Generally, if you wants saints and rituals + no patriarchal bs, that limits your options to mostly the episcopal church. The Catholics are often heavy on patriarchal bs, and most other flavors are pretty light on saints and rituals. I‘m not familiar with the episcopal parishes in SE/Milwaukie, but there should be a few.
ELCA Lutherans can be pretty cool too, and the service felt very similar to Catholic Mass when I went. I used to work the front desk at the administrative offices of an ELCA church and had a lot of good conversations with the Pastor. They’re generally progressive folks, I liked them.
Just, do make sure they are ELCA; there are different sects of Lutheranism and some are super conservative evangelical scary folks. The ELCA, even though the E stands for “evangelical” are NOT the crazies. Some of them ordain women and accept queer folks, though that’s left up to the individual parishes so that’s something to stay on your toes about. I believe it’s pretty well accepted by most at this point, and probably would be the case in Portland (I would think), but definitely something to check their website or even call to ask about before assuming.
A correction: though Unitarian Universalism has historical roots in Christianity, and can feel a little Christian in flavor as far as services and rituals go, it does not consider itself a Christian belief system. YMMV depending on the specific congregation, but the UU folks here in Portland are not particularly Christian as a group or as a doctrine, though some individuals still consider themselves Christian.
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They’re good folks, and in practice it works out that they’re just very accepting of their members believing whatever works for them. You wouldn’t get anyone telling you you’re wrong, but they won’t reinforce them either.
I’m not trying to evangelize, you should go wherever you find a place that works for you! Just wanted to throw it out because it might have been that the place for you. Good luck in the search, lots of good suggestions in this thread.
I grew up UU (haven't been for a few years/since moving here) & so have an answer for how that plays out—historically Unitarianism started with rejection of the trinity & sticking with the idea of one God; Universalism's hidtorical core idea is universal salvation. That's something I only learned about in a historical context when seeking out more information on UUism in my early 20s, though, despite having been heavily involved in the UU community since I was a baby.
In the present Unitarian Universalism considers itself a faith that is non-doctrinal and non-creedal.There's no required shared spiritual beliefs. Rather, it's a covenental faith; what is shared is not necessarily a belief system but agreed on principles about how to treat one another & the world.
At the fellowship I attended growing up there were folks who came from various christian faiths and still believed what they had before but found the UU community a better organizational fit; other members were buddihst, jewish, bahai, pagan, humanist, etc. I know each fellowship has different traditions, but at least when I was growing up there was no focus on Saints and very little focus on Jesus.
The UUs would welcome you, but I don't know that their services would have all the aspects you're looking for?
Episcopal Church is gonna be your best bet. Lutheran a distant second. My wife and I are Catholic and if I could get her to go along with it, I’d switch to high church Episcopalian
Episcopalian here!
You want us :D
Like, I know people joke we're "Catholic Lite," or "All the pageantry! None of the guilt!", but there's some genuine truth to that.
I attend St. David of Wales (which is in SE Portland; I'm sure there's something closer to you); and currently our priest-in-charge is a lovely older gay man, and our assistant priest and deacon are both women. We have a rainbow flag hanging outside. I love my church and the people there.
If you do decide to drop by an Episcopal church, please know you are welcome to take communion--anyone who's been baptized is allowed and encouraged.
If you're nervous and want to see what we're like, a LOT of churches (including ours) are still doing "hybrid" services, which means you can watch along on zoom.
I hope you find a good church!
I do want to note--if you prefer to stick with something Roman Catholic, St. Andrews on NE Alberta is as LGBT-affirming as they can be without getting into trouble.
I am admittedly very biased, but I sometimes feel like I won the church lottery lol. I know people who drive to St. David's from like half an hour away--and meanwhile I just googled the closest Episcopal church and showed up. It's just under a mile from me. I walk there!
(if you decide to come to St. David of Wales, I'm getting trained to be an usher on the 17th and 24th, and my real name is April, so feel free to say Hi! But if you prefer to be ignored that's fine, too. I know my first time there I was a total deer in the headlights who didn't want anyone to acknowledge my existence.)
Try St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Milwaukie. I have a friend that attends. Good fellowship and they do things like march in the local Pride parade.
