Raised Catholic, now WELS Lutheran.

Christian. :-)

The church labels are not all bad. They are descriptive of how a particular fellowship works out its salvation with fear and trembling. The label can't tell you if the church members are kind and loving, but it can tell you whether to expect there to be people speaking in tongues, or vocal music only, or baptism by sprinkling instead of immersion, things which may be important to you according to your understanding of Scripture.

Many churches are responding to George Barna polls to try to increase their numbers--artificially--instead of praying and preaching the word in season and out and letting the Holy Spirit bring in the people He wants to be there. It's part of the whole seeker-friendly movement.

My husband and I were both raised Catholic, and we still are.

I was raised Catholic...left the Faith for a few years in my late teens/early 20's. Then after I had kids went back to it. I've studied with Jehovah's Witnesses, my ex was LDS, gone to the Baptist church, the Church of Christ, Lutheran, and some Bible Chapels. I just never felt "home" other than at the Catholic Church.

Attendended Holiness church as a child(without my family as they are not really church attendees except Grandma's- now dead) thru bus ministry. Actually my nanny took me my early years and trained me how to behave etc.

As an adult, my dh was saved in what would be deemed Calvinist church. It held the title of Primitive Baptist but would be considered Reformed in most areas.

Now we are Indendent Baptist in a very tradition based region.

My upbringing? Hmm...
It seems that I've always been a deacon/elder's kid...Dad was always involved in music ministry as well as church leadership in some way, shape or form. I was born into an independent, fundamental Baptist home, then mom died; dad remarried a southern Baptist gal, in which we continued to be Baptist until I was 11. In steps the Assemblies of God in which I continued to be raised in util my early adulthood. Talk about night and day! I used to be one of "those pentacostals" going around criticizing "those Baptists" for not being "on fire" for the Lord. DH was raised in the Assemlies of God...serving as a deacon when we got married (He was 26!). In steps the, what I call, "the Brownsville Revival Movement", then the Seeker-Friendly Movement, and, well much more that I believe God has used to get our attention and move us away from the A/G. SO, we tried a pentacostal non-denomination-no good (lots of Word-Faith stuff). Then we really got crazy (at least that's what our family thinks;) and gave a Southern Baptist church a try...they went seeker-friendly-no good. CURRENTLY, we have been attending a Reformed Baptist church for the last 1.5 years, and we are deciding if we want to become members. Yikes! So much to swallow! It turns out that some of "those Baptists" really ARE on fire for God, and BOY do they know the Word! Part of the reason my dh and I haven't joined yet is because we have been searching the Scriptures and studying doctrine like no other time in our lives. As you can see, there's a lot to consider from our background. Dh is having a harder time than me letting go of his pentacostal roots. It's really hard to find a church around here that's not Seeker. This church we're at currently is very well balanced in terms of not being hyper-conservative, yet they stick to the Word. The only drawback is that it's SO BIG! It's hard to find churches around here that really preach and study the Word in it's fullness, expositionally, and in its historical/cultural context. I suppose we could always drive an hour to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's church, in which they are BOTH ordained A/G PASTORS (SIL preaches once/month!)...Nope! (sigh)

Oh boy, sorry for the long post to a supposedly easy question! These days, we feel that denomination (or at least a clear statement of faith) matters a lot! As to what to call myself now...no so sure as of yet. (where's that disgruntled smiley face?) I think for now I'll stick with the "Born-Again, Bible-Believing, Still-Learning Christian"! :) Thank God for His Grace!! Those denominational barriers can be both irritating and frustrating, yet necessary at the same time. I think my husband is currently calling himself a "Bapticostal"! LOL! I have totally moved on and far away from the pentacostal movement, and I believe that Dh is getting closer to this as well. It is not something we have taken lightly, though. It's tough pulling away from your roots! (Especially when your family is still so involved in ministry where those roots are).

Interesting post!

Nancy

This post was edited on Nov 01, 2009 10:22 PM

Me

Raised: Assemblies of God
Currently: Assemblies of God

Dh

Raised: Foursquare/Assemblies of God
Currently: Assemblies of God

raised without a religion (dad was atheist) until about jr high when mom started going to Church of Christ, but religion was never part of our home life, just something we went to on some Sundays.

Now Latter Day Saint (Mormon)