Michael F Schundler
2 min readFeb 19, 2023

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Our church has been going through similar struggles for the last 10 years as our denomination adopts more and more doctrinal changes that fit with today's woke ideology, but not with the historical beliefs of our local church and its members.

Historically, doctrine in our denomination has been driven by the northeast churches and over the past few decades large numbers of churches and members in the south, midwest, and west have abandoned the church making the northeastern churches even more powerful and influential.

We sympathize with those who left and to some extent support the younger families that have left (our children are grown up). We simply worship God and to be fair our church has remained for the most part true to its past. But the writing is on the wall and the Sunday school materials are influenced by our denomination's changing beliefs, so as the young people leave, we are like many churches comprised largely of seniors.

With this as background, here are a few things you might consider. God's church starts with the individual. You are one of His temples. The next level of God's church is the family. Whether you are a "family" of many or a "family" of one, the next level is a small group of people with whom you feel a kinship. This small group is your "go to" place where you can fellowship and get rejuvenated. My wife and I both have been part of small groups comprised of Christians from several churches in the past. This to me is the most important "part of the church" outside the individual and family.

Above the small group is the larger group usually what we call a "Church" (to me the real "church" is comprised of all believers). Some call this the "particular" church. This should be a place, you feel you can worship God by singing praises and a place where you can sit and listen to sermons that provide you food for thought (in many cases, bringing back what you heard to your small group to discuss its application in your life).

With regard to your giving, you should feel good about what the church supports with your offerings. One sermon I heard once really highlighted the two purposes of the "larger particular" church... education and funding "mercy" ministries.

Reviewing what I wrote, the key thing for you seems to be to find that small group of people that you meet with weekly to discuss how God is working in each other's life, where you pray together, console one another, help one another, and grow in Christ. We are missing this at the moment. Our small groups (my wife and I were in different groups... mine was a men's group and hers a women's group) disbanded during Covid and people have moved on. Like you, we need to find a new one.

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