Meet Your Teacher

My church life began inside a small Church of Christ in Elkhart, Indiana. It was a white country church building with simple traditional construction. When walking inside, I would face two sides of many wooden pews lined up from front to back. All the seats were covered with soft blue cushions. I was in early elementary school at the time and would sit with my parents next to my father, sometimes playing with his left hand and fingers. My parents would always sit in the same place which was about 6 rows from the front on the right side. Dad liked to droop his right shoulder down over the end of the curved wooden frame at the end of our row. I attended church every Sunday morning at 11 AM, Sunday night at 6 PM, and Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM for many years,  even on through high school.

One summer,  when I was in late elementary school,  I went to a week of church camp. The special event of the week was a hayride. I sat next to a little girl with a freckled face and brown hair. We held hands. Church suddenly took on a completely new meaning. At the first service arriving home, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, and Savior. As I aged, I questioned my level of awareness about my baptism. I believe my first church and services were scriptural. The Lord’s supper was offered each week and baptism was by full immersion. The singing was not good, as it was all unaccompanied vocal singing by the congregation and there was no choir. The minister was a country preacher with a piercing voice and flat sermons.

Fast forward to college. When I was at Oberlin College in Ohio, my parents would send me a five-dollar bill to rent a vehicle on Sunday mornings, so I could drive to Lorain,  Ohio in order to attend the local Church of Christ. I drove that trip every week during my first two years of college. I then discovered a black basement congregation located in the same city. I encouraged two of my college friends to go with me to visit the congregation. We all enjoyed the service because it was exciting. Everyone sang, clapped, and praised God and Christ with lots of energy and sincerity. It seemed more real to me than anything I had ever experienced in church. I participated in the services of the black congregation by speaking, leading singing, and presenting the Lord’s supper. After each service, there was a large buffet dinner and a wonderful fellowship. I went back to the other congregation and tried to do some of the same activities with that church. It was minimally received.

I have lived in Atlanta, Georgia from 1967 until the present time of 2021.
After I retired in 2002, I thought about my earlier baptism and decided to be baptized again. I also took an intense online course of study from Biola University for a year and received my Certificate of Apologetics.
My wife’s and my longest church membership has been at the First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Georgia. I served as a deacon there for two years and for a short time as an administrator for the poor and homeless program.

Recently, because of my long, continuous studies and devotions to God, I consider myself to be a simple, Godly man, teacher, and follower of Jesus Christ.
I am now a non – denominational Christian.