I'm looking for a church to join as I am looking to rebuild the spiritual aspect of my life...I would especially like one that has a strong male community...
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Last: 9 yr ago by PointMan06
Central Baptist has a great men's ministry. Check out several churches before coming to a decision. This may sound coldhearted, but essentially what you're doing is comparison shopping. Here's praying that the Holy Spirit will make your path clear to you.
Are you looking for a certain denomination?
quote:
Central Baptist has a great men's ministry. Check out several churches before coming to a decision. This may sound coldhearted, but essentially what you're doing is comparison shopping. Here's praying that the Holy Spirit will make your path clear to you.
Not cold at all. Not every church is right for everyone. You have to go where you can be fed and led so you can feed and lead.
quote:
Are you looking for a certain denomination?
This might help others give advice
We're at Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Preschool, and like it very much! You can find more on their website at [url] https://holycrossbcs.org. [/url] Good luck in finding the right place for you and your family.
I was loosely raised catholic but there is not a specific denomination I'm looking for. To be honest I don't know the fundamental differences between all the different denominations.
I know many people that have found Grace Bible Church to be a good fit for them.
You should check out St. Thomas Aquinas. We are starting a parish wide bible study right after Easter. The Men's ACTS retreat will be coming up this december. There is a men's prayer group that meets. There is also Knights of Columbus as well. If you have familiarity with the Catholic church, you should be able to find a place. Fr. Edwin is a very spiritual pastor and I am sure one of the Deacons can help get you involved with some of the mens activities. http://www.stabcs.org/
Central
I know this may be oversimplifying it, but the church that's right for you probably depends greatly on what you believe about the Bible. If you believe in the inerrancy of scripture you'll be looking for a very different church home than if you view it as inspired by God, but not completely true.
Don't be afraid of a big church. There are many ways to make a large church small, regardless of denomination. They key is getting involved and pouring your own life into that church.
Do churches of all sizes ask for money? Yep. Tithing, while seemingly distasteful to some, is biblical. It isn't considered optional, so how you view it probably depends on your view of scripture. (see above) [Yes, some churches emphasize it more than others .]
Just go in knowing what you expect and, as much as possible, what you believe. Find the one that fits (it may take many tries or only one) and then get involved. You'll be glad you did.
Don't be afraid of a big church. There are many ways to make a large church small, regardless of denomination. They key is getting involved and pouring your own life into that church.
Do churches of all sizes ask for money? Yep. Tithing, while seemingly distasteful to some, is biblical. It isn't considered optional, so how you view it probably depends on your view of scripture. (see above) [Yes, some churches emphasize it more than others .]
Just go in knowing what you expect and, as much as possible, what you believe. Find the one that fits (it may take many tries or only one) and then get involved. You'll be glad you did.
I've found a home at St Thomas Aquinas. From some of your previous post I think you about where I was this time last year. As stated above there are more than one group geared toward men's ministry there. You are welcome to join myself and my boys on Sunday.
(It appears that in the time I took to write this wordy statement, some great comments have already been added, like those of agfan92)
Our family comes from the Catholic and Baptist backgrounds but have attended quite a few flavors (non-Denom/Bible to Methodist and even Pentecostal). We attend both the Catholic and Baptist churches weekly. Here's my long rundown of a few of the popular ones in the area that we are familiar with, hoping not to offend too many as I'm sure I'm writing more than one thing "wrong" to everyone. I will try to avoid the theology of each of them, as such on this forum would be an even worse mistake and I'll leave that up to others! So this post will be more of a post about everything else.
Catholic:
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Conveniently located off HWY 6 if you are in CS, somewhat large, less emphasis on children during the actual service, sometimes challenging to understand the accent of the Indian priest but very faithfully strong and likable community including excellent staff. Some good homilies have been given there. Modern but kinda cool ambience (building). They often run into overtime but this is generally okay with us. "Blessings only" during communion are highly discouraged per the priest request. Music is slightly above average for a Catholic church in the south.
St. Anthony's: Traditional/old time building, in downtown Bryan. Parking and seating can be tough (but this is kind of a good thing as it speaks for something) so get there early. Also some good homilies by Fr. Patrick. Bottom line - a very solid representation of the traditional Catholic church in Texas. If you had to show an outsider what the average Catholic church is like (in the south), then this is where I'd take them.
