How I Was Socialized Growing Up

I was raised in a home that was Baptist, but we did not attend church every week. I did attend church by myself from the third grade through the ninth grade. We lived in an upper-middle class neighborhood that was almost 100% white. My aunts and uncles, as well as my grandparents, lived close by so we visited frequently.

My experience with Christianity began in the Roman Catholic Church of St. Helena’s in South Minneapolis. I grew up a die-hard; attending every week with my mother and sister. I never understood the concept of God, Jesus and the Holy

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.

This night was one of the best nights there ( and not just because I was leading it). This night was the night that people opened up the most, and let there walls down, and let one another see each other's brokenness, that we may be healed by the Lord, keep each accountable, and pray for one another. This was the first time that I knew that I was supposed to go into ministry, although I had thought about it before. Here on this mission trip was also when I knew that I was going to be baptized for the second time. I was baptized once before, I knew that I had realized that I was not completely aware of what I was doing. I told my youth pastor that I wanted to be baptized aging, and he was very happy for me. We got back from our mission trip, and about a month later I was baptized by my youth pastor on July 31, 2016. The only way I could describe how I felt afterward was “complete”. It made with special experience even better, that I was able to share it with all of my church family, that has supported my through my walk with

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

The two churches I attended were First Baptist and Frazer Methodist Church. The experiences I had were not too far from each other meaning they weren't really all that different. The First Church I went to was Frazer. When I first got there I was a little confused because I didn't really know anybody at first. But as I got in to the church and started to meet more people I felt very welcomed like I was meant to go the church. When the service started the first thing that happened was the Youth Minister came and spoke to us. He was telling us about the mission trips they are currently doing and also what they had been learning about in the weekly service for the past few months they had been talking about being spiritually fit for God. After he talked to us about that he sent us all off and we went to Sunday School. At Sunday school there

I grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Eureka, where I still live today. If you ever look at me and wonder where that scar on my forehead came from, well it happened when I was roughly 12 months old when I fell out of a moving car. My parents raised me as a Methodist at the Eureka United Methodist Church. During my years attending Geggie Elementary School, every Sunday my parents would force me to get out of bed and go to Church with them. During church, all the children would go to Sunday school while the parents were listening to the sermon. In Sunday school, we had a teacher, sometimes my mom, who would give out fun church related activities. However, I did not enjoy doing that mostly because it involved getting out of bed early and since I did not like the subject matter either, but at that age, children do not fully grasp the importance of attending church and

Born and raised in Marion, Iowa and into an evangelical church, my parents “Baby Dedicated” my life to christ. At age 5 my family moved to New Covenant Bible Church. When I was young I didn't think much of church, it was just something you did and was merely going through the motions. But when I hit middle school my parents made me go to church every Wednesday and Sunday. Key phrase, made me. At this point in my life I didn't like church, at all. As I grew older, I wanted to be at church less and less. And I dreaded going every time Sunday morning rolled around. I had the mindset that the world had more to offer me than Christ did. And so I made excuses and put up fights and soon I rarely went to church. My family went but I stayed

When I was 14 years old, I started attending a Seventh Day Adventist church. Although I was not Seventh Day Adventist, some of my aunts were and my mother thought it was a great

When I was a kid, I was taken to church on a weekly basis. My foundation in God was learned as a child. I loved to read the bible and there was this one particular Bible story book that I had, which I read cover to cover. My favorite story to read was the book of David. I was very intrigued with him and all that he had gone through prior to becoming a king. I loved the fact that David liked to dance. Once I grew up, I continued to go to church, but it was more out of ritual. I was not learning because the pastors would talk above my understanding most of the time. The only thing that I did understand was that when it was almost time to dismiss there would began to be a lot of whooping hollering and spitting. I would be at the club getting my bounce on Saturdays and I went to church on Sundays sometimes just hours after coming home from the club. I knew that I should have been living a more Godly life than i was, but I continued to have my fun

As I grew up I attended a church daycare which taught us about the bible, Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed (AWANA), and other various church activities. I had always been around the Christian beliefs. However, my personal walk didn’t start until the summer after my freshmen year after attending a summer camp called Momentum; now, I am unashamed to claim that I am a Christian and I love to share my faith with other people.

I have been raised in the Methodist church since the day I was born. Every Sunday morning you could find all five of us in the second row of the 8:30 service and then we would all go our separate ways for Sunday school. It was a rare week that we were not at church

I vividly recall growing up in church in Southeast Oklahoma and the memories I carry about this time help me to appreciate my Christian heritage.

We had just moved across town from League City, Texas to Cypress, Texas, and my husband Mark and just moved his business from Downtown, Texas to Cypress, Texas. And this is the part where God was working, as we were seeking the place where He wanted us to be. I had been talking with my sister, who was helping me settle into our new house, and telling her that we were interested in finding a non-denominational church, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could be close by. While my sister was reading the “subdivision newsletter”, and this was all taking place while we were talking about where to attend church, she jumped out of the chair she was sitting in, ran over to me and said, “Bunnie, here is the church you are looking for, it is right in the neighborhood”. Of course, I was so excited, and promptly told my husband we have to go and check this church out. So, that Sunday we went to what started out as Fairfield Christian Fellowship, and today is known as Fountain of Life Church of God, pastored by John and Kerry LaLonde. The church met at that time in the pastor’s home, so it was a smaller church body, with about 30 people in attendance that particular Sunday. Everyone was welcoming and friendly, the praise and worship was wonderful, the uncompromised word of God preached, that is when we knew this is where God wanted

The family is the single most important agent of socialization because the family is the first and most continuous social world for infants and children. The family provides the child's initial social identity in terms of race, religion, social class, and gender. In time,