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I grew up in the United Methodist Church as well. I never really heard the gospel preached until I visited a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) congregation in my early 30's. I'm a member there now and I've never looked back. I thank God for His patience with me.

My experience is nearly the same as yours. A couple of years after I left, my old UMC church began a Sunday night Bible study, using the Matthew Fox book The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, which was when I stopped looking back.

My former UMC congregation is going through an interesting phase right now. It occupies a beautiful old building in the middle of downtown. Lots of upscale condos and retail space is being built around it. One developer offered about $17 million for the church property and to build new facilities located outside the city limits, but on a major arterial road, for the church at his expense.

Now this congregation is literally dying off. People are walking away from it for theological reasons and others are dying and not being replaced by new members. The board liked the developer's proposal, but too many members wanted to keep things "as is" and not sell. They might have reinvigorated the congregation with the move, but they wouldn't do it. This congregation will get smaller and smaller and it will never occur to them that folks don't want to hear the message that is being preached there.

"My experience is nearly the same as yours. A couple of years after I left, my old UMC church began a Sunday night Bible study, using the Matthew Fox book The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, which was when I stopped looking back."

I could probably write a book on the stuff that has been going on in "our" UMC church of late. We are in the process of leaving but it's not a clean break.

The New Age has such a chokehold on this denomination and most of it is endorsed by the pastor. It's not so much a church service as it's a mix between a Buddhist temple and a DNC convention.