johnbugay
Puritan Board Freshman
Hi all -- I interviewed tonight with elders from my church (along with two of my kids, 14 and 11) -- the three of us are scheduled to make membership vows in front of the congregation on an upcoming Sunday.
This is the first time in my life that I've been a member of a Protestant church.
I had left the RCC as a teen. The route I took was first through a Catholic Charismatic group, then (briefly) a Protestant Charismatic church. After college in 1981 (contending with a recession), I took a job with Jeff Steinberg (The Jeff Steinberg Team - You're A Masterpiece In Progress!), as his driver, sound man, and personal assistant. I briefly attended a Southern Baptist church -- and there I gained a lifelong friend in the Pastor of that church. In my travels, I met some nice Catholic folks who were part of the pro-life movement at the time, and went back into the RCC, where I remained until the mid 1990's.
It took several years, but through the ministry of James White, I came to understand the true Gospel, and that I could not remain in the Roman Catholic Church. Over the years, I've participated in several online discussion groups of Reformed believers. I've had pastors encourage me to join a church. The nearest church to home is an Assembly of God church, but that kind of freaked everyone out. My kids and I attended an OPC church for a couple of years, in the early 2000's, but some bad luck prevented us from moving any closer to that church. (They had a fire, and the congregation ended up going in several different directions). My wife has never professed to be anything but Catholic, although I thank God that she is not at all a very good Catholic.
For the last year and a half or so, I've been attending City Reformed in Pittsburgh. My older kids have attended off and on, and I've invited them to come, but they seem to be interested in such things (though they've each expressed a kind of faith to me in the past). My three younger kids are regulars with me though; they are the ones who want to continue to maintain a relationship with the church. The four of us (my littlest is 5 years old) have been participating in the family group the last four months, and getting to know some of the folks pretty well, and tonight, as I said, my 11 year old daughter and 14 year old son each made a credible profession of faith.
I know that y'all don't know me very well, and sometimes I come off a bit harshly when writing about Catholicism. But in my heart of hearts, I'm a husband and father of six, and tonight, I'm rejoicing.
This is the first time in my life that I've been a member of a Protestant church.
I had left the RCC as a teen. The route I took was first through a Catholic Charismatic group, then (briefly) a Protestant Charismatic church. After college in 1981 (contending with a recession), I took a job with Jeff Steinberg (The Jeff Steinberg Team - You're A Masterpiece In Progress!), as his driver, sound man, and personal assistant. I briefly attended a Southern Baptist church -- and there I gained a lifelong friend in the Pastor of that church. In my travels, I met some nice Catholic folks who were part of the pro-life movement at the time, and went back into the RCC, where I remained until the mid 1990's.
It took several years, but through the ministry of James White, I came to understand the true Gospel, and that I could not remain in the Roman Catholic Church. Over the years, I've participated in several online discussion groups of Reformed believers. I've had pastors encourage me to join a church. The nearest church to home is an Assembly of God church, but that kind of freaked everyone out. My kids and I attended an OPC church for a couple of years, in the early 2000's, but some bad luck prevented us from moving any closer to that church. (They had a fire, and the congregation ended up going in several different directions). My wife has never professed to be anything but Catholic, although I thank God that she is not at all a very good Catholic.
For the last year and a half or so, I've been attending City Reformed in Pittsburgh. My older kids have attended off and on, and I've invited them to come, but they seem to be interested in such things (though they've each expressed a kind of faith to me in the past). My three younger kids are regulars with me though; they are the ones who want to continue to maintain a relationship with the church. The four of us (my littlest is 5 years old) have been participating in the family group the last four months, and getting to know some of the folks pretty well, and tonight, as I said, my 11 year old daughter and 14 year old son each made a credible profession of faith.
I know that y'all don't know me very well, and sometimes I come off a bit harshly when writing about Catholicism. But in my heart of hearts, I'm a husband and father of six, and tonight, I'm rejoicing.