Uncomfortable Feeling?

[Rival]

Your expressions of disdain for the Charismatic stuff are interesting. I've only ever attended Anglican and Catholic services, very traditional, and never been tempted by anything else.

 

[SigurdReginson]

Where did the feeling of disconnect happen in the church? I have been in a church service when they were playing a happy rejoicing type song but I wasn’t feeling so happy that time. I was feeling sad and down but the music didn’t reflect how I was feeling.

For me it was just a source of anxiety. It felt like I was expected to visibly perform and show my connection with god in a way that was culturally acceptable to my peers rather than to just embrace my relationship with god and connect in my own way. "Don't forsake the gathering" was something that I heard often, but that obligation to gather is what killed the spiritual aspect for me. Church was just never a good fit.

I'm not an extrovert, and that's just something I can't change. Social engagements are emotionally draining for me, and while I enjoy being social with friends and family, I can't really focus on anything else while I'm being social other than the company I'm with, and at the end of that I'm ready to take a nap.

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

Or have you gone to a service you don't usually attend, such as a different denomination, and has anything made you uncomfortable or shocked etc.?

Shocked is a big word.
But as a child when I was at my grandma's, we occasionally visited church.
It didn't like it because it was extremely dull to me and I was also weirded out by the liturgical use of language, giving it a very alien vibe.
It was in my native language, but very old-fashioned like, akin to the English "thou shalt" instead of "you shall".

A few years ago I attended a church service at Easter with my family.
Now that I was familiar with the Bible and interested in religion it made a lot more sense now and it was an interesting experience, though I can't say I necessarily want more of it.

 

[Psalm23]

For me it was just a source of anxiety. It felt like I was expected to visibly perform and show my connection with god in a way that was culturally acceptable to my peers rather than to just embrace my relationship with god and connect in my own way. "Don't forsake the gathering" was something that I heard often, but that obligation to gather is what killed the spiritual aspect for me. Church was just never a good fit.

I'm not an extrovert, and that's just something I can't change. Social engagements are emotionally draining for me, and while I enjoy being social with friends and family, I can't really focus on anything else while I'm being social other than the company I'm with, and at the end of that I'm ready to take a nap.

It’s ok to be an introvert. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[SigurdReginson]

It’s ok to be an introvert. Nothing wrong with that.

Very true! I know that now.

Everyone is different and experiences life in a different way. Church can be a fulfilling thing for some. To them, I wish only the best! For me, a quiet walk in the woods suffices, though.

 

[GardenLady]

Many years ago I attended a service at a denomination other than my own. (At the time I was still attending the Catholic church, which I was raised in.). My former college roommate had joined a Oneness (“Jesus only”) Pentecostal church. The service included lots of proof-texting and (in my view) misinterpretation. Lots of condemnation of any church that was trinitarian and non-Pentecostal. Anyone who didn’t speak in tongues was not saved. My own denomination at that time was called the whore of Babylon and the Pope was the Anti-Christ. They talked about being in the end times and the church may never meet again because Jesus might come that night. The women all wore dresses below the knees, covered upper arms, no make up, no jewelry other than a wedding ring and watch, and did not cut their hair. Creeped me out.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Have you ever found anything uncomfortable at your worship service? Is there anything you'd change, even? Or have you gone to a service you don't usually attend, such as a different denomination, and has anything made you uncomfortable or shocked etc.?

I think the worst is how people switch modes into a conditioned response during a worship service till the end, where once again,, they return back into regular people in the parking lot after being severed from the collective.