Baptist, Beacon Baptist Church in Salem, Va. My wife and son go there regular I work for the railroad so I don't attend regular. My wife likes it, but I can't stand it.

Liberal.

The difference between American Baptists and Southern Baptists is like the difference between night and day.

My church (ELCA Lutheran) is all about the positive message of Christ for our lives, and NO politics, unless you count the love-your-neighbor and help-others stuff. And women are respected as equals there.

Amen!

I'm a member of the Episcopal Church and they are also all about the positive message of Jesus Christ. No politics there either. The Episcopal Church and the ELCA are in full communion with each other.

Thanks for the suggestion. What type of churches do you think are "grace based"?

I say this because I have been in a lot of bible based churches. Even ones with "Grace" in their name can be law based. If they require tithes I'd walk away. There is two orgs that has a lot of branches that has been a real eye opener for me. They detoxified my understandings. One is called Grace Walk Ministries with Steve McVey. The other is called Grace Communion International. They are both birds of the same feather. Try http://www.gracewalk.org/teachings/101-lies-taught-in-church.html or http://www.gracewalk.org

and find yourself another one. Hope your wife isn't too stuck on it.

Thanks for the advice and I am planning to leave. I don't plan on ever attending again, if my wife still wants to go she can go without me.

I actually ended up going to a different church (within the same faith).

I also, for awhile, went to a UU Church when I god fed up with the empty conservativism of the church I was attending.

My wife helped organize a donation bin for a christian pregnancy center here in town. She overheard someone saying, basically, "Those whores don't deserve our help." And you call yourself a christian? In that one statement you sinned twice and made Jesus sad.

Fortunately, all of the messages are positive, we have quite a bit of a younger crowd who are more progressive, and it's an overall Christ driven congregation.

I hope you find something more suited to your beliefs.

I appreciate your response to my plight. I feel like I am in a "in between" place in my life. I have discussed this with my wife and she understood my position, but she asked that I find a place to give and tithe.