[dutchess]

I was just going to give an almost identical response.

Iyaayas. The are many of us who have strayed from the church for various reasons and I personally like your analogy to watered down beer :o) There's something about being raised Catholic...there ceremony and traditions that I just don't get in other denominations. Anyway, I agree with Betis70...find a church you feel comfortable with and I'm sure you will be welcomed with open arms.

[Betis70]

For me its the solemness of the services. Electric guitars and tamborines and things like that (plus the unstructed nature) really turned me off other services.

But yes you have to be comfortable with the Pastor and church. I live about 1/2 mile away from a church, so I could walk there on sunny CA days, but they are a little 'hippy' for me. So I drive about 10 miles to go to Mass in Latin. I just love the chant! Gives me goosebumps everytime I go.

[dixie sass]

The most amazing thing to me, Dutchess, is that I can go to a Catholic Church and feel right at home. The same with Methodist or Luthern or Presbyterian. The liturgy is pratically the same and depending on the minister/priest - especially in the Anglican/Episcopal Churches.

I feel sometimes, it is how the individual feels about themselves as to whether or not a church feels welcome to them.

Although I attended the Baptist Church with my Grandmomma, I was reared in the high Episcopal Church and didn't care for the informality of the Baptist and even though my brother is a Baptist minister, I am uncomfortable in his church.

I love the traditions and the formality of the Anglican/Epicopal Church. I do not approve of the group in New Hampshire and what they have done. I feel that they should be kicked out of the Church. But they are GOD's children also, I just can't except their way of life and their going against what the Bible teaches.

[Pippin]

IYAAYAS, You are always welcome to come back to the Church.

I agree with Dutchess and Betis.

We have all made mistakes in or past and have strayed but was welcomed back.

So don't let your past stop you from doing what is in your heart.

[The Mayor]

I am a Baptist and disagree with the watered down beer analogy.