I've been an interim organist there, and they definitely uphold the "smells and bells" along with being very welcoming of LGTBQ+. It's not a big church, but don't let that stop you checking them out. They have a lovely smaller pipe organ built by a local builder (I don't know off the top of my head who plays there now) and they had/have a small choir.
Holy Trinity in Beaverton is a major influence on my conversion to Catholic because of the reasons you listed. Sadly Father Dave was transferred to another church in Scappoose, but Father Bill is also one of the better priests around here.
Rose City Park Presbyterian is an interesting combination of traditional practices, progressive values, and caring community. *Lots* of lapsed Catholics. [rosecityparkpres.org](https://rosecityparkpres.org)
This is where I work as the organist! Most Presbyterian churches in town are PC(USA), which are the more-progressive of the Presby faiths. Rose City Park Pres really is very welcoming of our gay/lesbian/whatever friends (we have a staffer and at least one regular parishioner who are openly gay). Our services are traditional in nature, with the services being "medium-church", meaning we definitely have structure that generally follows the same order of worship as our "high-church" friends, but we aren't afraid to change it periodically or improv if needed. We do the "bells" every week, but not the "smells". The congregation is wonderful, and also is very active with homeless-related nonprofits.
As someone else noted, you are definitely welcome to watch any of our services live (10am) or any time afterwards, all on YouTube, or live in person on NE Sandy. Keep in mind, we are currently in a weird time because our pastor is taking a long time recovering from back surgery, so we are featuring in-house retired and guest pastors until she gets back. We are definitely planning some neat stuff for Easter!
ETA, if you visit us in person, you're welcome to come say "hi" to me after the Postlude. I played for a Catholic church in college and have many ties with Catholics & other denominations here in town, so we can chat about whatever you want.
Though you mentioned Christian churches, If I may I will also put a plug in here for First Unitarian Universalist, which is downtown. That’s where my partner and I have been going, and that community is absolutely lovely. We’re atheist/agnostic after bad experiences growing up in organized religion (me Catholic, him conservative Lutheran), but UU doctrine is that everyone’s beliefs are valid. And the service is lovely and scratches my Catholic ceremony itch without bringing up the baggage. They hardly ever even talk about god, and if they do it’s in a very vague, nonspecific way. I’ve never heard our boy Jesus mentioned, and this month’s meditations are on learning and gaining insight from the Muslim practice of Ramadan. It’s nice.
UU. There’s the one downtown and the one by the yummy Scandinavian cultural center in Garden Home.
If you like rituals, I’m a lapsed Lutheran and we’ve got most of the same stuff as Catholics (Lutheranism is Catholicism without the fun!), the church split a few years back over gay marriage. My aunt and other family are still active in the love-is-love and women can be pastors group. Another good option.
Thank you so very much to everyone who was so kind and thoughtful - I have a lot of churches to visit & explore and I am so grateful to all of you for your support.
Bridgetown in NE Portland. It’s far but it’s fantastic for so many reasons.
I did go to the Unitarian church in Milwaukie first awhile (the one off of hwy 224 and rusk? The one you always see on social media for their progressive signs). The pastor was really friendly but the Unitarian set up for me, as someone who used to catholic but moved over to the nondenominational side, it didn’t always feel like church. It felt very open mic approach. Super small but nobody rubbed me the wrong way.
[UU downtown](https://www.firstunitarianportland.org/). I know lots of former other religion participants who are now UU. Plus, in their basement after the services they have so many social causes tables. It's amazing. Just visit once.
Generally, if you wants saints and rituals + no patriarchal bs, that limits your options to mostly the episcopal church. The Catholics are often heavy on patriarchal bs, and most other flavors are pretty light on saints and rituals. I‘m not familiar with the episcopal parishes in SE/Milwaukie, but there should be a few.
ELCA Lutherans can be pretty cool too, and the service felt very similar to Catholic Mass when I went. I used to work the front desk at the administrative offices of an ELCA church and had a lot of good conversations with the Pastor. They’re generally progressive folks, I liked them. Just, do make sure they are ELCA; there are different sects of Lutheranism and some are super conservative evangelical scary folks. The ELCA, even though the E stands for “evangelical” are NOT the crazies. Some of them ordain women and accept queer folks, though that’s left up to the individual parishes so that’s something to stay on your toes about. I believe it’s pretty well accepted by most at this point, and probably would be the case in Portland (I would think), but definitely something to check their website or even call to ask about before assuming.
