[LeighM]

First of all I hope I do not offend anyone with my question. If I did I apologize.

Since we moved and adopted our daughter our church just hasn’t felt right. There are a couple of reasons for this but the main one is they are not diverse. Both my husband and I were raised Catholic and have been raising our children the same way. But it doesn’t feel right. We have checked out other Catholic churches but have yet to find one that is friendly and diverse.

So my questions are, have you switched churches since becoming a Trans- racial family? Did you stay with the same religion? Honestly, I would be very open to looking at any Christian churches. I want to find a church that is diverse in it’s members, one that moves my family – inspires my family – not just lecture us. I want my children to enjoy going to church and being part of the community within the church.

Any thoughts?

[becky]

We left the Catholic church for all of the above mentioned reasons. We now attend a non-denominational Christian church and we love it. Our kids love it and it's a very good fit for our entire family...

[OakShannon]

I changed churches, too. I had been very involved in my previous church and it was a good place for me in many ways, but they were not very diverse and there weren't many kids.

Then I became a mom.

Now we attend a Baptist Church (previous church was UCC). It's an African American church that a friend introduced us to. Their family has attended for several years. (My friend is my son's godfather/mentor.) So far it has been a great experience. I like the church a great deal and my family has been warmly welcomed. There are some theological changes and some of the language is different. (I felt the same way going from the Catholicism I was raised with to UCC, though.) They have a lot of programs for kids and I'm excited about that for David - Children's church, Sunday School, a Junior Deacons program, summer camp, after school programs, a children's choir, sports teams, music lessons, etc. There are also adult Sunday School classes and bible study and I like that, too. So, I think it's been a very good change for our family.

[sugarandspice697]

We changed churches after I gave birth to DD because our church was overwhelmingly AA. Here in Atlanta, the church are extremely segregated and racially diverse churches are practically non-existent. We tried going to a traditional Korean Church but there are a lot of cultural barriers between us and a few of the members were homophobic.
Now, we go to a non-denominational church thats overwhelming Caucasian. In fact, in our Bible study class (which has about 15 people in it), we are the only African Americans and DD is the only person of color inside the nursery class! But I can't complain because we're always learning something new about the Bible.

[millie58]

I go to a diverse Baptist church. I believe it's a fundamentalist church. Kiddies see every race and most ethnicities in a positive situation. Plus (I know I'll get screamed at for this), the service is an hour. Anything longer, and my mind zones out.

[OakShannon]

Originally Posted by millie58

I go to a diverse Baptist church. I believe it's a fundamentalist church. Kiddies see every race and most ethnicities in a positive situation. Plus (I know I'll get screamed at for this), the service is an hour. Anything longer, and my mind zones out.

I can deal with the 2-hour service. But David loses it after 1 hour and 15 minutes. I haven't heard a sermon in weeks!

[Sleeplvr]

Most people reevaluate their church once kids arrive. We church shopped before our kids arrived and found one that was younger and had lots of activities for kids. The church we attend is AME (African Methodist Episcopal) and has an caribbean flavor since the pastor and a lot of the members are from the islands.

Sugarandspice
There are multicultural churches in the Atlanta area and that is part of their advertising campaign. The only thing I don't like about them was that they tend to be more evangelical which is not my style. Liberty Church is one of them and they advertise as being 7 churches under one roof. You pick which service you want to attend by the time and language or culture. We are always getting fliers in the mail advertising the various churches in the area. The area where I live has lots of immigrants so if a church wants to really wants to grow it has to be welcoming to everyone.

Millie
I hear you on the short service time. That's why we don't do Baptist Churches anymore.

[angelkisses0102]

Although we are not an obvious transracial family (DD is CC/Asian) we want our kids exposed to all races and cultures so we attend a VERY diverse Southern Baptist Church. It is wonderful...and very kid friendly. The adult service is an hour...but the kids go to a child friendly class with K-5th graders going to a kid service. (Held at the school which is on the church campus.) Our church is considered a mega church...and the lead pastor really preaches from a more generic Christian standpoint. We do one traditional Southern Baptist service and then six very comtemporary services each weekend.

