Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you discovered that your birth religion was a scam. Why are you rushing to find a slightly better scam? Walk away and join in love with humanity in this world that exists, not a dream of a different world.

Good advice.

+1 again - former catholic, now an atheist. But I senses that OP is still seeking "God". Maybe that will change, someday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I may have phrased it incorrectly but the general question I have given my experience with both faiths is how much do you rely on a Pastor?

I grew up Catholic and going to confession with the Priest for example to confess my sins versus praying directly to God for ultimate forgiveness.

What role should a Pastor if I continue as a nondenominational believer have in my life?

The church I most recently attended there was that pressure that if you were going to another church you were in the wrong House of God to be led to heaven.

If you prefer non-Catholic Christian, I encourage you to seek out a specific Protestant denomination that resonates with you. Given your prior experience, I think it would be safer for you to have a pastor who has received professional training, is subject to oversight, and operates within ethical and professional rules. All the big mainstream churches have that. Many of the nondenominational ones don't.

To your actual question - ministers are similar to professors. They are educated in spiritual matters and they have seen your situation many times over, so their guidance holds weight, but they are just human and therefore not perfect nor always right.

Good advice above, IMO. I m an atheist, former Catholic.

Anonymous wrote:Quakers

I was going to say the same thing. I have fond memories of the meditation aspect when attending with my grandmother as a child. The rotating facing bench meant that no one was above any one else. Sure they had staff to keep things running, but no one was screaming at me through a microphone while banging a lectern and putting on a show and having an altar call for the laying of hands and more loud praying in the name of Jesus!!!

Anonymous wrote:I'm Muslim not Christian but obviously a relatable matter for all abrahamic religions. I don't get people who can rely on pastor/Imam for a connection with God. They have their value but its limited and anyone but YOU can make you a spiritual person. Imho being kind to God's creatures is the only way for inner peace and whatever "salvation" us humans are searching for. I feel like in the end, pastor/Imam are just professionals earning their living. They are more about organized religion and rituals than true spirituality. Just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.

I was raised atheist and attended an Evangelical Lutheran college. This concept of there being a “religious professional” is exactly the way the Lutheran pastor who taught the required theology course taught it—and I think this speaks to the point the earlier PP made about the formal theological tradition that exists alongside institutions of higher education and the versions of “pastoring” that don’t.

I feel like I have a pretty good grip on what formally trained theologians think about “prosperity Gospel,” but I do not know what the “prosperity Gospel” guys/gals say about the relative importance of academic training.

OP, what DO they say, if you have a sense of it? Do they have their own institutions of education that they express as being comparable to historic Protestant and/or Catholic institutions of higher education? Or do they see it as irrelevant or actually negative to have formal education?

I see that TD Jakes, for instance, does not have an academic path described in his Wikipedia bio. Whereas when you read MLK Jr’s Wikipedia bio, you absolutely learn that he was a third-generation Morehouse Man and then attended Crozier University Theological Seminary and THEN studied theology at Boston University to earn a PhD.

Whatever you think about the fact that parts of his dissertation were later deemed to have been plagiarized—he clearly thought it was professionally valuable to get the credential. Peer review of his theological ideas was considered desirable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I may have phrased it incorrectly but the general question I have given my experience with both faiths is how much do you rely on a Pastor?

I grew up Catholic and going to confession with the Priest for example to confess my sins versus praying directly to God for ultimate forgiveness.

What role should a Pastor if I continue as a nondenominational believer have in my life?

The church I most recently attended there was that pressure that if you were going to another church you were in the wrong House of God to be led to heaven.

Confession is creepy.

I get why you say that, and it doesn't work for everyone, but it is extremely helpful for many. The Catholic church helped people immensely with this practice long before Freud started peddling it in a secular package.

I've never done it. The church has also harmed a lot of people over the years, given issues with the person on the other side of the screen.

Undoubtedly, but that is a totally separate issue and you bringing it up = whataboutism.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I may have phrased it incorrectly but the general question I have given my experience with both faiths is how much do you rely on a Pastor?

I grew up Catholic and going to confession with the Priest for example to confess my sins versus praying directly to God for ultimate forgiveness.

What role should a Pastor if I continue as a nondenominational believer have in my life?

The church I most recently attended there was that pressure that if you were going to another church you were in the wrong House of God to be led to heaven.

Confession is creepy.

I get why you say that, and it doesn't work for everyone, but it is extremely helpful for many. The Catholic church helped people immensely with this practice long before Freud started peddling it in a secular package.

I've never done it. The church has also harmed a lot of people over the years, given issues with the person on the other side of the screen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I may have phrased it incorrectly but the general question I have given my experience with both faiths is how much do you rely on a Pastor?

I grew up Catholic and going to confession with the Priest for example to confess my sins versus praying directly to God for ultimate forgiveness.

What role should a Pastor if I continue as a nondenominational believer have in my life?

The church I most recently attended there was that pressure that if you were going to another church you were in the wrong House of God to be led to heaven.

Confession is creepy.

I get why you say that, and it doesn't work for everyone, but it is extremely helpful for many. The Catholic church helped people immensely with this practice long before Freud started peddling it in a secular package.

Anonymous wrote:Quakers

If you don't want a minister/pastor/priest, this is the answer.

Not sure where you are, OP, but there is a lovely and welcoming Friends' meeting in McLean.