St. Mary's (northgate): Volume and the masses are going on here. Top notched quality in homilies from not only Fr. David (a home-grown fella, packing quite a bit of wisdom) but others. Of course it is student oriented but many families make it there too. Parking is a bummer as well and many "standing-room-only" services for those who have a tough time with the concept of getting to places on-time. The building itself catches some people off guard as looking more protestant, but you would make no mistake once the music fires up as to what church you are in. If you are open to a youthful ambiance, this place is hard to beat but others may serve small children better. Lots of asking for money goes on here (prepare for constant junk mail should you provide your address to them), but then again, this place is the salt of Texas Catholics when it comes to producing some great vocational fruit for God's work. Should you get involved here, you will probably find it very rewarding especially if you are young & single or with no kids.
Baptist:
First Baptist Bryan: A very large church. Conveniently located on HWY 6/Bryan. It would be hard to find better worship in the form of music within a 100 mile radius. Excellent emphasis on family and small children and bible studies. They have had some tough times over the past few years with finding/keeping pastors. We aren't too much of a fan of the current one. It is not the age that bothers us which on many times would be a good thing (I think he is in his 30's) but rather his style/performance that really shows his young age (tries too hard, talks about his wife a lot, sometimes tells some shallow personal stories, and needs just a little dose of humbleness that comes with age to get a little more dryness behind the ears.). He's a work-in-progress though. I am being a little judgmental and should probably give the guy more chances but after 4 or 5 tries we had to go elsewhere, despite our love of the rest of the staff and members. For some reason, their pastoral selection process needs some tweaking. Their children programs and their attention to the role children play in a family of worship is unmatched in our experience. For this, we love it.
Central Baptist: Again, a very large church. Extremely popular with a pastor having very good track record (Chris). We aren't big fans of the stadium seating, glass pulpit, and untucked polo shirts, but then again, we are more traditional. I think Chris is arguably one of the best out there in terms of delivering God's word. This place seems to have a great balance for all types (singles, family, kids).
First Baptist Hearne: YesHearne. You heard that right. The pastor (Bro Larry Blackmon) is, for us, the best out there for us, both in theology and personality. He has a way of delivering a message that connects to the young and old. But unfortunately he is retiring next month so this rules out my review of the pastor, other than saying that we will miss him tremendously. This church is traditional. Even though I am almost 50 years old, we are in the "Young Adults" Sunday school class, if that tells you the make-up of the congregation which we love so dearly. This is the perfect example of a "family", where you feel like almost every member is a relative. To give you an example, we have been fighting a tough battle with health of my young child over the past few years. The prayers and outpouring of true love has been miraculous. Not only have they constantly visited us in the hospitals over the years, but one day the preacher told me something of the like "hey, I know the medical bills are bound to be building up and just to let you know, if insurance doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, we at First Baptist Church Hearne have you covered". PS thankfully insurance continues to hold up their end of a $ million+ situation. And I might add, not once in the pastor's 23 years of preaching there, has he ever had a sermon over money nor asked for such. You simply won't hear of such here, yet they are flourishing in resources (I don't think their bulletin ever showed a deficit).
Robertson County Pentecostals (yes, way up in Hearne as well): Whew! You better be prepared to have some fire of the Holy Spirit poking you in your butt if you try to sit down for too long! We visited once and will definitely go back someday. Pastor Whitmire reminds me a bit of Robert Duvall in that movie he was in (playing the part of a preacher as well). He and his lovely wife have visited my parent's home on occasion, bringing delicious pies and playing my mother's 100 year old pump organ. The worship service we attended was something like 2 hours long, but very enriching. It is just quite a bit different when you are more reserved like us, but we still enjoyed it.
Methodist: Our only experience has been a couple of years at Christ United (again, on HWY 6 south CS). I could be wrong, but we felt that financial resources were a bit misplaced there but they do have a new magnificent/spare no expense, beautiful building. Rev House is quite an intelligent man and has delivered some very good sermons. If I didn't mention the absolutely awesome music there, then I'd be doing a disservice. As a matter of fact, I should revise my earlier statement and say that their music is up there with First Baptist Bryan.
Grace Bible Church: We haven't been there in many years but enjoyed it when we were there. I still hear great things about this place.
Hope this helps and again, sorry in advance for leaving things out that I forgot or did not know, and putting things in that offend some.
