Reply to Uncomfortable religious situations you were forced into

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "Uncomfortable religious situations you were forced into"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Mine was when I was 14. We were also Lutherans and friends of my parents had changed to Assembly of God, which was a small church in our community at that time. The wife, eldest daughter and her husband, and 2 younger sons had formed a gospel group which performed regularly at their services. I was friends with one of the boys from school--choir and band friends--and I enjoyed their company. I got volunteered by my parents to be their pianist (although I never caught on the the gospel piano thumping they were hoping for, I was totally a read the music and play the notes piano player).

Services were bizarre to a lifelong Lutheran. Endless. No program/liturgy like my own church had so you could never tell where you were in the countdown until it was all over. A lot of visual aids--film strips and banners, very garish. Speaking in tongues which really frightened me, I was afraid whatever it was would grab me and I'd be doing it do. Altar call, the older boy would spend a long time praying at the altar after service and I could see he was weeping. The eldest daughter often being "possessed by the spirit"--i.e. falling apparently unconscious in the center aisle at the end of the service so people would be stepping over her. So even when the service was done, it wasn't done.

I could mostly tolerate it (aside from the lurking fear over speaking in tongues) but one night the minister's wife trapped me at the end of a pew (next to the wall) and did a huge push to get me saved, born again, etc. She said it was ok if I had always been Lutheran (a lot of former Lutherans and Catholics in the congregation) and made me pray with her, etc. That was the worst.

I never rebelled--I was friends with the one boy and the parents and my parents were friends--the dad worked with my dad. Actually, my own dad was a church-going atheist, for him it was a social thing, participation in the community. I think they found a piano-thumper after awhile. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics