Where am I?

I find myself drawn to liturgical worship. This, no doubt, is a result of being a member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, for many years following my marriage (Marilyn belonged to LCMS and I agreed to join when we were married). At that time the worship services at LCMS churches consisted basically of the Roman Catholic Mass in English. In other words, VERY liturgical. I found the liturgy to be, for me, precisely as C.S. Lewis had written. It became so ingrained that as I worshiped its regularity brought me into closer communion with God.

Unfortunately, there came a time in both our lives when the LCMS seemd to be too fundamentalist. Then they published a new hymnal and changed the liturgy. I expect Roman Catholics felt the same with the liturgy in the vernacular. With the changes, much of the sacredness and uplifting seemed to depart.

I'm now a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and an ordained minister. My professor of worship and preaching in seminary was a man steeped in the liturgy. I loved it. Unfortunately, most churches in the CPC are more "enthusiastic," as John Wesley would have termed it -- more experiential and less liturgical. My wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (PCUSA). In this denomination you find churches that lean toward experiential (contemporary) worship and churches that are more liturgical. I think, in an attempt to draw more worshipers to services, many churches are moving toward contemporary worship. Since I'm retired and attend church with my wife, this is problematic.

I've been drawn to the Episcopal (Anglican) Church, but have problems with the fact that they ordain certain segments of the population that I believe to be biblically unqualified. I've considered the Roman Catholic Church, but find the Pope to be my stumbling block.

Of late I've discovered the various Orthodox traditions, i.e; Greek Orthodox, etc. These traditions hold much appeal as they are actually the original Christian church, pretty much unmodified since the Great Schism. There is great congruity within the Orthodox tradition, but it's all pretty strange to an outsider from a Reformed Protestant background.

Still....