I am decidedly Methodist....
I have great love for the UMC. Aside from the fact that American hymnody just about owes everything to Charles Wesley, I also appreciate the four steps of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience.
I, too, have studied pretty much all the mainline traditions, and a handful of others. I have yet to find one that's "perfect." They all have pluses and minuses. Sometimes I think God is calling me to start a new denomination (actually, I think God wants me to try to unite a bunch of the current ones -- CCDOC, EC, ELCA, PCUSA, UCC, and UMC, maybe also ABC -- and anyone else who would want to join) Alphabet soup Christianity.
Here's how I see it. There's a beautiful and large bouquet of flowers sitting on a table. A group of people are sitting around that table and describing the flowers. One person says, "Those are the most beautiful roses I have ever seen." Another one says, "Well, yes, they are beautiful, but they're not roses. Clearly, they are carnations." A third person says, "You're both nuts. Clearly, they are lilies, and far more perfect than any thorned rose or common carnation could ever be." The people continue to argue around the table. Each is correct as far as they can see -- but because no one person can see the entire bouquet, none of them are able to recognize that the others are also correct.
Not that there are no false doctrines out there. I think there are some churches say things that are just plain wrong, and using the above analogy, someone might be looking at the same carnations as someone else but insist that they are plastic instead of freshly cut, live flowers. (Okay, I admit, the analogy isn't perfect.) There
are false doctrines being taught, against which we must guard; but I think a lot of the things we argue about are what I referred to before as "cosmetic," aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, and are merely different because God is just so huge no one person can possibly fathom the fullness that is the divine; the best we can do is see shards, shadows, glimpses of God, and one person's glimpse may not exactly match another person's. That doesn't mean either one of those people are wrong -- it just mean they're getting different glimpses of the same Almighty God.
And which doctrines are the right ones and which are the wrong ones? Well, I know which I believe, according to Scripture and the Holy Spirit, are right and wrong. But I don't think it's my job to tell you you're wrong. If you are a sister or brother in Christ, and you come to me in sincerity, seeking correct teaching, I will share with you what the Spirit has shared with me through the Bible, the Word of God. If that is different from what you have been told before, we can continue to discuss, pray, and read the Bible about it. Maybe I am wrong, and you will be able to show me where I am in error. Maybe you are wrong, and I will be able to show you from Scripture. But I try not to get preachy with that unless a person specifically asks. (LOL ... I
try ... didn't say I always succeed!)