together.  We welcome anyone who would like to join us!

This week's theme is DIVERSITY IN DENOMINATIONS.

This topic is an unusual one, I realize, and maybe even controversial.  Now that I've sat down to write it, I'm not sure I have  ton to say about it except that we had a brief discussion last week in our Bible study on Mark about the diversity of denominations.  I loved that when we went around the room to introduce ourselves, despite the fact that we were sitting in a Presbyterian church, we all had diverse religious backgrounds, and a few were members of other denominations.  We had all come together because we are united in wanting to learn more about Jesus and the truths of the Bible.  We weren't interested in making sure our denominations were right or better or preferred.  We were interested in opening our Bibles and exploring the Gospel of Mark.  We enjoyed hearing about what our various backgrounds and affiliations brought to the table.  The diversity made the discussion more interesting.  As long as no denomination thinks its the only right one, it's a great way to extend the body of Christ, worship and serve in unique ways, and use various spiritual gifts.

It's interesting that I ended up back in a Presbyterian church at this point in my life - I got there in a roundabout way even though I grew up in a Presbyterian church.  I had spent some time away from church in my teen years and didn't start looking to go back until I met my husband in college.  He had come from a Lutheran background, but neither of us felt compelled to return to our childhood denominations.  We were just interested in finding a Spirit-filled church, preferably one that had a contemporary worship service with contemporary music.  We were so fortunate to hear about Oxford Bible Fellowship through some friends at Miami University.  We loved it there.  It was non-denominational, evangelical, and very different from the churches we grew up in.  We've since moved several times in our lives and so had to find new churches, but that experience taught us that we were not interested in a particular denomination - we were interested in a place where we found Biblical truth, love, joy, and service.  

Of course, if you are devoted to a particular denomination, I think that's wonderful, too.  How fortunate we are to live in a country where freedom of religion and religious expression is a right!