I love that the kids have their own age appropriate 'service' and teachings...both my kids are in choir (DD is 8, DS is 6 and there were over 100 boys and girls there this week)...they do a kids FUN and active bible study after choir and they have a great Bible Study group for the kids starting in 6th grade (over 300 kids each week.) We see about 1000 kids a weekend in the infants thru 5th graders (I volunteer)...so there is always lots going on. DD went a weeklong trip with this summer...something she can do thru high school.

Also, our pastor is very relevant...is not preachy...and the half hour he speaks each week passes so quickly. We are amazed how quickly the hour service seems to go. We grew up Catholic and we have learned so much in the past year and a half...we all have our own bibles...which we actually now read.

Good luck...finding the right church is such a great thing!

[BethanyB]

We attend a very diverse Baptist church. The main pastor is white and we just got an AA assistant pastor. I would say the congregation is about 50 percent CC, 40 percent AA and about 10 percent other races.

My kids get to attend Sunday school with lots of black children and I love it. I have been attending that church for years, even before my kids were with me.

I have always loved Baptist churches. They seem so laid back to me. We have a band and many people wear jeans. It's really cool.

[angelkisses0102]

Originally Posted by BethanyB

have always loved Baptist churches. They seem so laid back to me. We have a band and many people wear jeans. It's really cool.

Our lead pastor wears jeans (and either cowboy boots or sneakers)...we have a rockin band...and are very laid back. Not at all what I expected from a Baptist church. Our church is pretty much equally distributed for AA, CC, and Hispanic...with just about every other race and ethnicity represented by a small percentage.

OP, PM me if you would like the link to our church's website...it's very cool and will give you a good feel for what is out there.

[Linny]

We left our church of 13yrs to find another that was more diverse---and, we found one! Our church is non-denominational and has a LOT of adopting families......as well as a lot of transracially adoptive families in it. The service is around 2hours.....which I thought we'd not get too in to....BUT, I can tell you the time usually FLIES by! (Really!)
There's a nursery for any kids; children's church time too.....but I can assure you some people (like us a lot of times) keep our babies with us anyway. What I dearly love, is that during the singing and praise time, the kiddos are allowed to go to a section within the sanctuary to dance/sing with ribbons, etc.........while the rest of us sing. It makes for kids who really enjoy singing and dancing...and no more of this 'sitting still or standing up still while singing. Gotta tell you, it was a change for us, but a great one for the babies. (We have three AA children and one His/AA baby...as well as two grown Asian babies who come to visit sometimes when they're 'home'.

I have to admit, I sometimes miss a bit of the people we knew well at the old church; but I still keep in contact with some of them. And, I know it's made a TON of difference in the way our kids approach Christianity and church.

Sincerely,

Linny

[veggiegirl]

We haven't officially switched yet, but we did check out an AA Catholic church. I absolutely loved it! DH was very reluctant because it's in a "bad neighborhood" and he really didn't know what to expect (I think he was expecting a whole lot of Amens and shouting - neither of which happened!) - he ended up enjoying it, too. It's a bit far from our house - 20-25 minutes opposed to 5 minutes away. He still wants to keep our current parish as our home parish and visit the AA church occasionally. I want to change completely to the AA church. Not sure how this will all play out!

[LeighM]

So here is my next question- how did you find your new church? Did you end up going to a bunch of different churches before you found the one you currently belong too?

[sugarandspice697]

The first church I discovered through a college roommate. The second church I found in the phone book and the third church passed out flyers in our neighborhood about a special event they were having. We went to the event and fell in love with the environment. The people were warm and friendly and the pastor took the time to speak with us!

[Jensboys]

We also changed churches, almost exclusively because the pastor of the new church was black and our son kept asking why "no brown people love Jesus" at our old church (and he was AA) ... to be honest, we moved to THAT church because of the pastor being black and he would have had to been preaching heresy for me not attend however saying that its been a WONDERFUL thing and they are are FAMILY to us! Our church is "home" and family! We have been there 9 years now.