I'm venturing out into uncharted territory in my life: church shopping. I've never had to do this before, never even thought about it, as a matter of fact. But, the time has come that I'm at that point in my life where I need to do it. It hurts to do it. It's like I'm betraying an old friend: I was brought up in this church, confirmed in this church, traveled the country with this church, was married in this church, and had all three of my kids baptized at this church... but it really doesn't feel like this church is my church anymore. And that makes me sad.
So how does one go about finding a new church? There are SO many questions that I don't even know how to start. I would like some place that's local, so I don't have to travel a ton to get there. But should I stay with someplace that's within the Methodist Church? Do I have to? Can I go to another denomination? I don't know the answer to any of these questions. Truth be told, I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a "church home" after 30+ years with one church being my home.
I want my kids to have a church to call "home" the way that I did. With Tom being a non-practicing Catholic, I'm the one that has to do this for them. I hope that I can find a place that they like to go to and WANT to go to.
The strangest part of this whole experience for me is how all-consuming it is. I'm not sure WHY that is, because I've not thought myself to be all that religious... but I almost feel as if I was betrayed by my family, and that's why I need to leave. The way I told it to a friend was that I feel like a sheep without a flock. I don't so much need a good shepard right now, but a flock would be nice.
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