I've been posting on the forums a while on the general discussion and a few other places, but never posted here... until now, so this is my first.
I'm a Christian, though just barely. I started going to church again in my early 30's, a Continuing Anglican church near where I lived. I thought about converting to Eastern Orthodoxy and spent years as a catechumen (literally a student), but that didn't work out, and was heartbreaking (the priest and I parted on good terms, but he thougth in my best interest to not convert). I've attended Episcopalian services off and on the past 4 years, and the past six months I've visited an Independent Catholic church several times. I haven't figured out which to go to yet, both seem to have their advantages. I have adult autism and I'm disabled (low vision, lost my license 2 years ago), and I find church life difficult under any circumstances. I really do like liturgical worship, though, and rote prayer rules, like the Book of Common Prayer, chanting the Psalms, and so on. As an Orthodox catechumen I had a prayer rope and practiced the Jesus prayer in front of icons and candles, besides frequently reading the Bible.
The past three years has been very rough, and in the past four months I just flirted with unbelief and my faith was a shambles and good habits I had went away and I picked up some bad ones. I took up smoking again around Christmas, but I also started vaping around the same time (weird huh?). I've gradually started vaping more. I'm in a long term relationship and have a domestic partnership (we both are disabled so we haven't really married, we aren't sure of the legal issues around it as we both get government benefits), but otherwise we live as husband and wife, and in the end that was one obstacle to joining the Orthodox church (though not unsurmountable, it would just be "odd"). I tend to be relatively liberal as a Christian (in terms of what you find in America) but that doesn't mean I have always been lukewarm.
I'm not sure how I'll get through a full church service without vaping. The IC church, Holy Angels, has a short service (50 minutes), so I never really have to worry about things. But the Episcopal churches are usually an hour and forty minutes, probably too long to go without a cig or a vape. So far I've just visited the evening service which is 40 minutes, but I really did used to enjoy the long services... when I was a non-smoker.
At an Orthodox service, it's like a temple and people walk in and out all the time to smoke, by the way. Yeah, it's not the best thing spiritually but people do it and nobody bats an eye, especially those Russian immigrants.
I'm a Christian, though just barely. I started going to church again in my early 30's, a Continuing Anglican church near where I lived. I thought about converting to Eastern Orthodoxy and spent years as a catechumen (literally a student), but that didn't work out, and was heartbreaking (the priest and I parted on good terms, but he thougth in my best interest to not convert). I've attended Episcopalian services off and on the past 4 years, and the past six months I've visited an Independent Catholic church several times. I haven't figured out which to go to yet, both seem to have their advantages. I have adult autism and I'm disabled (low vision, lost my license 2 years ago), and I find church life difficult under any circumstances. I really do like liturgical worship, though, and rote prayer rules, like the Book of Common Prayer, chanting the Psalms, and so on. As an Orthodox catechumen I had a prayer rope and practiced the Jesus prayer in front of icons and candles, besides frequently reading the Bible.
The past three years has been very rough, and in the past four months I just flirted with unbelief and my faith was a shambles and good habits I had went away and I picked up some bad ones. I took up smoking again around Christmas, but I also started vaping around the same time (weird huh?). I've gradually started vaping more. I'm in a long term relationship and have a domestic partnership (we both are disabled so we haven't really married, we aren't sure of the legal issues around it as we both get government benefits), but otherwise we live as husband and wife, and in the end that was one obstacle to joining the Orthodox church (though not unsurmountable, it would just be "odd"). I tend to be relatively liberal as a Christian (in terms of what you find in America) but that doesn't mean I have always been lukewarm.
I'm not sure how I'll get through a full church service without vaping. The IC church, Holy Angels, has a short service (50 minutes), so I never really have to worry about things. But the Episcopal churches are usually an hour and forty minutes, probably too long to go without a cig or a vape. So far I've just visited the evening service which is 40 minutes, but I really did used to enjoy the long services... when I was a non-smoker.
At an Orthodox service, it's like a temple and people walk in and out all the time to smoke, by the way. Yeah, it's not the best thing spiritually but people do it and nobody bats an eye, especially those Russian immigrants.
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