My situation with the Local Church

[OGOP]

What you are experiencing has happened many times. An LCM young person meets someone they like outside the LCM and seeks to get them to join. Make no mistake, if she is typical she is counting on you joining her group. She is much less open to following you to another more mainstream group.

This was something I noticed early on. Inter-faith marriages are something that, although not exactly common, they do happen. Inter-denomination marriages are even more common.

For example: Lets say you have a baptist guy, and a catholic girl. Usually you see either the guy or the girl, change denominations and its no big deal. I've even seen some couples where they alternate each week where they go. There might be some disgruntled family members but 95% of the time, dating somebody of a different denomination is completely fine and normal.

What I noticed immediately about the LC was that the non LC member HAD to "convert" and join the church, or the relationship wouldn't happen. The LC member never leaves.
That was a red flag again for me. Gave a very cultish vibe.

OGOP

[OGOP]

**reposting because I think the last one didn't post***

Thank you everybody for the replies, its gotten way more attention than I thought it would. More importantly, thank you for the prayers and offers of counsel.

aron: Conversely, we see "And Jesus could do nothing because of their unbelief" (Matt 13:58; Mark 6:5). With anxiety, fear, resentment, you can block God's will from being accomplished. So be at peace. Pray, but pray with rejoicing. Petition, but petition with thanksgiving. Repent, but repent with gratitude. God will move. God loves to move. Let Him surprise you! It all starts with a rejoicing heart.

thank you for the verses. To be honest its really hard to turn to God in a situation like this. Like it just feels weird asking Him for guidance about leaving the only church I've ever known. I agree though, I need to overcome it and turn to God.

DistantStar: "I do not wish to make light out of you situation, but I can't help but notice your choice of words for the LC."

Haha no worries, that wording was intentionally chosen to poke a little fun.

Nell: On the other hand, the backlash you experienced is only the beginning. It won't get any better than it is now. Can you imagine starting your married life together without telling her the truth about how you feel about the LC? If you can't have that conversation now, when can you? Two or three years later there may be children involved! She will find out how you feel and blame you for deceiving her.

Marriage plans are definitely on hold from my perspective until we can deal with the LC. I'm really worried, she is the nicest most caring person I've ever met and then its like when the subject of the "church life" comes up she's a different person. Its really scary.

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by OGOP

What I noticed immediately about the LC was that the non LC member HAD to "convert" and join the church, or the relationship wouldn't happen. The LC member never leaves.
That was a red flag again for me. Gave a very cultish vibe.

OGOP

That does not happen in the local churches. There are no forced conversions of a non-LC person to the LC. Many brothers and sisters in the church are married to people who attend a denomination or are not attending church at all.