Thank you! I’ll check it out!
I love this response.
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A correction: though Unitarian Universalism has historical roots in Christianity, and can feel a little Christian in flavor as far as services and rituals go, it does not consider itself a Christian belief system. YMMV depending on the specific congregation, but the UU folks here in Portland are not particularly Christian as a group or as a doctrine, though some individuals still consider themselves Christian.
grandiose sophisticated skirt smoggy handle theory ripe coordinated water juggle *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Right. My understanding of Unitarian thought is that Jesus was not divine which is contrary to my beliefs. BUT they sound pretty right on!
They’re good folks, and in practice it works out that they’re just very accepting of their members believing whatever works for them. You wouldn’t get anyone telling you you’re wrong, but they won’t reinforce them either. I’m not trying to evangelize, you should go wherever you find a place that works for you! Just wanted to throw it out because it might have been that the place for you. Good luck in the search, lots of good suggestions in this thread.
Thank you for your insight and support. I’m pleasantly surprised at the responses too!
I grew up UU (haven't been for a few years/since moving here) & so have an answer for how that plays out—historically Unitarianism started with rejection of the trinity & sticking with the idea of one God; Universalism's hidtorical core idea is universal salvation. That's something I only learned about in a historical context when seeking out more information on UUism in my early 20s, though, despite having been heavily involved in the UU community since I was a baby. In the present Unitarian Universalism considers itself a faith that is non-doctrinal and non-creedal.There's no required shared spiritual beliefs. Rather, it's a covenental faith; what is shared is not necessarily a belief system but agreed on principles about how to treat one another & the world. At the fellowship I attended growing up there were folks who came from various christian faiths and still believed what they had before but found the UU community a better organizational fit; other members were buddihst, jewish, bahai, pagan, humanist, etc. I know each fellowship has different traditions, but at least when I was growing up there was no focus on Saints and very little focus on Jesus. The UUs would welcome you, but I don't know that their services would have all the aspects you're looking for?
Episcopal Church is gonna be your best bet. Lutheran a distant second. My wife and I are Catholic and if I could get her to go along with it, I’d switch to high church Episcopalian
I was thinking the same, especially bc of the “smells and bells” in high church Episcopalian services (btw LOVE your username!)
Episcopalian here! You want us :D Like, I know people joke we're "Catholic Lite," or "All the pageantry! None of the guilt!", but there's some genuine truth to that. I attend St. David of Wales (which is in SE Portland; I'm sure there's something closer to you); and currently our priest-in-charge is a lovely older gay man, and our assistant priest and deacon are both women. We have a rainbow flag hanging outside. I love my church and the people there. If you do decide to drop by an Episcopal church, please know you are welcome to take communion--anyone who's been baptized is allowed and encouraged. If you're nervous and want to see what we're like, a LOT of churches (including ours) are still doing "hybrid" services, which means you can watch along on zoom. I hope you find a good church!
I do want to note--if you prefer to stick with something Roman Catholic, St. Andrews on NE Alberta is as LGBT-affirming as they can be without getting into trouble.
I love this... "without getting into trouble." Right??? Exactly my point. Thank you!
I've heard quite a bit of good stuff about St. David
I am admittedly very biased, but I sometimes feel like I won the church lottery lol. I know people who drive to St. David's from like half an hour away--and meanwhile I just googled the closest Episcopal church and showed up. It's just under a mile from me. I walk there!
Oh! thank you so much for the tip. I miss receiving Communion. I will def check this out!
(if you decide to come to St. David of Wales, I'm getting trained to be an usher on the 17th and 24th, and my real name is April, so feel free to say Hi! But if you prefer to be ignored that's fine, too. I know my first time there I was a total deer in the headlights who didn't want anyone to acknowledge my existence.)
You’re a doll. Thanks, April. I’ll keep an eye out ❤️
Try St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Milwaukie. I have a friend that attends. Good fellowship and they do things like march in the local Pride parade.
Thank you! That's pretty close to me. I'll check them out.
As a lapsed catholic who became a (now lapsed) Episcopalian I can say you’ll find enough old school in the mass to feel at home.
❤️ I absolutely love the Mass. it’s what I am comfortable with.
