After not being active in the church for several years, I'm having some trouble returning. This post will run a bit long, but I appreciate any insight from you folks.

I grew up in the church of Christ. It was a great experience for me. I learned to love studying scripture, and a no-nonsense approach. We heavily emphasized "speak where the Bible speak, be silent where it's silent."I was in church every Sunday from my earliest memories until I was in my mid-20s. I even ran a ministry at my university.

Then I married an athiest. It was a good relationship, which I won't linger on, but it ended recently. I have started visiting my local churches of Christ after a 10 year absence and the transition has been challenging.

I've visited 4-5 churches of Christ near me (in Kansas). In each one, I've found a lot of things that to me are strange, non-scriptural beliefs that appear common. I have a stack of magazines and pamphlets explaining why dinosaurs are fake. When I wear a mask, a litany of people remind me that science is no substitute for faith. A few weeks ago, a person I have never met went out of their way to explain that the earth is hollow.

Outside of anti-science beliefs, I have heard anti-transgender attacks, anti-LGBT(etc). I hear preachers citing podcasts or their favorite pop-culture ministers instead of the Bible. They aren't speaking where the Bible speaks, or stopping where it stops. I'm not hearing support and love for our brothers in the denominations, instead I hear people speaking poorly about them.

What's happened? Did the churches change radically in the last 10 or so years? Is it something specific to Kansas? The perspective of a mid-20s and mid-30s person is different, so of course I have changed to.