L is for Lutheran

I grew up as a Lutheran.  I was raised in an Evangelical Lutheran Chuch in America (ELCA) church.  Even when I was born, I was baptized in an ELCA church up in Midland, MI.  I went to Vacation Bible School there when I was small.  When we moved to Lake Charles, there was only a small ELCA congregation.  It was awesome when I was little and it also had an awesome pastor. Sadly, he had AIDS that he got from a blood transfusion in the 1970s.  They didn't know about checking for AIDS at the time that he got the blood transfusion.  The next pastor was not so great, but the youth ministry was still under a strong and caring leader.

I can't say much about after he left.  I can't say much about the people who ran the music program.  I stayed in handbells and choirs because I loved music.  However, the people weren't very caring and encouraged  competition between members and also bullied me and my sister.  They encouraged the people that bullied us.

Anyway, the next pastor we had was awesome, though.   I had also started going to a Seventh Day Adventist Church while going to the Lutheran church.  I picked up some of my beliefs at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but found that I was mainly Lutheran due to most of my beliefs.

However, I had also been reading books about Christianity and I had gone to a few different denomination's worship services.  I learned about different things from these and from Christian friends.

I grew even more when I was in college.  It seems odd, but a couple of the classes where I definitely grew spiritually were my Honors English class and my Stage Combat class.

Was I still Lutheran?  Maybe not according to everything said.  However, I read the basic beliefs of the ELCA and they are the closest to mine.  I still have beliefs from all over.  I love other congregations, too.

In fact, there was a huge to-do at the local ELCA church that made it so I am not comfortable going there any longer.  It was bad.  They blamed me for things I never did.

However, I still love being affiliated with the Lutheran church.  However, I go to an Episcopal church in the morning and a Disciples of Christ church in the evenings.  If I can't get to the Episcopal church in the mornings, I watch a Methodist worship service on television.

I'm still growing spiritually - which is also a point that made me not like the local Lutheran Church.  They seemed to think that once you are confirmed (eighth grade!) that you don't need to continue growing spiritually - that's it!  They said, "you're an adult in the eyes of the church."  Then, they didn't treat me like one at all.  I had graduated college and they treated me like a child!

It's a mess because even though this happened months prior to writing the article, I was still very emotional about it.  It is difficult to not get emotional about it.

Read Review and Story of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lake Charles, LA.