[Sam Cree]

I was brought up Episcopalian, which is very similar to Catholicism (the main difference, and the reason Henry VIII founded it, is that it doesn't recognize Papal authority) and has communion and bishops and all that, but fell in love with and married a Jewish girl I met in college. Now that was a seriesly long time ago.

I am not very religious, Wneighbor, at least not in a traditional sense, so I have just gone along with Jeanne's wishes and lived the Jewish life for the last 29 years, including bringing up the kids that way. Christianiy and Judaism are pretty similar in many ways anyhow.

Yeah, the congregational responses are usually different, though sometimes similar. I have noticed in a black baptist church there are quite a few "Amen's" whenever someone agrees with the pastor's point.

I'm going to check back for your posts on the subject.

[Wneighbor]

but fell in love with and married a Jewish girl I met in college. Now that was a seriesly long time ago.

See, you surprised me when you answered about the first communion because I was thinking I'd heard you say you were Jewish at some point. ha ha figured i had you mixed up with somebody else but now i see.

I am irreveratly laughing too about the Episcopal/Catholic reference. I've been in quite a few Episcopal services. I've also been a history buff since a kid so am familiar with the split... but I misread your parenthetical statement about recognizing PAPAL authority. You know, I'm sitting at my computer, which is frequently on ebay, and I read PAYPAL authority. And I laughed irreverently because I thought you were making light of some of the splits within denominations which really bother me when people start splitting hairs about why they're right and other denominations are going to hell. (not saying that to offend anybody here - i don't go to religious wars unless i have to)

I have noticed in a black baptist church there are quite a few "Amen's" whenever someone agrees with the pastor's point.

Since you brought it up. And said you were checking back for feedback, I chuckled at this also. 2 weekends ago I was a guest at a women's conference at a black Baptist church here in Wichita Falls. A friend from Waco was evangelizing at the meeting and she invited me. This friend is one of the reasons I am a Christian so she is very special to me also. That service was so wonderful. I took both my daughter and one of my female students. We were the only white women in a church with about 150 women. And the remarkable thing is that, with the exception of the church we attend, I felt more welcome and accepted at that church than any church I have visited in Wichita Falls.

I was told when I left Waco to come here that it would be harder to get into a church here and I honestly have to say that the people in churches in this town have turned out to be the most unfriendly people in town. That is wrong. As it turns out, we are attending a church of a different denomination than our home church in Waco even. Both are pentecostal denominations but the churches here in the old denominations just would not welcome us. Since the ministry areas I work in now are all outreach I have to have a church that loves on and welcomes ANYONE who walks in the door - even if you'd worry about letting them in your house.

So, in the last 2 weeks, I've been to black Baptist, a couple of outdoor biker church services and a hispanic Catholic service. I like it. It's all the same God.