Palatine isn’t far from where I live (it used to be in my ward before the boundaries were changed), so if you end up going back there and you want some company some Sunday I’d be willing to attend a service.
I’ve been to the main Willow Creek. I enjoyed it quite a bit. A possible issue, however, is that they’re pretty anti-Mormon. I don’t understand why; Mormonism is like a mosquito to them being an elephant around here. But maybe this isn’t something the north shore branch emphasizes.
I think you’re right about Mormon meeting formats stemming from older Protestant traditions, but it occurs to me to remark that the bulk of the early LDS converts came from English shores; not that many Lutheran or Pietist dropouts among them as I recall.
Those British Saints are also responsible for Mormonism’s allegiance to Christmas celebrations.
I could be wrong about the pedigree, but I’d have thought that early LDS Saints would have been more Anglican and Episcopalian in traditions, than Pietist. Am I wrong?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this church! It sounds like it might be a really good fit for you. I hope your next church visit is as successful. Oh, and fwiw, the two members of the Fray who you mentioned went to Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, Adam’s hometown.
#1 Kevin ~ Which ward building do you attend? The one in Schaumburg?
What sort of anti-Mormon activity did you see at Willow Creek? I did talk to a North Shore area pastor on the phone about having a Mormon husband and needing a congregation where he can feel welcome and she assured me that they have people from all kinds of different religions who visit and they do their best to make them all feel welcome. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that a huge mega-church like Willow Creek had dipped its toes into anti-Mormonism at some point though.
We’ll see how it goes with them. If I do wind up going to Palatine, I would love to have you come visit.
#2 Rob ~ I forget where I learned that Mormon worship is descended from Pietism. It would be an interesting question to answer, wouldn’t it? Off the top of my head, I think that Anglican and Episcopalian services are a lot more high-church than Mormon services are.
#3 Whitney ~ I confess: I have never attended an actual Methodist service. Read a ton about them, had a Methodist high school teacher whom I adored, stayed overnight in a Methodist church once, but haven’t actually attended a service. Are they structured like this at all?
Please don’t hate me, I’ll likely visit a Methodist church of some sort on my hunt…
#6 Alisha ~ That is awesome! I had forgotten that Adam was from Colorado.
#7 BrianJ ~ Glad you’re liking the series so far. I am trying to note things that my LDS readers might appreciate.
If I wind up going to DGCC, maybe you can visit an ECC in Seattle for your Easter visit next year.
I could be wrong about the pedigree, but I’d have thought that early LDS Saints would have been more Anglican and Episcopalian in traditions, than Pietist. Am I wrong?
Yes, you most definitely are wrong. I think Mormonism has roots in Methodism (maybe more in theology than sunday worship format), and Methodism is an offshoot of Anglicanism, but much of Methodism is a reaction to Anglicanism rather than an adaptation of it.
The family tree of Christianity is interesting. My eyes where drawn to the Armenian/Coptic branch of the tree. I am guessing it does not have much to do with Arminianism from Jacobus Arminius. It seems that Arminianism is on the Reformed branch of the Christian tree. It also seems like Calvinism is also on the reformed branch. Is that correct?
I found a brief comparison of Arminianism and Calvinism here. Is this accurate?
I think Willow Creek holds anti-cult classes or something. But on the plus side, one of their ministries invited the missionaries (who asked me to come) to talk about the church. It was sort of like an adult early morning seminary with about two dozen people in attendance, and lasted two hours early one Wednesday morning (they only meet once a week). One of the elders gave an hour presentation on the Articles of Faith, and then I answered questions for an hour. I had a good experience doing that.
But I don’t really see you as a megachurch kinda gal…
I grew up in an evangelical denomination that was an offshoot of Methodism. Some of the similarities in both worship styles and theology with Mormonism are striking. Among them are that the church frequently (maybe once every couple months) had testimony meetings, and the LDS testimony meetings I now attend aren’t all that much different in style than those I attended as a child.