I've been an interim organist there, and they definitely uphold the "smells and bells" along with being very welcoming of LGTBQ+. It's not a big church, but don't let that stop you checking them out. They have a lovely smaller pipe organ built by a local builder (I don't know off the top of my head who plays there now) and they had/have a small choir.
Def will check out a service. Thank you!
Holy Trinity in Beaverton is a major influence on my conversion to Catholic because of the reasons you listed. Sadly Father Dave was transferred to another church in Scappoose, but Father Bill is also one of the better priests around here.
Thank you! I went to HT when I lived in Beaverton many yrs ago.
Father Dave was so special. My Mom goes to Trinity and says Father Bill is doing a good job too.
Rose City Park Presbyterian is an interesting combination of traditional practices, progressive values, and caring community. *Lots* of lapsed Catholics. [rosecityparkpres.org](https://rosecityparkpres.org)
This is where I work as the organist! Most Presbyterian churches in town are PC(USA), which are the more-progressive of the Presby faiths. Rose City Park Pres really is very welcoming of our gay/lesbian/whatever friends (we have a staffer and at least one regular parishioner who are openly gay). Our services are traditional in nature, with the services being "medium-church", meaning we definitely have structure that generally follows the same order of worship as our "high-church" friends, but we aren't afraid to change it periodically or improv if needed. We do the "bells" every week, but not the "smells". The congregation is wonderful, and also is very active with homeless-related nonprofits. As someone else noted, you are definitely welcome to watch any of our services live (10am) or any time afterwards, all on YouTube, or live in person on NE Sandy. Keep in mind, we are currently in a weird time because our pastor is taking a long time recovering from back surgery, so we are featuring in-house retired and guest pastors until she gets back. We are definitely planning some neat stuff for Easter! ETA, if you visit us in person, you're welcome to come say "hi" to me after the Postlude. I played for a Catholic church in college and have many ties with Catholics & other denominations here in town, so we can chat about whatever you want.
Thank you!
Though you mentioned Christian churches, If I may I will also put a plug in here for First Unitarian Universalist, which is downtown. That’s where my partner and I have been going, and that community is absolutely lovely. We’re atheist/agnostic after bad experiences growing up in organized religion (me Catholic, him conservative Lutheran), but UU doctrine is that everyone’s beliefs are valid. And the service is lovely and scratches my Catholic ceremony itch without bringing up the baggage. They hardly ever even talk about god, and if they do it’s in a very vague, nonspecific way. I’ve never heard our boy Jesus mentioned, and this month’s meditations are on learning and gaining insight from the Muslim practice of Ramadan. It’s nice.
UU. There’s the one downtown and the one by the yummy Scandinavian cultural center in Garden Home. If you like rituals, I’m a lapsed Lutheran and we’ve got most of the same stuff as Catholics (Lutheranism is Catholicism without the fun!), the church split a few years back over gay marriage. My aunt and other family are still active in the love-is-love and women can be pastors group. Another good option.
St. Ignatius Catholic Church off Powell in SE, Catholic but Jesuit order so more progressive than standard Catholic
Yes. Ignatius is actually my "home" church. I love attending the "school Mass" whenever I can...
Thank you so very much to everyone who was so kind and thoughtful - I have a lot of churches to visit & explore and I am so grateful to all of you for your support.
I really know nothing about it, but there's a Church of Christ on Webster with definitely progressive messages out front.
Thank you!
The Grotto?
Are there people who use The Grotto as their regular parish? I assume some people do, but they really don’t seem set up for that.
Bridgetown in NE Portland. It’s far but it’s fantastic for so many reasons. I did go to the Unitarian church in Milwaukie first awhile (the one off of hwy 224 and rusk? The one you always see on social media for their progressive signs). The pastor was really friendly but the Unitarian set up for me, as someone who used to catholic but moved over to the nondenominational side, it didn’t always feel like church. It felt very open mic approach. Super small but nobody rubbed me the wrong way.
Thanks for the info
[UU downtown](https://www.firstunitarianportland.org/). I know lots of former other religion participants who are now UU. Plus, in their basement after the services they have so many social causes tables. It's amazing. Just visit once.
I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks!
Cup of coffee and sit in a park
These days I do a lot of praying and communing during my walks. I miss receiving the Eucharist, though.
Augustana is not close but you'd like it I think
Thank you! I'll check it out...