I've read here before that visiting another church while having membership in a particular church is like committing adultery. Well I must admit that I carry some guilt for doing just that as of late.
The Church where I and my wife are currently members has moved from a location which was far enough for us to travel but being Reformed Presbyterian my wife and I thought was our only choice (we came to find out later such was not the case) to an even further location which takes us about 45 minutes one way to get there. It is not in our local community by any means but I'm sure folks travel much further to attend a faithful church than we do.
We just discovered about 3 weeks ago that an OPC Mission Church has been established in our local community about 8 miles from our House which started as a Bible Study back in November of last year. My Wife and I travel an hour to work in traffic one way daily as it is and would like one day a week where we can actually worship in our local community so when we heard of the OPC Mission we were really encouraged. This Mission is in the process of calling an organizing Pastor in the next month or so.
But these are all good reasons for wanting to worship locally however there are probably a few more reasons if I were to be honest:
1) A desire to reach those in my local community.
2) Being edified locally and fellowshipping with those who live and work in my local community.
3) The RPW! (I'm finding that I am coming to a more traditional view of how the RPW is applied as well as how the Reformed Faith is lived out in the life of the Church and there are some differences in that regard). I'm not saying the church where my wife and I are members does not follow the RPW as a matter of fact they most certainly do but not in the same way that I understand it or prefer.
With that all said I have notified my Pastor and Session where my wife and I hold Membership and the Local Session of the Church that we are now attending that it is our desire to continue worshipping at the church here locally and if God leads and our Membership Church Session concurs to eventually transfer our Membership.
Does anyone see a problem with that? Is there an issue with my line of thinking? Am I taking my Membership vows seriously?
Appreciate whatever thoughts one way or the other about our most recent decision.
The Church where I and my wife are currently members has moved from a location which was far enough for us to travel but being Reformed Presbyterian my wife and I thought was our only choice (we came to find out later such was not the case) to an even further location which takes us about 45 minutes one way to get there. It is not in our local community by any means but I'm sure folks travel much further to attend a faithful church than we do.
We just discovered about 3 weeks ago that an OPC Mission Church has been established in our local community about 8 miles from our House which started as a Bible Study back in November of last year. My Wife and I travel an hour to work in traffic one way daily as it is and would like one day a week where we can actually worship in our local community so when we heard of the OPC Mission we were really encouraged. This Mission is in the process of calling an organizing Pastor in the next month or so.
But these are all good reasons for wanting to worship locally however there are probably a few more reasons if I were to be honest:
1) A desire to reach those in my local community.
2) Being edified locally and fellowshipping with those who live and work in my local community.
3) The RPW! (I'm finding that I am coming to a more traditional view of how the RPW is applied as well as how the Reformed Faith is lived out in the life of the Church and there are some differences in that regard). I'm not saying the church where my wife and I are members does not follow the RPW as a matter of fact they most certainly do but not in the same way that I understand it or prefer.
With that all said I have notified my Pastor and Session where my wife and I hold Membership and the Local Session of the Church that we are now attending that it is our desire to continue worshipping at the church here locally and if God leads and our Membership Church Session concurs to eventually transfer our Membership.
Does anyone see a problem with that? Is there an issue with my line of thinking? Am I taking my Membership vows seriously?
Appreciate whatever thoughts one way or the other about our most recent decision.