Our family comes from the Catholic and Baptist backgrounds but have attended quite a few flavors (non-Denom/Bible to Methodist and even Pentecostal). We attend both the Catholic and Baptist churches weekly. Here's my long rundown of a few of the popular ones in the area that we are familiar with, hoping not to offend too many as I'm sure I'm writing more than one thing "wrong" to everyone. I will try to avoid the theology of each of them, as such on this forum would be an even worse mistake and I'll leave that up to others! So this post will be more of a post about everything else.
Catholic:
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Conveniently located off HWY 6 if you are in CS, somewhat large, less emphasis on children during the actual service, sometimes challenging to understand the accent of the Indian priest but very faithfully strong and likable community including excellent staff. Some good homilies have been given there. Modern but kinda cool ambience (building). They often run into overtime but this is generally okay with us. "Blessings only" during communion are highly discouraged per the priest request. Music is slightly above average for a Catholic church in the south.
St. Anthony's: Traditional/old time building, in downtown Bryan. Parking and seating can be tough (but this is kind of a good thing as it speaks for something) so get there early. Also some good homilies by Fr. Patrick. Bottom line - a very solid representation of the traditional Catholic church in Texas. If you had to show an outsider what the average Catholic church is like (in the south), then this is where I'd take them.
St. Mary's (northgate): Volume and the masses are going on here. Top notched quality in homilies from not only Fr. David (a home-grown fella, packing quite a bit of wisdom) but others. Of course it is student oriented but many families make it there too. Parking is a bummer as well and many "standing-room-only" services for those who have a tough time with the concept of getting to places on-time. The building itself catches some people off guard as looking more protestant, but you would make no mistake once the music fires up as to what church you are in. If you are open to a youthful ambiance, this place is hard to beat but others may serve small children better. Lots of asking for money goes on here (prepare for constant junk mail should you provide your address to them), but then again, this place is the salt of Texas Catholics when it comes to producing some great vocational fruit for God's work. Should you get involved here, you will probably find it very rewarding especially if you are young & single or with no kids.
Baptist:
First Baptist Bryan: A very large church. Conveniently located on HWY 6/Bryan. It would be hard to find better worship in the form of music within a 100 mile radius. Excellent emphasis on family and small children and bible studies. They have had some tough times over the past few years with finding/keeping pastors. We aren't too much of a fan of the current one. It is not the age that bothers us which on many times would be a good thing (I think he is in his 30's) but rather his style/performance that really shows his young age (tries too hard, talks about his wife a lot, sometimes tells some shallow personal stories, and needs just a little dose of humbleness that comes with age to get a little more dryness behind the ears.). He's a work-in-progress though. I am being a little judgmental and should probably give the guy more chances but after 4 or 5 tries we had to go elsewhere, despite our love of the rest of the staff and members. For some reason, their pastoral selection process needs some tweaking. Their children programs and their attention to the role children play in a family of worship is unmatched in our experience. For this, we love it.
Central Baptist: Again, a very large church. Extremely popular with a pastor having very good track record (Chris). We aren't big fans of the stadium seating, glass pulpit, and untucked polo shirts, but then again, we are more traditional. I think Chris is arguably one of the best out there in terms of delivering God's word. This place seems to have a great balance for all types (singles, family, kids).
First Baptist Hearne: YesHearne. You heard that right. The pastor (Bro Larry Blackmon) is, for us, the best out there for us, both in theology and personality. He has a way of delivering a message that connects to the young and old. But unfortunately he is retiring next month so this rules out my review of the pastor, other than saying that we will miss him tremendously. This church is traditional. Even though I am almost 50 years old, we are in the "Young Adults" Sunday school class, if that tells you the make-up of the congregation which we love so dearly. This is the perfect example of a "family", where you feel like almost every member is a relative. To give you an example, we have been fighting a tough battle with health of my young child over the past few years. The prayers and outpouring of true love has been miraculous. Not only have they constantly visited us in the hospitals over the years, but one day the preacher told me something of the like "hey, I know the medical bills are bound to be building up and just to let you know, if insurance doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, we at First Baptist Church Hearne have you covered". PS thankfully insurance continues to hold up their end of a $ million+ situation. And I might add, not once in the pastor's 23 years of preaching there, has he ever had a sermon over money nor asked for such. You simply won't hear of such here, yet they are flourishing in resources (I don't think their bulletin ever showed a deficit).
