Discussion Board

I am a recent 'convert' to both McDougalling and Christianity. Just last year I was baptized in the Catholic Church. But - much as I love some parts of my faith - I'm struggling with staying in our parish. We moved to a small, rural community several months ago. It's a farming community. And, as I've learned, not open to vegan issues. Big Ag is big business. I feel no connection to my church hear, don't want to drive to my old one miles away and have been looking for a more hospitable place of worship. So far I've kind of settled on the local Methodist church. I don't have a lot of choices church wise. Has anyone else felt ostercized for being veg in their church. FYI I don't advertise my veganism on my shirt or anything, it's just that I am not comfortable with anti-enviromentalism/animal rights issued from the pulpit.

I am not Christian but I wanted to suggest that you might look for Seventh Day Adventists in your area. If there are any, I think you might find some kindred spirits; they advocate a vegetarian diet that has a lot in common with the McDougall plan. If there are no SDA places of worship near you, you could always try posting on Craigslist and/or Meetup sites to see if you can find like-minded people who want to get together on Sundays. I don't know if you prefer something more formal than that, but it seems like it might be better than feeling unwelcome at your current church.

Seventh Day Adventists are the only Christian denomination that I know of that advocates a vegetarian diet (for health reasons, not because they think it is wrong to eat meat), or that even cares about diet as far as I can tell. Some of them do eat meat, (we had a neighbor who was SDA that did because he couldn't eat beans) but they don't encourage it. They do pretty much all eat eggs and cheese, but they would not think it was at all strange for a person to only eat plant foods. They have church on Saturday so you can check them out without even missing your own church if you want to.

If you are lucky enough to have a Unitarian Universalist congregation nearby give them a try, too. In general, you will find open-minded, free-spirited people who positively welcome diversity. UUs have no set creed or tenets, making them quite different from the RCC. Every UU group is a bit different, though, because a lot depends on the outlook of the lay leaders. If they have one unifying idea it is that there are "many paths to the top of the mountain".

I am a Buddhist, my husband is a Roman Catholic, my friend is a Pagan and we attend a Unitarian Chapel where we live. I find it great because they are open to the believes of others and respect it. People there know I am a Vegan and why. They may not feel the same way but the do not dismiss it as irrelevant.

SDAs advocate vegetarianism. There are those who eat meat, those who are vegetarian and many who are vegan. Most are at least vegtarian. In fact nearly all of the cooking classes and health classes which are sponsored by the church are vegan, as are most of the current cookbooks. Potluck dinners are almost always a mix of vegan and vegetarian. I know this for a fact because I am a Seventh-day Adventist, have been a vegetarian for 40 plus years and mostly vegan for 20 or so.

I have also found SDAs to be a very friendly bunch. Give them a try!

Is it worth trying a Quaker Meeting?
I think that you would find acceptance of vegetarian and vegan. Their meetings are virtually completely silent, so that may not suit everyone.

Sorry that you've had a rough time in your new community/ parish.

Another option to consider would be an inter- or non-denominational church.

A place on the web to consider finding a local church can be found at forministry.com. The Willow Creek Association has a listing for evangelical churches.

As has been noted, the SDA church does promote vegetarianism, although it does not take a pro-environmental or pro-animal rights stance. Health is big business for the SDA church as it owns a chain of hospitals. I recall that Dr. McDougall's program was originally provided at an SDA hospital in St. Helena, but he found the heart surgeons there to be antagonistic towards his dietary approach as they were losing heart surgery patients! I also heard Dr. M comment on the unhealthy SDA vegetarians he'd encountered. SDAs were pioneers in the meat substitute industry, having started businesses such as Worthington/ Morningstar Farms and also Little Debbie. An SDA potluck in rural Iowa is likely to be full of high fat casseroles with plenty of dairy products and processed soy products along with desserts.

Of course Seventh Day Adventists also believe that worshipping on Saturday is a test of loyalty to God and consider Sunday worship to be the "mark of the Beast". Just sayin'.

I'm Christian and am wondering why any denomination would have a problem with the way one eats. The healthier you are, the better you can serve your God and your church. Just saying.........

The list of members, their relatives and friends undergoing treatments for heart disease, cancer, diabetes and whole range of other chronic diseases is very long at our Methodist church. Many are homebound from their illnesses. This amounts to a lot of needless suffering. We pray for them - but I think we can - and should do more.

I've made an appointment with our pastor to discuss what can be done at our church to encourage healthier lifestyles. I believe that through prayer, individuals can gain the strength to make the important changes in their lives necessary to regain their health. Does anyone have this sort of effort at their church, and if so, can you tell us what was done and whether you considered it a success?

Rob, I would encourage you to check into the CHIP program, founded by Dr. Hans Diehl. It has programs for churches, corporations, medical facilities, and community groups. They teach an approach to eating that is very compatible with McDougalling (Dr. Diehl has presented at some of Dr. McDougall's programs).

Tom, thanks for sharing the link! It seems that CHIP is on the cutting edge of improving health via education!

Yes - I'm somewhat familiar with CHIP. I heard Dr. Diehl speak at the September 2010 ASW (on-line). I had the impression that their programs were only provided at Seventh Day Adventist churches. CHIP programs have been held in our city at SDA churches but were not promoted to the general public to my knowledge. I see that the CHIP program has a 'Train the Trainer' certification program for other organizations at Rockford, Illinois next October for $1,800 that includes extensive materials. It seems to be very well done and I am going to look into this further before meeting with my pastor. Thanks for the excellent suggestion.

The CHIP program can be done anywhere with any group of people-any denomination or none. It has been done in corporations, schools, churches and I believe even some goverment offices. There is no religious component to it, even tho Dr Diehl is a Seventh-day Adventist. It is purely health and science based, and as has been mentioned, Dr Diehl and Dr McD appear at each others programs.

Many times the programs are held in churches because it is convenient free space that the church is willing to have used as a service to the local community. The first two programs I worked with were held in a home ec room in the local high school, the third was in a church fellowship room. All were sponsored by the church purely as a service to the community as well as church members and we had several dennomination represented as well as those of no particular religious persuasion. All were equally welcomed, same as on this board.

I speak as one who has worked as a CHIP volunteer and also been trained at a CHIP Summit. It is an excellent program that fits very nicely with the McD program. It is expensive, altho that is relative, as the one month program ususally costs around 225 more or less. Seems like a lot until it is put into perspective with the cost of a cardiology visit and/or surgery.