Hi Nina, welcome to the conversation! It's always good to hear from those who, like us, worship Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Please don't let the fact that you are new prevent your from joining in or starting a new thread. If you have something that you want to say but aren't sure that it's relevant to someone else's post, just click the plus sign ("+") in the upper right corner of the page and click "Discussion" in the dropdown. Give your new discussion thread a topic and select a category, then write what's on your mind. Please keep in mind that the subject matter that you post should be relevant to the Christian faith and for the edification of God's people. We look forward to your comments and questions. Lord willing, we'll find fellowship together as the Body of Christ

As for your comments about the Lord's Supper (Communion), I personally feel like this is perhaps the biggest struggle and failing of the church today. Our inability to take this simple act seriously highlights the depth of our sin. Scripture commands us to be unified (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:10), but more often the Lord's Supper is used as a weapon against other Christians rather than a uniting moment. My experience is that the vast number of institutional churches (Protestants, Catholic, and Orthodox alike - the church on the corner) place requirements on their fellow believers before they are welcome at Communion. In some churches, this means that you are a card-carrying member of their church or denomination, or perhaps a member of another approved denomination. It's not uncommon for the most conservative of churches to require that you have been catechized by their leaders, or that you at least present yourself to their elders prior to partaking. Rare is the church that welcomes all believers according to the words of 1 Cor 11:28, "Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup". Nowhere in Scripture am I able to find the idea of a "screening committee" to approve of our fellow believer prior to joining the assembly in worship of Christ at the Lord's Table. God's grace demands that we allow any penitent sinner to approach God before His people for restoration. After all, isn't that the whole point of Communion?

My prayer for you is that you find the resources that you are looking for at your home in Florida. There are some resources available to help you look if you need them, though depending on where you live you may have some difficulty finding like-minded believers. I would encourage you to look, however, and return to forums like this where you can be nourished in your relationship with God in Christ. For myself personally, I find a lot more challenge to be found online where my faith comes from person-to-person discussion rather than sitting in a pew listening to a lecture and taking a long Sunday afternoon nap