OKAY.
Here it is.
I refer often to being involved in eight churches in six denominations, and thought you might want to know what the hey they were... so in case you were wondering, this is WHAT THEY WERE...
1) For starters: I was raised in a Polish Catholic family, complete with the full dose of guilt and kneeling for punishment. I remember staring around at all of the stained glass and statues and just KNOWING that I was interested in God, but wasn't gonna find him there...I was also briefly involved in an ultra-charismatic church when I was 17. Other than this 6 months or so, which I think just confused me, I believed in God but lacked real connection...
2) United Pentecostal Church, WI---Right out of the starting gate of believing God was real and that I loved Him and actually WANTED a relationship with Him.....well, you see, the person that had shared God with us was from this delightful Holiness denomination that suddenly stripped me of the rather colorful personality I was born with... goodbye to pants, makeup and FUN....
3) United Pentecostal Church, IL---As my husband went down to Champaign-Urbana to get his master's in music, OF COURSE we had to find a church in our "correct" denom; this place had an utterly OBNOXIOUS pastor who was extremely heirarchical... this place took holiness church to a whole new level of bondage. Stripped my personality even further at this joint.
4) Independent Pentecostal Church, WI--- We returned to WI of COURSE because that's where our original "church family" was and that's what you "should" do... but the pastor left the UPC and we went from being UPCers to being ex UPCers in an independent pentecostal mess of random doctrine---and then that pastor resigned and the pastor that took over sold this church and put the $ into a church right here where I live now in Waupaca. It was VERY mushy and things got VERY weird, as if they weren't weird enough in UPC anyhow...so we decided it was time for a move to....
5) Charismatic Camp! NC -----Down to the Deep South where they still have Dixie on the jukebox, after all of the charismaniac in-freaking-sanity of the previous place, we THOUGHT we were signing up for a normal Christian camp but we were actually signing up for half a summer of living in a rotting Airstream whilst charismatic weirdness reigned supreme....
6)Baptist Church/Masters Seminary, L.A.--- Desperately seeking solidity and terra firma beneath our feet, we packed it all up and moved to sunny CA for the specific cause of Mike attending Master's Seminary; which was John MacArthur's brain child of the ultimate doctrinally sound seminary. We found it to be completely dry, dead, unbelievably patriarchal and absolutely loveless. Once we got to LA, the Baptist church was paying Mike less than half what they said they would, and the baptist church turned out to be a highly political, nasty group of older folks who were more than willing to rip the pastor to shreds. Six weeks in, I found out I was pregnant--- I had horrendous endometriosis and was considered totally infertile, it was ENTIRELY impossible and unexpected. All we could do was move back to my sister's basement in WI where she was willing to allow us to stay. My first child was born while we were living in her basement.
7)Evangelical Free Church, WI---- We were here for ten years and thought this would be the church where we ministered the rest of our lives. This was initially exciting because there was a pastor who passionately preached the love of Jesus, and THAT is what we were looking for. Bought the whole package, and in time, my husband became the pastor of worship, with me being the main worship leader. Had some really good years here, although the constant pressure of some of the more conservative people and the way it was run like a business made us frustrated at times. Then the original pastor was gone..... went without a pastor for a year, then the youth pastor became the lead pastor. At this time, my husband was working there full time and I was volunteering close to full time. I tried as hard as I could to do everything that was asked of me, although at times I disagreed sharply with what was being asked and the changes that were being imposed on the worship department. I did start to sense that this was not the best place for us to be, but we still had what I thought was a successful, thriving ministry and I especially considered the members of the worship team and the staff to be my close personal friends. Then, on a Monday morning in Feb of 2008 my husband was abruptly fired. I lost my ministry and my support network on that day; and since I had given up my paying job to volunteer more at the church, and were both relying on my husbands income, we lost all our income as well. We did receive a decent severance, at the end of which we found out---guess what? There is no unemployment compensation for clergy positions. OUCH! Our disillusionment reached a new all-time high and I almost pitched it entirely except for...
8) Radiant Fellowship, WI; A of G
This is where we are now... a grace-based church that functions as a non-denom. At this point I should have given up, right?? Prob would NOT attend church at this point, except for a guy named Bob Adams who decided to start what I may call a hospital for hurting believers; I found the freedom to BE MYSELF here at long last; even when we disagree it's ok to do so. SO here is my oasis for the moment.
So. If you include my intensely Catholic upbringing, this is 8 churches in 6 denominations. Now you know why I am cynical, I have seen abuses and ugliness across the board.
I have also seen people loved, supported, and helped, and find God, and THAT is why I am still involved with the gathering at Radiant, even though I pretty much hate the trappings of church at this point. I hope you have enjoyed the history of my church life; please message me with any questions you may have, ESP if you can relate to any of this and think you could use a friend.
Thank you for listening, and good night.
Don't let the church folk bite.
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