How to meet more Reformed in my area?

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arielann81

Puritan Board Freshman
So I live in Washington State on the "Eastside" of the water from Seattle in Redmond where Microsoft is located and I'm curious about how to meet more reformed in this area. I am debating starting a meetup.com discussion group where people could discuss reformed theology related topics like we do here on the PB but in person. I'm not following the idea of where two or more are gathered train of thought for church fellowship. I believe in the importance of a Pastor and elders, etc. This would merely be to make friends and for mutual encouragement. What is your take on this? Would this be a advisable or do you think there are other ways? I'm open to suggestions.

I'm sure there are plenty in this area but all probably already go to their home church. Am I supposed to just walk into the nearest Presbyterian or Baptist church to look for people who share my faith locally? I'm not looking for a new church is the thing and its awkward to approach friendships this way. (at least I think so).

I thought perhaps it might also become a place I could invite people who are not comfortable asking questions in a church setting and then encourage them to join a local body if they get to that point (once it was established anyway). I was thinking about that because there are a lot of introverted techy types in this area that have high social anxiety and may benefit from this type of bridge into community? I don't know, maybe I should keep that vision separate but one can dream right?

Has anyone ever done this or tackled this issue with other methods? I'm all ears.
 
Ariel: I am not sure exactly what you mean by "reformed" since folks differ on the definition. :) However, I wonder if you could check with your local confessional presbyterian/confessional baptist churches to see if they have any small group studies going that you could join? That is how I ended up a Presbyterian, by joining RUF small group studies in college. Ended up married that way, too! :)
 
I agree with Mark. But if you cannot find a small group than by all means start your own group.
 
Don't trust the label on the door in that area - you'll need to dig deeper than just 'Presbyterian' (which can range from OK to dangerous) or Baptists (which will often times get you Dispensational theology).

I think Vic Bottomly (Victor Bravo) moved from that area, and he might be able to give some guidance on the Baptist side.
 
Ariel, I suggest that you search for "Reformation Society" on the internet. You may not find such a thing in King County, but looking at how people do it in other cities might give you some ideas for a model.
 
Whatever you do, do NOT waste your time with either Trinity Church in Woodinville or Christ Covenant church in Lynwood. They are both Doug Wilson affiliated churches and, while they will claim to be staunchly reformed, they are badly infected with the Federal Vision disease.
 
Thank you for your comments. I will look into Reformation Society online and see what people are doing elsewhere and decide what to do from there. I have already been to a small group at a local crc church in Bellevue. It seemed to be another exercise in religion though and there wasn't much discussion about our faith outside of the theology homework. I still benefited from it so by no means was it a futile exercise but my thoughts are more around an informal time to discuss life without having to wonder if we have the same faith.
 
If I were you I'd visit an OPC, even a lot of the PCAs (let alone CRCs) in the area are somewhat questionable in their Reformed convictions and may simply be broadly evangelical. I am moving from my Baptist church to Lynnwood OPC. I realized that the church where I was leading music didn't have the three marks of a church especially in regard to discipline and pure preaching, and I realized my wife and I needed to go elsewhere for the sake of our spiritual health:
1. The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel;
2. It makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them;
3. It practices church discipline for correcting faults
(Belgic Confession, article 29)

I had wrestled with the question of, "must I really leave this church?" And I came to the conclusion that yes, my wife and I were starving, we weren't being fed, our church had bought into the mentality of "let's reach them for Jesus" (i.e. to make decisions) at the expense of "feed my sheep". Next Sunday is our last Sunday (it took a while to finalize our departure because of the position I was in as music leader). We have been attending Lynnwood OPC's evening service and will be immediately starting the membership process there.

I would really recommend that you ask yourself whether your church has the 3 marks of the true church, and wrestle through whether God is calling you elsewhere. Church is not to be a social club, just because you like the people at your church or the opportunity to sing (my wife and I liked the people at our church a lot!), doesn't mean that the church is doing its job. I would encourage you to wrestle with this (I'm not saying your church isn't a church, but this is a question you should be asking). Does your church preach the pure gospel? (If it preaches contrary to the doctrines of grace, is that the gospel?) Does it administer the sacraments as Christ ordained? Does it have a legitimate practice of church discipline?
 
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