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Attending Church Inquiry

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Ashlar

Registered User
I do not attend church as I do not care for organized religion . I have found more hatred , backbiting and gossiping within the walls of churches than I have found most anywhere else . And I do not hold it against any man who does not wish to attend church .

I find God in everything around me . Nature is my church , it is where I am closer to God , not some building .
 

jonesvilletexas

Premium Member
I may not attend 'church' (due to past negative experiences) but since when is 'attending church' a requirement for 'mutual respect' amongst Masons?
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve and mammon.

I am not preaching! Just a question to you. Why do we go to church? To please man or God.

 

Ashlar

Registered User
We have on our Lodge Investigation reports these questions....

1) Do you believe in a Supreme being ?
2) Do You attend church ?
3) If Yes , which Church ?
4) How often do you attend church ?

When I am chairman of an investigation committee I only ask question ONE and draw a line through the other questions . At first the lodge members questioned my motives for crossing out the other questions , but now they leave me alone . I told them it was none of our business as to what church they attend , how often or do not attend at all .

If they can answer YES to a belief in a Supreme Being , then I feel I do not need to question them further . Attending church services does not guarantee one's belief in Deity .
 
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Nicoli Magan Beukes

Registered User
I believe that church in the original connotation was the fellowship of believers. It was not tied to a building or place. I have fellowship with people that have the same beliefs as me all of the time, therefore I am always in church, but rarely in a bureaucratic building.

Johnstone provides the following seven characteristics of churches:
1) claim universality, include all members of the society within their ranks, and have a strong tendency to equate "citizenship" with "membership"
2) exercise religious monopoly and try to eliminate religious competition
3) are very closely allied with the state and secular powers–frequently there is overlapping of responsibilities and much mutual reinforcement
4) are extensively organized as a hierarchical bureaucratic institution with a complex division of labor
5) employ professional, full-time clergy who possess the appropriate credentials of education and formal ordination
6) primarily gain new members through natural reproduction and the socialization of children into the ranks
7) allow for diversity by creating different groups within the church (e.g., orders of nuns or monks) rather than through the formation of new religions

I have problems with points 1-4. I also believe diversity (point 7) should be extended to living peacefully within a population that includes people of other religions, but that would be a problem with the churches usual goal of eliminating other faiths (point 2).

Sorry for the long rambling, but I feel it is important for masons to be religious men. I do not believe that all masons should be required to fit themselves into a bureaucratic organization called a church.

BTW, even with these beliefs I am a registered member of the Methodist Church.

I have never felt closer to my maker than my daughter's baptism in a Methodist Church, touring a small chapel in Sienna Italy, and watching a leopard cross the road in Namibia. The Grand Architect can be found in many places.
How do I make contact with the freemasons in Namibia because I want to join
 

Winter

Premium Member
Looks like I only see a postal address for them.

DISTRICT GRAND LODGE OF NAMIBIA
District Grand Master
Alan L.E. Simmonds

District Grand Secretary
Gernot Piepmeyer

Postal Address
PO Box 81774
Olympia
Windhoek
9000
Namibia
 
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