Also, FWIW, the last evangelical church I attended during my lengthy conversion process to LDS Christianity was of the same denomination as the Deer Grove church. There were a lot of things about the denomination I liked. My guess is that the denomination would be a good fit for you — while it’s clearly evangelical, it doesn’t expect its members to adhere to any rigid statement of faith and you’re free to come to your own conclusions on a wide variety of issues.
[...] Women’s religiosity — it’s because women care most about the kids, and their Mother Bear instincts are more willing to take Pascal’s Wager. It’s an interesting theory; though I don’t think it adequately explains why religious organizations are so male-dominated to begin with, or why the Mother Bears wouldn’t take their religious business elsewhere if and when competing, more egalitarian options became available (and why the market wouldn’t provide more such options). [...]
A good friend of mine lives in Palatine. I should ask her what church she and her husband attend. Also had a good friend who lived in Palatine and attended the ward that met in Schaumburg, but he and his wife live in Chicago now.
Completely unrelated, I noted that the tree diagram shows Unitarianism and Universalism as separate, but I’ve always known them to be linked. We did business with the local Unitarian Universalist Church here. Can anyone enlighten me in 100 words or less?
ECC is liberal and often tied to the emerging church so… They are also restorationist which I think is great and of course the LDS is restorationist. So sounds good to me.
Welcome to Illinois, Jack!
Palatine isn’t far from where I live (it used to be in my ward before the boundaries were changed), so if you end up going back there and you want some company some Sunday I’d be willing to attend a service.
I’ve been to the main Willow Creek. I enjoyed it quite a bit. A possible issue, however, is that they’re pretty anti-Mormon. I don’t understand why; Mormonism is like a mosquito to them being an elephant around here. But maybe this isn’t something the north shore branch emphasizes.
I think you’re right about Mormon meeting formats stemming from older Protestant traditions, but it occurs to me to remark that the bulk of the early LDS converts came from English shores; not that many Lutheran or Pietist dropouts among them as I recall.
Those British Saints are also responsible for Mormonism’s allegiance to Christmas celebrations.
I could be wrong about the pedigree, but I’d have thought that early LDS Saints would have been more Anglican and Episcopalian in traditions, than Pietist. Am I wrong?
What, no shout out to Methodist-style services? You know Joseph Smith dug Methodists.
Jack, I’m excited that this church was so great. Looking forward to your next shopping spree
.
Oh Sorry:
Hey, how about them Methody Methodists? They sure knew how to throw a Sunday party worth copying!
That good?
(Yes, J.S. is on record as having been attracted to Methodism.)
Thank you, Rob, I am appeased.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this church! It sounds like it might be a really good fit for you. I hope your next church visit is as successful. Oh, and fwiw, the two members of the Fray who you mentioned went to Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, Adam’s hometown.
This is a fun series already. You know how I enjoy visiting other churches.
#1 Kevin ~ Which ward building do you attend? The one in Schaumburg?
What sort of anti-Mormon activity did you see at Willow Creek? I did talk to a North Shore area pastor on the phone about having a Mormon husband and needing a congregation where he can feel welcome and she assured me that they have people from all kinds of different religions who visit and they do their best to make them all feel welcome. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that a huge mega-church like Willow Creek had dipped its toes into anti-Mormonism at some point though.
We’ll see how it goes with them. If I do wind up going to Palatine, I would love to have you come visit.
#2 Rob ~ I forget where I learned that Mormon worship is descended from Pietism. It would be an interesting question to answer, wouldn’t it? Off the top of my head, I think that Anglican and Episcopalian services are a lot more high-church than Mormon services are.
#3 Whitney ~ I confess: I have never attended an actual Methodist service. Read a ton about them, had a Methodist high school teacher whom I adored, stayed overnight in a Methodist church once, but haven’t actually attended a service. Are they structured like this at all?
