where do ya go to Church... time to meet the neighbors

[rockriver]

we are slowly meeting the neighbors on our road.

today we were looking for a family that lives on the road
"behind us" a comment was made that the family needed some assistance at church.
i wanted to drive by and check the grass, as the man sounds like he's near death.
sure enough the grass/weeds are high.

in the process i tried to calculate who was directly behind our home. the wife was with me
and we saw an older lady in one yard. we stopped to visit and introduce ourselves.
she was cautious at first, then warmed up. i let my wife do most of the talking initially.
(she's a lot friendlier than me on first visit!)
very quickly during introductions lady says "i go to Southside Church, down on first street in big town."
then hesitated and cocked her eyebrow to us. she was checking us out... and wanted to know where we went to Church.... just plain ole southern manners.
we responded that we went to local church up on main st in our local village. she smiled asking if we knew the
smiths, and the jones. of course we did and we commented favorably on both couples.

bottom line of this yarn is.. meet your neighbors. become friends. we'll take this lady and her husband some
fruit jelly at the end of the summer...
she proceeded to tell us about her close neighbors. including the fella who was sick.

btw, if you don't go to Church, and you get that question... the best answer in the world is.
"we're new here, and haven't found a home church yet." or "we are visiting around, but we haven't settled on one yet."

rr

[610Alpha]

Excellent words of advise...especially in southern areas.

Good looking out for your neighbors!

[Rmplstlskn]

Doesn't work for us... People think we are some kind of Gentiles doing Jewish stuff freaks... :cool:
Even when i remind them Jesus is a Jew, as were the Disciples, and they all did Torah stuff...

Rmpl

[610Alpha]

Doesn't work for us... People think we are some kind of Gentiles doing Jewish stuff freaks... :cool:
Even when i remind them Jesus is a Jew, as were the Disciples, and they all did Torah stuff...

Rmpl

and they celebrated passover...my church had a Seder meal plus they did some Jewish dances during passover week..we aren't Jewish just non-denominational.

[Rmplstlskn]

and they celebrated passover...my church had a Seder meal plus they did some Jewish dances during passover week..we aren't Jewish just non-denominational.

Yeah, thankfully that is becoming more acceptable in many non-denom churches... It has awesome symbolism when you get into it, like the Afikomen wafer... It is a BROKEN (for our sins) unleavened (undefiled) wafer that is marred by stripes during the baking and it is hidden, wrapped within a white linen cloth (Messiah's burial), and the children have to find it (be like little children).

Only down side is many Christian churches don't know the difference between SCRIPTURAL Passover and a Talmudic, Jewish traditions Passover, so they incorporate some "leaven" into the process... But that is why we have a High Priest on our behalf interceding... :rolleyes:

Rmpl

[rockriver]

in our area, promptly and clearly responding to the question, "where do you go to church." goes a long way to gaining credibility...
just as older lady asked us if we knew the smiths and jones, we immediately gained mutual friends... i expect she'll inquire about us of the smiths and jones...

today a neighbor called and wants me to help cook at HIS churchs men's meeting tomorrow. sure.. my neighbor has helped me do several projects. i've returned the favor.. neighbor is plumber, electrician, hvac, builder, you name it.. a major farmer in county calls neighbor the "best long shot" in the county.

just out there meeting folks. one of the first questions we both asked each other.
"where do you go to Church?" then, "how long have you been going there?"
--
yesterday (sunday) we stumbled on the town clerk at a restaurant. we ate together (dutch treat) they go to a very conservative Church. i asked for the clerk to check with the town council about a community event i want us to have... we discussed the idea... she's now for it. she'll help. we are new here. if tshtf, it will be important that we all know each other ahead of time. i need to know who i can trust. they want to know if i'm trustworthy.

just the way we do things out here. it's a good way.

