StrawberryQueen
Well-Known Member
Have you ever turned away from Christ or the church? Why? What brought you back?
My experience: I was brought up in a church enviornment that was toxic and basically evil. It's a small church built by my great grandmother-so of course I had to go. The old Sunday School teacher was fired-but still in the church, b/c the Deacons were sitting in the front row and looking up her dress. The new Sunday School teacher is a pedophile and a child abuser (oh did I mention she's related to me?).
The old pastor was about 80 and was out of his mind. Once he preached on the evils of the US women's soccer team. He was unintelligible (not his fault-he was old), but the church refused to hire the new pastor they had taken on. Sooo we listened to the old pastor for 10 more years ramble and rave.
The new pastor was a well known womanizer, had problems with alcohol (which he refused to resolve) and was trying to hit on every woman in the church.
Then they ran him off and we got a whole new group of people who had children who had sex, did drugs and ran wild-in the church, literally. These people were all about money and installed all this fancy new equipment w/o telling anyone they were doing it and then tried to make us all pay for it.
And to top it off the parishoners (all 20 of them, me and my family included) are 70+ and hate anyone under the age of 70, and hate each other. They've all been in the church so long that they have such histories with each other, ranging from voodoo curses being put on people to abortions, rapes in the church and it goes on and on.
Needless to say, for a long time I felt no real tie to Christianity or the church other than I believed Jesus was my Savior. Oh I was also forced to be baptized. I came one day with my grandmother and when they did the alter call they all came up to me and said, "well? Are you ready?" I was 12.
It wasn't until I got to college and saw my friend convert to Islam that I was brought back. I didn't buy her excuse of Christianity being "too hard to understand." So I took it upon myself to educate myself on my religion and find out what's really going on. And now I'm here!
Anyone else have any stores to share? Phew I know that was long!
My experience: I was brought up in a church enviornment that was toxic and basically evil. It's a small church built by my great grandmother-so of course I had to go. The old Sunday School teacher was fired-but still in the church, b/c the Deacons were sitting in the front row and looking up her dress. The new Sunday School teacher is a pedophile and a child abuser (oh did I mention she's related to me?).
The old pastor was about 80 and was out of his mind. Once he preached on the evils of the US women's soccer team. He was unintelligible (not his fault-he was old), but the church refused to hire the new pastor they had taken on. Sooo we listened to the old pastor for 10 more years ramble and rave.
The new pastor was a well known womanizer, had problems with alcohol (which he refused to resolve) and was trying to hit on every woman in the church.
Then they ran him off and we got a whole new group of people who had children who had sex, did drugs and ran wild-in the church, literally. These people were all about money and installed all this fancy new equipment w/o telling anyone they were doing it and then tried to make us all pay for it.
And to top it off the parishoners (all 20 of them, me and my family included) are 70+ and hate anyone under the age of 70, and hate each other. They've all been in the church so long that they have such histories with each other, ranging from voodoo curses being put on people to abortions, rapes in the church and it goes on and on.
Needless to say, for a long time I felt no real tie to Christianity or the church other than I believed Jesus was my Savior. Oh I was also forced to be baptized. I came one day with my grandmother and when they did the alter call they all came up to me and said, "well? Are you ready?" I was 12.
It wasn't until I got to college and saw my friend convert to Islam that I was brought back. I didn't buy her excuse of Christianity being "too hard to understand." So I took it upon myself to educate myself on my religion and find out what's really going on. And now I'm here!
Anyone else have any stores to share? Phew I know that was long!