Please don’t hate me, I’ll likely visit a Methodist church of some sort on my hunt…
#6 Alisha ~ That is awesome! I had forgotten that Adam was from Colorado.
#7 BrianJ ~ Glad you’re liking the series so far. I am trying to note things that my LDS readers might appreciate.
If I wind up going to DGCC, maybe you can visit an ECC in Seattle for your Easter visit next year.
Yes, you most definitely are wrong. I think Mormonism has roots in Methodism (maybe more in theology than sunday worship format), and Methodism is an offshoot of Anglicanism, but much of Methodism is a reaction to Anglicanism rather than an adaptation of it.
The family tree of Christianity is interesting. My eyes where drawn to the Armenian/Coptic branch of the tree. I am guessing it does not have much to do with Arminianism from Jacobus Arminius. It seems that Arminianism is on the Reformed branch of the Christian tree. It also seems like Calvinism is also on the reformed branch. Is that correct?
I found a brief comparison of Arminianism and Calvinism here. Is this accurate?
Yes, I attend at the building in Schaumburg.
I think Willow Creek holds anti-cult classes or something. But on the plus side, one of their ministries invited the missionaries (who asked me to come) to talk about the church. It was sort of like an adult early morning seminary with about two dozen people in attendance, and lasted two hours early one Wednesday morning (they only meet once a week). One of the elders gave an hour presentation on the Articles of Faith, and then I answered questions for an hour. I had a good experience doing that.
But I don’t really see you as a megachurch kinda gal…
Sounds like this might be a good fit for you, Jack! How fun! Church shopping must be exciting.
I confess: I have never attended an actual Methodist service.
Geez, even I’ve attended a Methodist service. There was a female pastor and I really enjoyed it.
Methodists are cool.
I grew up in an evangelical denomination that was an offshoot of Methodism. Some of the similarities in both worship styles and theology with Mormonism are striking. Among them are that the church frequently (maybe once every couple months) had testimony meetings, and the LDS testimony meetings I now attend aren’t all that much different in style than those I attended as a child.
Also, FWIW, the last evangelical church I attended during my lengthy conversion process to LDS Christianity was of the same denomination as the Deer Grove church. There were a lot of things about the denomination I liked. My guess is that the denomination would be a good fit for you — while it’s clearly evangelical, it doesn’t expect its members to adhere to any rigid statement of faith and you’re free to come to your own conclusions on a wide variety of issues.
[...] Women’s religiosity — it’s because women care most about the kids, and their Mother Bear instincts are more willing to take Pascal’s Wager. It’s an interesting theory; though I don’t think it adequately explains why religious organizations are so male-dominated to begin with, or why the Mother Bears wouldn’t take their religious business elsewhere if and when competing, more egalitarian options became available (and why the market wouldn’t provide more such options). [...]
Do they have “Drop Kick Me, Jesus” in their Hymn book?
A good friend of mine lives in Palatine. I should ask her what church she and her husband attend. Also had a good friend who lived in Palatine and attended the ward that met in Schaumburg, but he and his wife live in Chicago now.
Completely unrelated, I noted that the tree diagram shows Unitarianism and Universalism as separate, but I’ve always known them to be linked. We did business with the local Unitarian Universalist Church here. Can anyone enlighten me in 100 words or less?
The Unitarian and Universalist churches were separate entities that merged in 1961.
#13 Eric ~ Your recommendation means a lot to me. Thanks for your input.
#15 Mike H. ~ Huh? I totally don’t get it. But they did not have hymnbooks. Only songs projected on a screen.
BTW, I’m updating the post to point out that the sermonette preached by Margo B. is available online here.
Football is nearly religion in parts of the US. Hence, the following weld of sport & church:
http://www.bertc.com/subfour/truth/dropkick.htm
ECC is liberal and often tied to the emerging church so… They are also restorationist which I think is great and of course the LDS is restorationist. So sounds good to me.