Religious ThreadDecided to start this so others can spread their thoughts on religion (without any political commentary so it can be kept General, not Fast Lane).It seems a few other threads end up tracking away from the original topic into religious discussion. Not wrong with that, but I feel that belongs separately from what the original topic was about.
Feel free to post whatever you want here, exercising the 1st Amendment which included freedom of the press and freedom of religion. Just don't push or go overboard that your religion or denomination is better than others in worshipping God or Jesus. Because no religion is better than another. It depends on your personal beliefs, and how you want to worship and have faith in the Almighty. If you're an atheist, that's ok too, you're still welcome to post.For me, my paternal grandparents and dad were always Lutheran. There's Missouri Synod Lutherans, which is more strict on everyday life and ELCA, which is the Lutheran area I grew up in (name has changed over the years)
My parents joined a Lutheran church in Pekin in November, 1963 with me and my sister. I've been a member there ever since.
I got married there, my daughters were baptized there, they got married there, and my parents's and father in law's funerals were there. My Springfield daughter was active in church as a teen, and now both her husband and her are active with youth in their Lutheran church in Springfield. Younger daughter is a Lutheran member, but switches off attending her husband's Catholic masses with their daughter.We happen to believe that baptism takes away your sin, but we always confess sins every Sunday as part of the service. We take communion every Sunday, although years ago it was always just the 1st Sunday. We hear sermons mostly based on the Gospel lesson that day, but we also worship and honor God and the Holy Spirit. Strong beliefs in God The Father, God the Son, and God The Holy Spirit. Our church congregation is small, mostly retired members, with only a few under the age of 60. We have just 1 family with children, unfortunately, but we've gained a few new middle aged members in the past year. However, our members are resilient, we donate to Pekin Outreach, Pekin's House of Hope (extension of CFPA), and host community events in the summer and a Trunk or Treat before Halloween. Just last November, we started Livestreaming our services, but I'm the only one that sits in a back room remotely operating the camera. No one else wants to learn it. So the camera stays on a wide shot when I'm up front as a Lay Assistant some Sundays.Ok, I'm done, sorry for the long post. I'm interested in hearing others experiences in growing up in whatever church or denomination you belonged to.