From the moment I was born, I was thrown into a church. I’m not even sure where I started attending church, and I don’t think it really matters. I was an infant, and I was going to attend where my mom was. When my stepfather was introduced in 1985, that’s when Mom lost the say in where we went and that was it. I remember Berean Church, an affluent church in the Muskegon suburb of Norton Shores. And at Berean, if you weren’t Norton Shores wealthy, you were nothing. I couldn’t make friends with those kids; all interactions felt forced and it was hideous to even be there. Anyway, I think my dad was trying to land a pastoral role, or at least an assistantship. Either way, he was unsuccessful, and Mom and I were dragged along for the ride. Sometime in here, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. Later, I realized I did this because Mommy and Daddy wanted me to.
The next church I remember was Northside Bible Church in North Muskegon. Better group of people than Berean to be sure… at least the kids were easier to connect with. How we found out about this church is irrelevant to be sure, all I know is we were there. And everything started out fantastic. But a few years in, there was trouble brewing. The church split for some reason (for all I know, one group wanted green napkins on Christmas while the other group wanted red). The group that wanted green napkins on Christmas went away, leaving us with the pastor and the group that wanted red napkins.
