Good churches near the NE/NW side?

tropical.dreams

With Jason and I going through this crossroads in our relationship, I feel that finding some sort of faith, together, might give us some sort of clarity.

I have never been a religious person. I've been to many different churches, and never been able to feel comfortable in any of them. I have a "belief", but not in God and the Bible as it is written (i.e, I don't believe that there *is* A god, a resurrection, a Garden of Eden, etc.) I guess my faith in more about the earth and spirituality.

Jason is Protestant, and grew up going to church. He's gotten away from it as much since being in Columbus, but he occasionally goes to a church here on High St. It's a BIG church, and the one time I went with him, I felt very uncomfortable, because, to me, it was all about repeating "Praise the Lord! Jesus is Lord!" over and over again, like a cult. They also had a sort of communion type thing, I guess, and I was the only one out of the whole church of hundreds that didn't go up. Most of the members are older or families, too, and I just don't feel like we belong.

So I'm looking for a SMALL church, with very liberal services, that isn't going to shove religion down my throat, that will just allow me to explore my faith, and help us see something deeper together to see if we can make this relationship work.

I'm willing to go anywhere from Hilliard to Gahanna on the north side. We live near The Continent (yes, we're still living together, but in separate bedrooms, and without any intimacy except for hugs, while we're going through individual and couples counseling, to figure out what we're going to do.)

Thanks for your input!

Rooette

I don't know of any churches around here, but I feel a lot of the same things you do about religion. DH was raised in a church with a Dad who's a Pastor. It makes holidays (like Easter) kinda awkward. I hope the 2 of you can find a happy medium and work through this together.

OHFallBride06

First Community Church is a non-denominational church and is very welcoming. They have 2 locations...one in grandview and one in hilliard. HTH!

krae

We go to King Ave United Methodist Church near campus.  Most people consider it to be liberal because we are a reconciling congregation, meaning we accept and welcome GLBT persons.  I have some of the same beliefs as you and I feel like that's okay at King Ave.

Finding the right church takes time and visits.  I wish you luck and hope you'll visit King Ave.

emilyandbrady

we belong to a lutheran church in worthington--all saints.  we really like it and they have "contemporary" services at 11 on sundays.  these are less traditional and more about finding a way to apply religion/spirituality into your everyday life rather than a recitation of someone's beliefs.  also, the pastors there (the one who married DH and I for sure) are trained in couples/premarriage/marriage counseling.  DH and I did premarriage counseling and LOVED it.  email me @ emilyandbrady@gmail.com if you want more information.

OSUJaydee

Me and another Nestie go to Mountview Baptist Church in Upper Arlington on Fishinger Rd. It's small (around 250 people), but there are a good deal of people our age there. However, I wouldn't call it "liberal", although it certainly is not like a typical conservative Baptist church, but the pastor is only a bit older than us, and very good about helping people explore their faith. We also have the communion type thing on the first Sunday of the month, but not everyone goes up for it, but you always know that it is on the first Sunday of the month so if you are not comfortable you can skip it!! I'm not sure it is exactly what you are looking for, but since you know how awesome I am , I thought I'd give you the option. lol. You can check out the website at www.mountview.org. I'm so glad to hear that you and Jason are trying to work things out.

Temp536318000001135

When I lived in Columbus, I went to Trinity United Methodist which is in Marble Cliff on W 5th and Cambridge.  I never attended this service, but last year they started a service on Sunday evenings called "The Well"...it seems, from what I understand, to explore faith and religion through theater, music, etc. The link below describes it better than I can:

http://www.trinityumchurch.com/thewell.html

I have also heard good things about King Ave UMC which a previous poster suggested.