Going To A Church : Going To The Church

I waited till exactly 12:00 to get out of my car at St. John's. Shaking, I walked to the entrance. The huge double-doors welcomed me to the church. I had to rethink my decision if I was really going to go in there. I didn’t know who was in there or what they wanted. Still shaking, I slowly and steadily tipped toed inside. I popped off the ground like a cat when the double-doors slammed together making a violent ruckus. The only light that shined in the church was at the end of the long walkway. It was a note that

Chances are if you grew up in the south, then you most likely have been to a church service before. I remember as a kid getting the wakeup call every Sunday morning from my mom, “Get up and get dressed for church!” Even if I did not feel like going, she would drag me out of bed and make me go. Anne Lamott writes about the same thing in her essay “Why I Make Sam Go to Church.” Lamott wrote “Why I Make Sam Go to Church” in 1999 as part of a collection of autobiographical essays in a book called Traveling Mercies. My main reaction to this work was a positive one. I thought the essay was eye opening in a sense and it shows that everyone needs guidance and help from others sometimes.

My parents sat me down and went over with me again the family values that they wanted to instill in my sibling and myself. They brought back our religious beliefs that we have also grown up with and we may not chose to live our life by all the ways of the Catholic faith but to live a humble and honest life is what my parents have wanted for us. I do feel that even though I may not go to church every Sunday, I do believe in the ways of the lord now. I have asked for forgiveness and try to make sure that I live the type of life that makes god and my family proud of me.

When choosing a religious service I was very limited on my choices so I was intrigued to go back to my roots and try the Catholic denomination. This denomination is the one that is most prevalent in my community and also in my social circle as well. Since I have actually been to a Catholic church as a child I thought I knew what to expect but I was shocked at how naive I was to the subject. My preconceived ideas and thoughts were that there would be a lot of getting down on your knees then back up again then saying your Hail Mary’s with not much depth to a service. Also growing up with a social group that was full of Catholics you would always hear of confession so that was something I was particularly dreading for the fact that I did not

After arriving in Tennessee, my parents were very adamant about getting plugged into a church. I was raised in church but up until then, I went because I was told to. Usually I had to count ceiling lights or people in pews to keep from falling asleep during sermons. We attended countless services, but it wasn’t until one special Sunday that we found Sand Ridge Baptist Church. Unbeknownst to me, it would change my life.

When we had first arrived at the church, I found it was in an odd location. The building connects with a Crossfit gym, that is between two other buildings. As we entered an old man held the door for the three of us and welcomed us. We walked in, having two other gentlemen welcoming us and referring to us as ladies. The room was a lot smaller than I had expected. There was around twenty people at the meeting. We sat in the fifth or sixth row. The front of the room is where the pulpit stood, which is where the pastor taught. There was also a table with the word “Remember” engraved in it. On the table sat two plates for money donations. I looked around the room and noticed all the posters on the walls. Many of them reference the crucifixion of Christ, with a scripture on it. The room had fake plants everywhere! They were on the ground, hanging on the walls, etc. It was to invite spring into the

In recent days I had the opportunity to go back to North Carolina for a few short days. There, with a heavy heart from a loss in the family, I had nothing else to look towards. I’ve always heard of individuals finding peace, faith, blessings, and love of Christ from attending church. I’ve never been a person who put their faith into a higher power. As I was growing up my parents never wanted to force me into any religion without me knowing everything about it and choosing which route to take on my own. As the years treaded on, I never bothered myself to learn about the many different religions and what each stands for. So I used this opportunity as mine to attend church for the very first time. I attended the Roman Catholic services held

Moving to the United states was a very hard transition for my family not only economically but also on our believes. It was hard to find a church where we felt comfortable and for a while we didn’t go to church at all. Moreover, after a few years we settled down and my mom had become very interested in Christianity. There was a beautiful Christian church with wonderful people where we used to go for a

Going to a church that is not of your current denomination or faith is an uncommon thing to do. We are accustomed to staying within the group of people that have common beliefs, especially in regards to religion. Therefore, attending a different church can be uncomfortable for some. Personally, I had the irrational fear of being rejected by church goers of a Southern Baptist church for worshiping the same God in a different manner. Despite my initial concern of being left out or unacknowledged at the sermon, Panther Creek Baptist Church was humble, welcoming, and open to talk about the regular attendants.

On the Sunday, the 20th of September I went to St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church located in 4335 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20011. The church rents out the National Theater for service every Sunday. This church is a non-denominational church and it is not at all traditional. The Pastor is Brandon Samuel, a middle-aged man with a wife and kids. The service was from 10:00 am to about 12:00 pm. I am a Christian so this church experience was not new to me, but it was quite different from my church at home as the church I attend back home is a Pentecostal church.

For as long as I can remember my family and I have attended church almost every Sunday. Being from small town Iowa, everyone around me had always accepted the same ideas and beliefs as me, so I never had seen a different perspective. I had stayed within my comfort zone for fifteen years at this point in time, and I had no intentions of going outside of it any time soon. Part of being in this comfort zone was attending youth group every Wednesday night. Instead of being something I

The church I usually go to is Mision Evangelica Foursquare Church located in the city of Huntington Park. I have attended my church since I was two years old. It is very small in size and consists of no more than fifty members. My church is plain and does not have any fancy chandeliers or artistic windows. We do not have any statues of the virgin Mary because we do not rejoice her and we do not have a statue of Jesus Christ because we already have him in our hearts. I like my church because I feel welcomed, loved and complete. I also like St. Brendan because it is wonderful because in every corner there is a story to

Recently, I passed a through a small town in Massachusetts. It just so happened that very evening, a parade was to take place. I arrived late in the evening by ferry, and walked through the dark streets for some time. Further up the road I could see two figures, a woman with a scarlet petticoat and a boy. Before I could approach them, I happened upon a pleasant inn and, taking note of my rumbling stomach, decided to find a meal. The innkeeper, a French Protestant he told me, greeted me upon my entering and remarked that I was the second guest to come through. As I sat down to sup, an old man with a concerning cough sat beside me. Although we did not hold conversation, I heard him mumble about a “young country boys not knowing their place”.

I decided to go to a Baptist Church here in Miami. The reason that I chose Coral Park Baptist Church was because most Baptist Churches that I called here in Miami had the service in Spanish but Coral Park Baptist had an English service as well. I went to the eleven o’clock service on Sunday. The whole church itself was pretty big. There is the main temple that has the regular service in Spanish and then there is a whole other building that has separate classrooms where the English service is held and other Sunday school type classes are held.

Since the day I was born my parents took my sister and me to church ever Sunday. I grew up in a loving Christian home and was encouraged at an age where I could fully understand, to purse a relationship with Jesus. I accepted Christ into my heart when I was in the second grade and was baptized in the fourth grade at age 10. Growing up I have always been super involved in Church. I have a heart for people and love serving. Since 3rd grade until now, my senior year of high school I have been on the leadership team with my youth group. I can not imagine my life without Jesus as the center. I have been pushed to step out of my comfort zone and because of that I have grown in several different ways. For example, I am an extrovert and enjoy getting new people, but never liked public speaking as I felt nervous and intimidated. By the many adult leaders, and pastors coming along side of me and encouraging me to step of on my comfort zone I now highly enjoy speaking and spreading the truth about The Lord in big groups of people. I am so thankful for the many God loving people that have come in my life and helped stretch me. Jesus is my entire life and I am nothing without him.