New here
Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 7:40 am
Hi All,
For the purposes of this forum I go by "A". I grew up in a CoC in Alabama. I think that I was pressured to "join" (or as most of you know, that means to be baptized) too early in my youth. I felt that guilt and fear played a huge part in why I joined when I did. When I left for college, I was free to explore on my own and bringing back questions to my home church always caused an issue. Overtime, I left but caught a lot of grief for it (including from my family). I think things really escalated when my paternal grandfather passed. He was a deacon in the Southern Baptist Church. I remember talking with my maternal grandmother about attending a local Baptist Church (At this time you were lucky if I attended at all). Her exact respones to me was "You might as well not even be going to church then." The constant toxic enviroment and the blatant hypocrisy finally led me to completely leave the church. I currently do not attend church and find myself defensive when Christianity or church is brought up in conversation. I still believe in God, but I feel revulsion to congregational worship. My husband is from a CoC as well. His congregation was more conservative than my own. They believed in no fellowship halls and women wearing head coverings. He has the same attitude as I do. His parents and sister still attend and pressue us into going all the time. (I don't get too pressured from my side since my dad is Baptist and understands my reasons for not wanting to attend). I joined this forum because even though I have been gone from the CoC for years, I still have unresolved issues from my time there. I hope to find support, understanding, and friendship within this group.
~A
For the purposes of this forum I go by "A". I grew up in a CoC in Alabama. I think that I was pressured to "join" (or as most of you know, that means to be baptized) too early in my youth. I felt that guilt and fear played a huge part in why I joined when I did. When I left for college, I was free to explore on my own and bringing back questions to my home church always caused an issue. Overtime, I left but caught a lot of grief for it (including from my family). I think things really escalated when my paternal grandfather passed. He was a deacon in the Southern Baptist Church. I remember talking with my maternal grandmother about attending a local Baptist Church (At this time you were lucky if I attended at all). Her exact respones to me was "You might as well not even be going to church then." The constant toxic enviroment and the blatant hypocrisy finally led me to completely leave the church. I currently do not attend church and find myself defensive when Christianity or church is brought up in conversation. I still believe in God, but I feel revulsion to congregational worship. My husband is from a CoC as well. His congregation was more conservative than my own. They believed in no fellowship halls and women wearing head coverings. He has the same attitude as I do. His parents and sister still attend and pressue us into going all the time. (I don't get too pressured from my side since my dad is Baptist and understands my reasons for not wanting to attend). I joined this forum because even though I have been gone from the CoC for years, I still have unresolved issues from my time there. I hope to find support, understanding, and friendship within this group.
~A