Robertson County Pentecostals (yes, way up in Hearne as well): Whew! You better be prepared to have some fire of the Holy Spirit poking you in your butt if you try to sit down for too long! We visited once and will definitely go back someday. Pastor Whitmire reminds me a bit of Robert Duvall in that movie he was in (playing the part of a preacher as well). He and his lovely wife have visited my parent's home on occasion, bringing delicious pies and playing my mother's 100 year old pump organ. The worship service we attended was something like 2 hours long, but very enriching. It is just quite a bit different when you are more reserved like us, but we still enjoyed it.
Methodist: Our only experience has been a couple of years at Christ United (again, on HWY 6 south CS). I could be wrong, but we felt that financial resources were a bit misplaced there but they do have a new magnificent/spare no expense, beautiful building. Rev House is quite an intelligent man and has delivered some very good sermons. If I didn't mention the absolutely awesome music there, then I'd be doing a disservice. As a matter of fact, I should revise my earlier statement and say that their music is up there with First Baptist Bryan.
Grace Bible Church: We haven't been there in many years but enjoyed it when we were there. I still hear great things about this place.
Hope this helps and again, sorry in advance for leaving things out that I forgot or did not know, and putting things in that offend some.
quote:
I know this may be oversimplifying it, but the church that's right for you probably depends greatly on what you believe about the Bible. If you believe in the inerrancy of scripture you'll be looking for a very different church home than if you view it as inspired by God, but not completely true.
Don't be afraid of a big church. There are many ways to make a large church small, regardless of denomination. They key is getting involved and pouring your own life into that church.
Do churches of all sizes ask for money? Yep. Tithing, while seemingly distasteful to some, is biblical. It isn't considered optional, so how you view it probably depends on your view of scripture. (see above) [Yes, some churches emphasize it more than others .]
Just go in knowing what you expect and, as much as possible, what you believe. Find the one that fits (it may take many tries or only one) and then get involved. You'll be glad you did.
houstonag, send me an email at agrotexag@gmail.com
this isn't about any certain church, something else.
this isn't about any certain church, something else.
Are there any churches in the area that are truly diverse racially? It's always been a hope of mine to find a church like this, but they might not exist.
Covenant has a good mixture of people. Church goers and the praise and worship team.
I was raised Catholic, but we are now Missouri Synod Lutheran, which is more conservative protestant. It's pretty much all the same religion with a 1/3 less guilt.
quote:Don't know for sure, but I suspect some of the non-denominational student-focused churches might be more ethnically diverse.
Are there any churches in the area that are truly diverse racially? It's always been a hope of mine to find a church like this, but they might not exist.
quote:To be fair to St. Mary's, when the VAST majority of your congregation is made up of students who do not tithe AT ALL, you have to be very aggressive in raising money to support such a giant campus ministry. While the mail outs may be annoying to some, money is rarely preached about in the church itself.
(It appears that in the time I took to write this wordy statement, some great comments have already been added, like those of agfan92)
Our family comes from the Catholic and Baptist backgrounds but have attended quite a few flavors (non-Denom/Bible to Methodist and even Pentecostal). We attend both the Catholic and Baptist churches weekly. Here's my long rundown of a few of the popular ones in the area that we are familiar with, hoping not to offend too many as I'm sure I'm writing more than one thing "wrong" to everyone. I will try to avoid the theology of each of them, as such on this forum would be an even worse mistake and I'll leave that up to others! So this post will be more of a post about everything else.
Catholic:
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Conveniently located off HWY 6 if you are in CS, somewhat large, less emphasis on children during the actual service, sometimes challenging to understand the accent of the Indian priest but very faithfully strong and likable community including excellent staff. Some good homilies have been given there. Modern but kinda cool ambience (building). They often run into overtime but this is generally okay with us. "Blessings only" during communion are highly discouraged per the priest request. Music is slightly above average for a Catholic church in the south.
St. Anthony's: Traditional/old time building, in downtown Bryan. Parking and seating can be tough (but this is kind of a good thing as it speaks for something) so get there early. Also some good homilies by Fr. Patrick. Bottom line - a very solid representation of the traditional Catholic church in Texas. If you had to show an outsider what the average Catholic church is like (in the south), then this is where I'd take them.
