I need faith guidance

We have independent financial advisors, independent contract negotiators, but where do I go for independent faith advice?

So, to explain my problem, a little bit of background.....

I am an inactive Christian. I have not prayed since my father died. When I told my ex bishop that my father had passed, I got a 5 word text..

Sorry to hear that Prof

And then nothing else. So I expressed my displeasure with my saviour by withholding my prayers. And so the separation began.

But I do miss my relationship with God, but I am not sure if the denomination I chose was correct. Because there are some areas of the belief I am not entirely comfortable with, does that mean that I have chosen unwisely? There are some areas I embrace fully, but this is not a conversation I feel entirely comfortable having with members of my church.

I identify as a Christian, but I do believe my (ex) church has a lot in common with Judaism, should I find a Rabbi to speak with?

Where can I go to have a completely open discussion about faith, without the bias of a particular denomination?

I do miss my relationship with God, I feel diminished by its absence. But I also miss the feeling of wellbeing that comes from being in a congregation.

Where do I look for advice?

If I Google the question, I get links to specific outreach programmes from the major Christian faiths, or I get links to astrology, spiritualists, black magic websites or tarot readers.... I really want to sit down, and find someone who I can talk to without worrying about their agenda....

Any advice?

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room101 · 51-55, M

You don’t mention what denomination you were/are, which got me a little curious. It’s not relevant to your question, but yeah it got me a little curious.

I’m Greek Orthodox and our denomination is very closely aligned with Judaism in many ways. I feel that all Christian denominations are aligned with Judaism (Christ was a Jew after all) but many distance themselves because of ideas such as “The Jewish religion rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. So thinking of going down that pit would be just another blunder into darkness.”

A pit? A blunder into darkness? Seriously? Without Judaism there would be no Christianity in the first place. In fact, it’s unlikely that there would be any monotheistic faiths.

But I digress.

When I was in my mid-teens, I had a similar conflict with the religion that I grew up in. I found some of the attitudes to be racist and began to distance myself from it more and more. Later, I found that it wasn’t the Church itself that was racist (the various clergymen didn’t preach anything that was even remotely racist), it was more the community.

I tackled this topic with my mother. Her response:

“You have to understand that all of us came here (we had migrated to the UK) from small towns and villages where we never met, never even saw, a black person. On top of that, as children we were warned that if we did something naughty, the black man would get us. Now we’re here and it’s a shock, it’s unfamiliar, it’s scary. But we learn, we move forward, we get better.”

I think that’s the thing, put yourself in a position where you can learn, move forward and be better. Read about whatever religions pique your interest. Explore further those that hold that interest and put to the side those don’t. If possible, visit their respective places of worship and talk to both the congregation and the clergy.

You may find that the sense of community that you seem to be looking for will come from somewhere new or, as in my case, you end up right where you started………..but with a fuller understanding and perspective.

As for a relationship with God that, to me, is purely personal. As is faith in general. I strongly believe that faith, a relationship with God, MUST come from within. Anybody can be persuaded to follow a certain religion and anybody can persuade others to follow any given religion BUT, true faith comes from within. And that’s where a relationship with God must come from.

I wish you well.

ProfUK · 51-55, M

@room101 thank you for your message.....
My faith/belief first came from a mix of history, archeology and the use of the Bible (old testament mainly) as a reference text.

When I first started to investigate the various denominations, I would speak to some of the churches that had outreaches in streets. But I found they were not really able to answer the deeper questions I was asking. Then I spoke to a couple of LDS missionaries and I was impressed how they would take the time to go and find out answers to my questions. It was that more than anything that drew me to that Church. But when I needed emotional and spiritual support, I found that was lacking. It seemed that I had become just a number, not an individual who needed guidance. It damaged my relationship with the church, and therefore my relationship with God. But I am beginning to see a roadmap of the next steps. That is to go back to the point my faith was strong, and then move forward on that basis. And that does include visiting other places or worship and asking questions again.