Neighbor invited me to her church but we're Jewish - WWYD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have found in the South (for the sake of this discussion, I consider this area to have a Southern culture -religon-wise) many evangelical types view Jews as "unevolved Christians."

I must be from another planet then, but I have gone to a lot of churches and never heard of that.

Op, tell us what church it is. Is it Catholic, Mormon, Jehovas, episcopalian, babptist, 7th day adventist or happy-clappy or what

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm Jewish too. If I had been you when the pastor's wife invited me, I'd have said, "Oh, thank you, but we're Jewish and have found a temple we like already." If she seemed upset I'd ask if she could give us a tour of her church when it's decorated for Christmas, because it'd be pretty. But I don't want to and will not sit through a service praying to Jesus. So I won't do that.

But you're kind of stuck because you gave an open-ended answer. So now she may approach you again. If it were me having given the answer you gave, when she comes back a second time, I'd say, "Thanks! We're Jewish, and already found a comfortable place of worship. But thank you for the offer. Would you like to come over for a BBQ next Sunday?" (and then because I'm me, I'd make a joke about BBQing pork). Your "place of worship" could be your house, a temple, whatever. You know us Jews - we'll bust out a prayer anywhere.

I wouldn't do the children's activities at the church, because even though they're always saying it's non-religious, it's usually like, "Let's color! YAY!" and then passing out a picture of Jesus or Mary to color.

That answer would kill the relationship. I wonder if you would be on speaking terms after that

[Anonymous]

Google the church, OP. You should be able to tell from the website if it's evangelical (i.e., it's all about converting people). Code words include: Bible-based, evangelical, non-denominational, literal word of God, fundamentalist, Southern Baptist, anything about winning souls for Jesus...

...and even still, I think you're well within neighborly boundaries never to set foot in the church.

--Christian with super-fundamentalist family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would take it in the spirit of welcoming you to the neighborhood, and either politely decline "I really appreciate the invitation, but I'm not comfortable attending services outside of my own faith", or attend a less religious event at the church and then reciprocate in some way. I'm not Jewish, so I'm having trouble coming up with a specific example that's appropriate in April, but inviting them to join you for a Seder, or to bring their kids to the Purim carnival, or come over for Sufganiyah on Hanukkah would be examples of traditions that some of my Jewish friends have shared with our family.

This. I'm Jewish, and I think you handled it OK. When this happens to me, I consider myself lucky that folks take an interest and mean well.