thinking of visiting my old church for a Sunday service

[Not Heidi]

Last edited Wed May 17, 2023, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

My grandma took me to Vacation Bible School, where I was "saved" at age six. The church of my childhood was Huntington Valley Baptist Church in Fountain Valley, CA.

The last time I was in that church was just before I left for Los Angeles Baptist College in 1981.

I might do this because I'm curious. The church's name hasn't changed, but have the sanctuary and service changed at all? I wonder.

If I go, I'll sing with the congregation. Singing is the only thing I miss about church. But I won't pray, or say "amen," or put anything into the plate, and I definitely won't take communion.

No, I'm an avowed atheist. Curious, yes, but not susceptible to re-conversion.

Your thoughts?

Link: http://www.huntingtonvalleybaptistchurch.com/
(I see from their website that they no longer have a choir loft . . . pity.)

[Karadeniz]

1. Satisfy your curiosity...

[Not Heidi]

4. Thank you. I shall. n/t

[MutantAndProud]

2. Whatever floats your boat

I won’t be doing the same, but I understand degrees of nostalgia.

[Not Heidi]

3. And that's what it is: nostalgia.

Also, I've begun writing my memoirs and I could use a memory boost from those years of my life.

[MutantAndProud]

5. My experience never linked

The church to anything positive, it was merely a vessel for other facets it had homogenized into a power nexus (my early awareness of this led to many punishments from an early age, thus confirming the invalidity and erasing the nostalgia value). Many others do not have an experience that rough, and I am glad that those that didn’t suffer from it were able to remain happy with their situation even if it evolved or they ended up departing from their church or religion.

[Not Heidi]

6. Oh, I suffered

thanks to the church. That's what a significant portion of my memoirs is about. But the church's deleterious effect was, in large part, indirect. It taught me that everything was God's will and that that was not to be questioned.

[MutantAndProud]

7. I think I understand

I experienced it both directly and indirectly, even into adulthood after declaring my independence from it.