Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know where you are located, but St. Charles Borromeo in Arlington is super-welcoming and really warm, friendly, activitist. They have lots of singles as well as young families. They are located in Clarendon and here is their website. I loved going there until we moved too far away to attend regularly and thus joined an acceptable but not as enthusiastic church where we are now.

http://stcharleschurch.org/new/

OP here, THANKS! This really just called out to me. Especially the part about "lapsed and returning Catholics" - appreciate it!

No problem! I LOVE St. Charles!!!! I still participate in their Haiti "foster child" program (they are "sister parishes" with some parishes in Haiti and parishoners can choose to sponsor a child to pay for their ecducation and school lunches) even though we are still not parishoners b/c I just love love love the parish so much. If ever I am back in that area on a Sunday, I try to finagle it so that we attend Mass there.

Good luck!! I really hope it works out for you!! Welcome back to the Church!

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't know where you are located, but St. Charles Borromeo in Arlington is super-welcoming and really warm, friendly, activitist. They have lots of singles as well as young families. They are located in Clarendon and here is their website. I loved going there until we moved too far away to attend regularly and thus joined an acceptable but not as enthusiastic church where we are now.

http://stcharleschurch.org/new/

OP here, THANKS! This really just called out to me. Especially the part about "lapsed and returning Catholics" - appreciate it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What religion are you and where do you live? We go to a great methodist church in nova, and it has great kids programs. Actually, it is a very active church for all age groups. Surprisingly, a lot of young people.

Why is this surprising to you?

OP, I suggest you audition a bunch of churches. Start with the denomination in which you grew up, then spend different Sundays at four or five other ones. You'll know when one feels right.

Because the average age of a Methodist is 60.

As we all know, "averages" often mean little when they take in a large cross-section, such as the entire US. If the OP is thinking of visiting churches in the area, then it would depend on the individual church. Certainly, "60" would not be the average age in the church we attend--more like 45. We have many young families with children.

OP, I don't know where you are located, but St. Charles Borromeo in Arlington is super-welcoming and really warm, friendly, activitist. They have lots of singles as well as young families. They are located in Clarendon and here is their website. I loved going there until we moved too far away to attend regularly and thus joined an acceptable but not as enthusiastic church where we are now.

http://stcharleschurch.org/new/

P.S. PP again. Fairfax UMC has a great nursery and Sunday school program during the 9:30 service.

Not sure where you are in NOVA, but we have been attending Fairfax UMC for about the past six months and really like it. Our daughters attend preschool there and we were looking for a church, so we thought we would give it a try. My husband grew up Catholic, I was raised in the Bible Belt by anti-religious hippie parents and rebelled against them by becoming Episcopalian. The liturgy is familiar enough that we both feel comfortable. People are very friendly, and the pastor is a thoughtful and gifted preacher.

Since (I think) you say you grew up attending St. Columba's, you may want to check out Holy Comforter Episcopal in Vienna. We really liked it, but it is a 25 minute drive from us, and that is just not happening on a Sunday morning.

We had the same anxieties and finally got a babysitter (because I realized my fear was the kids being disruptive if the congregation wasn't kid-friendly). I found that DH and I could fade in to the background and see what things were like a bit better. When we liked the service, we chatted with the minister briefly on the way out and asked to tour the nursery area/talked to the nursery coordinator to make sure our kids were welcome there and have just kept it up since. We're Methodists and go to Bethesda United Methodist Church, which I highly recommend.

i grew up going to St. Colomba's that someone just mentioned - wonderful and quite liberal. a bit too far from where i am now in NOVA but a great community.

I church shopped when DD was a toddler/preschooler because i was no longer happy with the church we had been attending. It can be a little tricky trying out new churches when you have a young child, because while you want the child to be happy at church, it can be tough to take your child to a new place every week. So you might want to leave your child at home until you narrow it down to places where you are theologically comfortable, and then see how she likes them.

St. Columbas in Tenleytown - Episcopal - has a lot of former Catholics as the liturgical approach is familiar. Also has services that are short and casual just for preK children and their families.

summer service is 9:15 am for preschool children and families, 10:30 am for "standard" service that includes storytime during sermon for ages 3 yo to 8 yo.

Great playground!

We visited many different churches in this area before settling at a Methodist church. Sometimes we went back 4x, and other times, just once. We didn't church hop every week either, so there was large gap where we didn't attend church at all. One thing I do recommend is overlooking first impressions. Sometimes it takes several visits to realize this may be the one for you. It took a year for us to really get plugged into the church we're at just because we were scared to commit. Once you start to join church activities (not just Sunday services), you really start to see how the other congregants are and the true personality of the church.

OP here: thanks for all the responses -

I grew up Catholic and part of the reason I left the church is I didn't feel it was the right fit for me anymore.

My in-laws have been taking my daughter to a Methodist Church where they live. She loves it. I know nothing about it. I've spent a bit of time today googling churchs, but it seems really weird to do it this way. I guess it's the same way as daycare - you just check them and see which ones fit your needs.

For those of you who started with a new church, how did you "decide" where to go? Did you just go to the one in your neighborhood? I live in downtown and there are several near me, I'm wondering if I should just "drop in"

Anonymous wrote:Be careful about getting too involved. It will cost you a lot of money. We stopped going because of a drop in finances. Tithing not possible in my situation anymore.

You can still go to church without tithing. Tithing is a personal choice not a requirement for attendance. Not only is church perfectly free, if you are struggling it is a great place to get assistance from. Many churches have programs for people who aren't able to make ends meet.

Be careful about getting too involved. It will cost you a lot of money. We stopped going because of a drop in finances. Tithing not possible in my situation anymore.

Messiah Methodist off of Rolling Rd. in Springfield has a nice program for kids... very welcoming, they accept you just walking in and trying it out. Look at their website.