Can't we all just get along?

Ever sit in a church building and think to yourself, "What is this place?" How about thinking that the catholic are different than Christians? And what of the house church heretics?
i went to a wedding the other day at an Episcopal church. The ceremony was lovely, as were the buildings and the grounds. As we entered and sat down i took in my surroundings and thought to myself how disturbing as my stomach churned at the thought that a community could meet in such a place. As the Rector stepped in to conduct the ceremony i was equally nauseated by the stage, the microphone, the priestly garb, the scripted prayers, and on and on. . . .
It was only later that it hit me. How dare i?!?!?!?!?!? i had just spent the better part of an hour tearing down and criticizing something that people used to get and feel close to God.
No, it didn't help me or harbor a sense of closeness with God in my opinion, but, since when was i the center of the universe?
Just because i feel closest to God at the base of a redwood grove, or in my living room doesn't mean that everyone does!
A friend of mine has been struggling with the idea of how/where she worships best. She is torn between the comfort of the traditions that she has grown up with in the "structured" church, and the power and intimacy of the house church.
It got me thinking. i thought about all of the different denominations. i thought about all of the "My way is the right way" line of thinking. i thought about all the dissension and the inability to get along. i thought about how much more we could get done for the sake of the Kingdom if we could just work together.
We as Christians tend to overlook one small truth. There is only one church. We have created a lot of denominations.
Now in truth, there are some groups out there that are way out in left field (and in some cases they are not even playing in the same park), and there are in every denomination some really quirky and off the wall practices. At the core of it all, though, we are working toward the same end.
God made us all in his image and if he made us all unique, can't we assume that our relationships to God are also unique??

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus:

"There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman (as recorded by John in chapter 4):

"Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. . . Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Paul also wrote to the Church in Rome (chapter 14):

"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. . .One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. . . You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. . . Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. . . Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. . . Everything that does not come from faith is sin."

Could i be wrong? Looking at these passages it would seem to me that God's intent for the church is for us to relate to God. Each of us in our own unique way. When we come together to worship corporately we should be understanding of each others differences. If the early church fathers had really read and understood the fourteenth chapter of the letter to the church in Rome i firmly believe that there would not be so many denominations today! i mean really? Are there going to be "religious subdivisions" in heaven?

God be praised for our unity and our uniqueness!!