The Pros and the Cons

I don't go to church

I used to go to mass every week when I was still in middle school. Sometimes I had to practically drag my parents to take me. Every night, before I went to bed I would read my Bible and pray. I studied my bible and tried to live like God wanted me to.

When I was a teenager, I started going to a Methodist church with my friends. It was great. It was a United Methodist Church. I was in the choir and we went on retreats. I really liked the minister, too. I even shared some of my teenage secrets with him. I volunteered to cold-call people on the phone to invite them to attend.

Then, when I was a student at Purdue, I joined a different church. It was the Boston Church of Christ. At Purdue, they were known as “Campus Advance”. Real hands-on discipleship and such. I met the woman who would become my wife there.

They were one of those groups that believed that they had the one way to God and that everyone else was lost. I didn’t want to be lost, so I stayed with the group right up until the time the congregation I attended in Indianapolis split away from the international organization.

Since then, most of the folks I knew from back then aren’t interested in talking to me. They’re polite, but short. Except for my wife, of course. She’s polite, but of normal height. She’s the best thing going in my life and I thank God for her every day. We’ve been married for over 11 years and, if you ever met her or had a conversation with her, you’d be happy for me.

Now I’m at a point in my life where I want to be a part of a congregation where I can feel at home. I want to share my faith and attend Bible studies. I want to volunteer.

Maybe I could go back to the Methodists. I wonder if they’d have us…