I've been thinking about posting this for a while, since I know it could probably help some here. That's why I'm posting it in the main forum (so more people can see it), but if the mods see fit to move it to PPR, please do so. I'm not trying to push anything, just "putting it out there" as a possible solution for some.
So, for about 2 1/2 years now, I've been attending church/services at the college chapel that's about half an hour from where I live, which has been nice. I work every other weekend (and they only have services when classes are in, so nothing during summer or the Winter/Spring breaks), so I'm there about 2 Sundays a month, and take the slower route driving there, so I'm not really using a ton of gas. The chaplain knows me by my first name and says hi to me when I head out, and there is a handshake and "peace be with you" part of the service. I know some people to see them, but I mostly sit in the back pews and don't know anyone on a more personal level. They have the choir/ringers/college students/etc., but a few families with younger kids and babies seem to be there, as well as some older people. I don't know (like I said, not knowing people personally) if other people there are mostly graduates from the college or just live around the area, but it's a nice place to attend where nobody gives me trouble. The town is nice too; it being a college town, there's a lot of little restaurants and stores on the main street, also with a college Barnes & Noble.
(I don't want to argue about this; I'm just telling the details) So, I was pretty much born into a non-religious family, but converted (kinda covertly, haha) to Christianity in my mid-teens. In life, I've experienced un/underemployment, living at home, and got my driver's license late, so I never went to church until about 23. I knew enough to watch out for obvious bad stuff, but never having been in that kind of environment/inexperienced or been around what I call "society people" at that point, things ended up not working out. I never got any outright nastiness, but a lot of little things were said, and to make a long story short, I just felt uneasy there (I was there for about 5 1/2 years, so I was maybe a little slow to pick up on some of it. Like I said, inexperienced). After a few years of this, I was thinking, "I came here on my own; why don't I just slip out on my own? Nothing's holding me here".
I'm not sure how I ever first heard about the college chapel; I think maybe I read about them under them "Churches" section in one of the local papers somewhere along the line. Anyway, I decided to try going somewhere where I could mostly go in and out unknown. I was dealing with mostly a lot of social status junk and another harassment situation at that time. Anyhow, I have been going there since late 2014, and I consider doing that an improvement in my life.
On this board, I know a lot of people have social issues as well as unemployment, low/no income, or not being someone that fits in with middle/upper income or status quo people for many reasons. Which is unfortunate in pushing people out of "regular churches", but I'm hoping that I'm putting out a solution (not that this might work for everyone, but could be useful in some cases?) that there are other places that have religious services if you want to attend them. I think some hospitals might have chapels with weekly services? Some larger areas might have similar things for other religions?
Worst comes to worst, there's always the Bible, books, etc. you can still read.
23 Apr 2017, 8:06 pm
