To ASD adults: Do you feel like you belong at your Church?

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How ideologies, religions, schools of philosophy, etc develop has been a special interest since I first understood the idea of people building upon the ideas of those who came before them.

It's interesting how much of a role both positive (what we're imitating or borrowing) and negative (what we're cringing away from/rejecting) influences play when we develop our ideas.

Oh okay kool. I would even say you know your Restorationist Movement history better than many in the church of Christ.

Well I feel like I belong and kind of not belong at my church of Christ, OP. I believe in most of the doctrine and theology of the church of Christ. However I do not feel like some of my beliefs are welcome there. I feel like my Christian Communist beliefs are not welcome there. I also feel like my beliefs about alcohol are not welcome there because I think Jesus turned the water into real wine and not grape juice. I also think communion should be done with real wine unlike them. I also drink in moderation every day and like to drink in public when I can which they would not approve of.

Always felt bit out at church, but I am born Jewish. Friend invited me that Easter to go to Hillsong or hillside church which nicest gathering of experienced, I suppose it's not church name but people there.
So I went with her a few times, she was school teacher but mostly selling kindgarten toys then on part time basis. We got on very well, my being interested in her sales vs my previous attempts,
I think there are lot of lonely people out there, my kids kept me busy when younger but found being older was easier on one on one basis to make female friends, having more to talk about.

I find this article quite interesting about adaptions for autistics at church.

https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/upl ... autism.pdf

"Those with autism, like some others, often find it difficult to cope with change, unpredictable events and behaviour, and hidden assumptions. A different arrangement of the chairs in a church one
Sunday, or a baptism which changes the usual order of service could be confusing for adults with
autism. Clear and straightforward communication is particularly important.

Those with autism are often very sensitive to light, noise and smell. For example, they would
appreciate a warning that there will be applause at the welcome section of a baptism. They may find
physical touch difficult to interpret, perhaps not wanting to shake hands at the Peace, or conversely being exuberant with touch.

Someone with autism (adult or child) may need to wear their ear defenders, and to leave the service
for a time. It is good to identify a quieter area, maybe darker or with natural light, to which
someone can go. He or she will want to know when the service is due to end, and may wish to
leave early.

People with an autism spectrum condition will usually prefer to sit at the end of a pew/row, and
not somewhere busy. In the course of a service,they will appreciate clear directions about
standing/sitting and indication of beginnings and endings. Sensitivities mean they may be challenged
by the stimulus of both movement and singing during the administration of Communion, the light
from a projector and coloured backgrounds to PowerPoint slides. They may need gluten free
biscuits and Communion wafers and casein-free
milk ".

Even if I wasn't secular, I bet they'd have a devil of a job accommodating me. Sermons go in one ear and out of the other, just like lectures used to do at school. And even though they never test you for retention in a church, exposure to a sermon or lecture always brings back painful memories of when I did get tested and when the consequences were dire. Information has to be delivered at my rate, and there has to be to-and-fro, reciprocal dialogue or it just doesn't stick. AFAIK there's nothing in scripture about having to listen to sermons, but I doubt there's a church in the world that doesn't do sermons.

I suspect many with ASD just have too much rigid individuality to ever fit comfortably into a church service.

I am blessed and feel at home at the church i'm in; it is my first church as I was met Jesus few years ago when he rescued me from death. I think I feel home because Jesus gave me this church himself, when I met him I had no idea how to find a church, I had no one (humans) to answer my questions.

Even though I feel home and connected to my brothers and sisters in Christ, I see that there are many topics that I can't share with them because they just wouldn't understand. I felt a need these past months to connect with Christians on the spectrum.

I am so happy to read your post and I encourage you in ministering to neurodivergent people ! I thank the Lord for what he put on your heart ! !! !

I am now officially a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and I did indeed choose Saint Thorlak as my confirmation Saint, asking for his intervention in my anxiety on the night of Easter Vigil, when I was confirmed.

I took RCIA classes for months (a requirement for adult conversion), and was open about being autistic. (One of the other adults in the class has an autistic child and is ADHD.) People there seem to accept me. I feel welcomed enough in the church body. I'm just painfully shy and painfully anxious, and that makes talking to new people extremely hard.

Catholicism is a very involved faith with so many rituals and traditions, I suspect years will go by and I'll still be learning some of them. (But that's also a good thing, as it all serves to keep my attention on God.) My only complaint is that, as an autistic person, I need clarity and I need to know what to expect, and others seem to be fine just "winging it".

But it gives me intense anxiety not to know what to expect. So some services that deviate from what I'm used to in celebrating Mass, are very hard. (Veneration of the cross on Good Friday, for instance. They brought out a giant crucifix and everyone was coming forward to kiss Jesus's feet. I was extremely anxious because I wasn't sure what to do or what was expected of me or if there's some sort of rule I missed, etc.)