I’ve gone to this church since before I can remember and if there’s one thing I can say with certainty, it’s that everything I have done here has influenced my life in some way. From sitting in Sunday school, to going to youth group meetings and diocesan retreats, I’ve learned a lot about not only the bible, but also myself. You see, it’s one thing to go to church, to go to the different meetings and retreats, and just let everything continue without ever thinking to question or agree with any of it. To kind of just go just to say that you do in fact go. It’s another thing to actually experience them fully, allowing the discussions and experiences to not only move you, but change you as well.
I remember when I was still taking confirmation classes, there was one meeting where we had a deep discussion about what gender we thought god is. Now this was still when Reverend Anne was around, and this discussion was between me, LJ, Uriah, and Cindy. And when Reverend Anne asked this question, I remember taking a moment and thinking, well it would make sense if God was a girl, wouldn’t it? I mean god created the world right? And who else creates life, gives birth to life? Women do. So I gave my opinion on the matter, only to be immediately shot down by someone else in the group who I’ll leave unnamed, who said that God had to be a man because that’s how God is described as being in the bible. The bible gives god male pronouns which means god has to be a man. Now I’m not bringing this up to start another debate on whether or not God is a woman, man, or even has a gender at all. My point is the fact that we were able to even have this discussion. My point is that Reverend Anne wasn’t telling us what we had to believe. She wasn’t saying that we had to believe everything in the bible and she wasn’t saying that we could never question anything in the bible. We were allowed to have our own opinions so that we could form our own beliefs. And it was only when the meeting was over and I was on my way home that I realized just how lucky I was to be a part of a church that would allow me to have my own beliefs and still accept and respect me, no matter if my beliefs were different from someone else’s.
It is because of this church that I was able to grow not only as a person, but also in my beliefs. It is because of this church that I was able to meet other kids like me who shared a willingness to learn and believe without ever feeling restricted or trapped by one set of ideals. I want to thank everyone here who has helped mold me into the person I am today. I’d like to thank the people outside these walls as well, the people that have changed me during all the diocesan retreats. Thank you everyone, for helping to make me who I am.
