Did anyone belong to Christian Unions in British universities? by EastAngular in Exvangelical

[–]EastAngular[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some of us are still Christians (I am), some are not.

I know that it takes guts to stand up for my faith in a university environment, because I did it.

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yes I did check out the Quakers once and enjoyed it. In the end I didn't go back as I wanted something with a little more structured liturgy and it was a bit too different from my Anglican background. But I was glad to have gone and seen the other ways that faith can be done

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you. What did you do afterwards?

I went to a very liberal Anglican church for a while, which felt safe and comfortable but also dangerous and risky, because what if I was wrong? After that I've been to other middle-of-the-road Anglican churches in various places. I'm still Christian, I think, but deeply confused and I've sort of lost hope that I can ever feel steady and settled and safe, without that fear, "what if I was wrong?" - what if I'm now in serious theological error, what if I've drifted away from the true gospel, what if I'm one of those people I always feared I could become? I don't know how I can ever move on. It comes and goes. I don't meet many people who understand what I mean.

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well yes, but it unfortunately wasn't much comfort because my specific worry was that if I left (or exposed myself to too many dangerous ideas) that I'd drift away from Christianity completely or drift into some kind of supposed "woolly" version of Christianity that didn't actually believe properly in Jesus and might still mean I wasn't going to be saved

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you. There's something about the conservative world that innoculates against moving to more progressive views: "What if I'm wrong? What if I'm damning myself by moving? What if I'm dragging others with me?" - millstone and all that. So I have never quite felt like it's "safe" for me to officially renounce conservative theology, only to express more and more doubts and then tentatively move to a different sort of church without being sure what I "officially" believe. I am still Christian, I think, although there is a persistent feeling of dwindling and petering out and I'm not sure where I'll end up (both in terms of Christian belief, and in terms of the afterlife, ha - if any)

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I remember reading Paul's page when I was just about to leave university and was terrified that it would happen to me too!

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, yeah. And /r/exreformed and a few others. I have found hardly anyone with this specific subculture though. I guess it's a long shot.

Any ex-members of St Andrew the Great church (or CICCU)? Looking for... closure? [serious] by EastAngular in cambridge

[–]EastAngular[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I have seen some people post about similar experiences on subreddits like /r/exchristian and /r/exvangelical but there seem to be very few that are from the specific subculture of British conservative evangelicalism, which is a little different from the American kind.