St. Mary's (northgate): Volume and the masses are going on here. Top notched quality in homilies from not only Fr. David (a home-grown fella, packing quite a bit of wisdom) but others. Of course it is student oriented but many families make it there too. Parking is a bummer as well and many "standing-room-only" services for those who have a tough time with the concept of getting to places on-time. The building itself catches some people off guard as looking more protestant, but you would make no mistake once the music fires up as to what church you are in. If you are open to a youthful ambiance, this place is hard to beat but others may serve small children better. Lots of asking for money goes on here (prepare for constant junk mail should you provide your address to them), but then again, this place is the salt of Texas Catholics when it comes to producing some great vocational fruit for God's work. Should you get involved here, you will probably find it very rewarding especially if you are young & single or with no kids.
All that being said, St Mary's is a great and vibrant church. I invite you to just come to one of our Sunday masses (just come early!) I guarantee you that is unlike any Catholic Church you have ever been to. You can truly feel something different. God's peace to OP.
Connecting Point is actually pretty cool. They have a lot of groups and are very open to different people. Very diverse in races, ages, and lifestyles. The only thing I don't like is at the beginning of service there is someone on the big screen telling you highlights of the church for 5 mins- seems a little 1984 to me.
quote:Yes.
I know many people that have found Grace Bible Church to be a good fit for them.
Brazos Fellowship is where my wife and I go. Lots of groups for different demographics.
Great thing about tithing is YOU can decide what Ministry you want it to follow. FUMC Bryan, has a great and strong Men's Ministry. Contact them!
Saint Josephs Catholic Church in Bryan
Love this church and Father Ryan. Fr Ryan's homilies are some of the very best and moving I've ever heard. It is a close knit community too with a small town feel...a very mixed bag group - families with kids, elderly, young couples like us, some singles. We just moved back the end of last year and couldn't be happier.
I haven't heard tithing mentioned yet, but it is practiced - we are no exception.
I strongly recommend trying out a few different churches, 1 of course being St. Josephs with a Fr. Ryan homily.
Prayers for your search
Love this church and Father Ryan. Fr Ryan's homilies are some of the very best and moving I've ever heard. It is a close knit community too with a small town feel...a very mixed bag group - families with kids, elderly, young couples like us, some singles. We just moved back the end of last year and couldn't be happier.
I haven't heard tithing mentioned yet, but it is practiced - we are no exception.
I strongly recommend trying out a few different churches, 1 of course being St. Josephs with a Fr. Ryan homily.
Prayers for your search
quote:
Saint Josephs Catholic Church in Bryan
Love this church and Father Ryan. Fr Ryan's homilies are some of the very best and moving I've ever heard. It is a close knit community too with a small town feel...a very mixed bag group - families with kids, elderly, young couples like us, some singles. We just moved back the end of last year and couldn't be happier.
I haven't heard tithing mentioned yet, but it is practiced - we are no exception.
I strongly recommend trying out a few different churches, 1 of course being St. Josephs with a Fr. Ryan homily.
Prayers for your search
I have attended St Joseph's for almost 20 years and as much as I enjoy the church and Msgr. John, I have to say Fr. Ryan has been a great addition to the church. I hope he stays around for a long time.
Thanks for the info InMyOpinion. I didn't mean to short Msgr John, we just usually go to the 1130 which is Fr Ryan.
We hope he stays a Long time too!
We hope he stays a Long time too!
We enjoy Connection Point Church. they have lots of adults groups. they have 2 Sunday morning services. Tomorrow is Egg The City at Wolf Pen Creek.
http://connectingpointchurch.tv/
https://www.facebook.com/connectingptchurch?fref=ts
http://connectingpointchurch.tv/
https://www.facebook.com/connectingptchurch?fref=ts
Try Episcipol...Catholic without the guilt...
quote:Take all the fun out of it why don't you...
Try Episcipol...Catholic without the guilt...
Hi. If you were loosely raised Catholic, I'd recommend an Episcopal church. I love St. Thomas near campus.
www.stthomasbcs.org
www.stthomasbcs.org
Grace Bible Church is where we go and we love it.
http://www.grace-bible.org/connect/mens-ministry/
two campuses now and are expanding to a third campus on the Southside of College Station) by the end of the summer.
Feel free to send me a note for any additional questions. Praying you find a great place to worship.
God bless,
http://www.grace-bible.org/connect/mens-ministry/
two campuses now and are expanding to a third campus on the Southside of College Station) by the end of the summer.
Feel free to send me a note for any additional questions. Praying you find a great place to worship.
God bless,