[610Alpha]

in our area, promptly and clearly responding to the question, "where do you go to church." goes a long way to gaining credibility...
just as older lady asked us if we knew the smiths and jones, we immediately gained mutual friends... i expect she'll inquire about us of the smiths and jones...

today a neighbor called and wants me to help cook at HIS churchs men's meeting tomorrow. sure.. my neighbor has helped me do several projects. i've returned the favor.. neighbor is plumber, electrician, hvac, builder, you name it.. a major farmer in county calls neighbor the "best long shot" in the county.

just out there meeting folks. one of the first questions we both asked each other.
"where do you go to Church?" then, "how long have you been going there?"
--
yesterday (sunday) we stumbled on the town clerk at a restaurant. we ate together (dutch treat) they go to a very conservative Church. i asked for the clerk to check with the town council about a community event i want us to have... we discussed the idea... she's now for it. she'll help. we are new here. if tshtf, it will be important that we all know each other ahead of time. i need to know who i can trust. they want to know if i'm trustworthy.

just the way we do things out here. it's a good way.

its a great starting point for sure. Hope the community event goes well.

[creman]

Let me know if this is too personal Rmplstlskn, but from what I'm reading you consider yourself a follower of Judaism? would you consider yourself a Messianic Jew or how would you describe yourself? I ask this because there are a few things I would like to get a clear prespective on from a different point of view.

As far as being on topic, I'm just as guilty as the older lady as far as asking people where they go to church. I just tend to ask "Do you go to church anywhere" because it gives a quick out to them by simply saying no. I don't mind if people tell me they don't go to church, it allows me to not make them uncomfortable in conversation.

[rockriver]

creman,
good question of rmpl.
rmpl,
you and i have discussed this too.
creman, rmpl, some of the answer to this is in the prayer section.
let me suggest, if i humbly may, that anyones private christian or other religion be done in a dedicated thread about that person's beliefs or in private communications.
thanks.
the prayer forum may be a good place to review each others details.
my purpose with this thread was to encourage folks to meet and learn about their neighbors. inquiring about a neighbors church activity is a good example of accepted discussion in my area.
i have a friend who i met in the surv/prep realm. i don't think he goes anywhere.
but i tremendously highly respect him. he's welcome at my camp/home anytime.
i have friends who are active in various churches that aren't!!
it's just part of the story.

rmpl, creman, thanks for understanding.
rr

[610Alpha]

Neighbor was building a fence around his yard...I had just got back from doing some work at the inlaws...walked over and asked him if wanted some help...he was done for the day. This wasn't within the first few months of moving in...taking walks within the area and being outside of the house makes it easier to get to know your neighbors.

[rice paddy daddy]

I have found more HONEST spirituality in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings than in most churches I have attended in my lifetime. And I used to work at a church at one time. My wife too.
But that's just my opinion.

[rockriver]

rice,
good point...
alpha,
i sure agree.
brings up a question..
for you and all.
what are questions that help you find out about folks
in an early conversation, what questions/comments help in getting folks to open up?
rr

[610Alpha]

what are questions that help you find out about folks
in an early conversation, what questions/comments help in getting folks to open up?
rr

I try to talk about the emergencies that are going on right now, mostly weather emergencies which we seem to be getting more and more of. I don't have a specific questions that I go through, I need to get some and write them down, but I also try to figure out if they are the gimme/de owes me type.

mostly its listening to what they talk about...I don't want them to feel like they are being interviewed.

[rice paddy daddy]

Out here, we began building relationships with certain neighbors through our animals. The farrier led to a backhoe guy. The hayman is active in the local Baptist church, which led to other people, like a couple guys who work for the county road & bridge dept and moonlight on the weekends.
The horse vet gave us leads to other people, etc.
We get involved, helping neighbors as well.

[creman]

Sorry Rock, didn't mean to junk up your thread. This is not sarcastic so please don't read it that way :).

I have met all of my neighbors, and sadly they are not much support/people of common interest. The ones right next to me cursed out their 11 year old yesterday for letting water out of the pool (10' backyard pool). I constantly hear them screaming and yelling, and then they complain about others. I just have no real desire to get close to them.

The neighbors across from me are the ones my wife and I are closest too. One is a police officer, and the other is on the local fire department. They're pretty cool just never really home.

The last neighbors I'll discuss are the ones who moved in, we took them some food and went to say welcome, they answered the door with "What do you want?" After we introduced oruselves, they took the food, and we said hello we weren't invited in and they won't wave at us now.

Sometimes, neighbors are just not people you want to prep with....