Personal Intro --

I grew up in a Christian home and attended Church wherever my mother was playing the organ. At least for the most part. There were a few places I went apart from that, but the majority were with her (and dad). My experiences in various churches and denominations have provided me with a perspective and depth of knowledge that I feel has brought me to the point of being not only qualified to share God's Word to the public, but even called. I came to this conclusion during the latter months of 2020 when my pursuit of Interior Design, catalyzed by a conversation with a friend from HS via Facebook Messenger, continued to one dead end after another*.

The comprehensive list of my Denominational experiences, listed as chronologically as possible, is as follows -- (some overlap each other, but the general timeline is there)

Episcopal - this was the first church in my personal memory. My mother played at that particular location from around the time of my birth in 1969 until February of 1982.

Baptist - while my mother never played there, my parents were members, and enrolled me into a Christian Nursery School*, and the following year (1974), into the newly founded Christian School where I later graduated in 1988. I have attended (or visited) 8 other Baptist Churches at various times, for various reasons.

Congregational - my mother's home Church is Henniker Congregational, 2 towns west of Concord, NH. As a child, I attended Vacation Bible School there one Summer. My mother also had connection with Hillsboro Center Congregational. She has never been the official organist at either one, but plays at each at least once a year*. I have since attended a Congregational church here in Concord in recent years.

Dutch Reformed - I'm not sure how it happened, exactly, but from the time I was 5 or 6 years old, continuing until the late 1990's, my mother played at the South Weare Union Church. This was a "Summer Only" congregation, as the minister, Rev. Dr. Daniel K. Poling and his wife, Evangeline, spent most of their time in NYC as Associate Pastors of world-renowned pastor, teacher, and author, Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. (Yes, THAT guy!!) I had the honor of meeting Dr. Peale and his wife, Ruth, at the Bicentennial service around July 4th 1976. I was a week away from turning 7. My older 2 kids were Christened here. Sadly, that church has long since closed due to lack of a pastor. I'm not sure if it's even available for weddings or funerals since those who had been in charge passed away about 10 yrs or so ago.

The Group with No Name -- My maternal grandfather's youngest brother (there were 4 boys in all), discovered and joined this ministry group that patterns itself after Jesus' instructions upon sending the 72 Disciples out, as presented in the Gospels of Luke and John. Some are paired up either man/man or woman/woman to travel to assigned areas from the Head Office, which, from what I've been able to gather, is somewhere in NYC. The rest are simply responsible to hold some kind of Bible Study or Church Meeting in their own homes with those they have grown close to in their respective communities. They hold Regional Meetings during the 3rd or 4th weekend of August each year. (at least that's when the Northeastern one is) If anyone is interested, talk to a member of the the Chappell Tractor family in Milford, NH.

Methodist - After the Episcopal Church where my mother had been playing closed, she was hired on at Hillsboro Methodist. Upon that occasion, I joined the Youth Group*, attended Confirmation Classes when I turned 18, became a member of both the Church and the Choir, and even spent my last year there teaching Sunday School to the 3-5 yr old class. I was 20, almost 21 by then and left for Northlands Job Corps on Tues. June10th,1990.

Assembly of God - One day shy of a month at Job Corps, my now 2x ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, introduced me to Church like I had never experienced before. The pure joy and enthusiasm of those people for God was not only palpable, but contagious. During Jeremy's and my time together back then, he also took me to his church in Brattleboro. Ironically, this is only 2 doors up the street from where my fiancé, Mike now lives*. Sadly, I have discovered from more recent time with Jer, that the Assemblies is one of the most Legalistic Christian Churches in existence. I was at the church in Ferrisburgh, VT until Feb of 1992.

Presbyterian - By the time I completed Job Corps, my mother was playing at the New Boston Community Church. I spent about a year in that congregation and choir.

Skipping ahead to the Fall of 1999 now --

Word of Faith - My now ex-husband and I started there on the suggestion of my paternal aunts and grandmother after one of my cousins discovered the place. This was the first time I had ever seen my grandmother in church, as she was generally not invited places due to her unique position as a fully trained Astrologer and founder of her own Church after having been approved for ordination by the US Government*. (She only ended up attending for a few months or so) We (mostly I), was there for the next 11 yrs, +/-. My youngest was Dedicated here. It was also where I was eventually Baptized, although I have since come to a place of disinterest in that practice. (See my post on the Reflections Page here)

Church of God - By the time my husband and I divorced in 2010/11, I had not been attending our previous church for several months. That Easter, however, I decided it was time I started anew. I spent the following year or so at the place I knew my parents had friends. That couple had been nearby neighbors of my parents* when they married back in 1968 and their son was born a few months before me. It was okay, but I never got to know anyone other than them during my time there.

Meanwhile, I met a new friend who invited me to church with her in Manchester. I'm not sure what their affiliation was, but it felt essentially Baptist. I was there for only 2 Sundays before my friend stopped going due to high gas prices. The following week, I was "all dressed up with no place to go" as a result of crossed wires of communication. I proceeded to the nearest Protestant Church and stayed for the next 5 yrs or so. That was another Congregational Church. I have now come full-circle back to my Baptist roots, although the name-plate and most of the teaching is "Non-Dom" at this point. I just thank God that they are no longer the Legalistic environment that I grew up in.

Finally, to complete my list, I will share that I have had JWs on both sides of my family. My paternal great-grandparents were faithful members for quite a while, sadly to the almost complete alienation of the rest of our family. This later relaxed, although it's beyond my knowledge to say exactly when. I just know that by the time I was a Senior in HS and my great grandmother was in a Nursing Home nearby, she invited me to visit each Friday after school until my parents picked me up after work. We never spoke about the JW bit, but she told me of her life growing up and asked about me in turn. I will forever treasure the time with her as she passed just before I completed Job Corps and I was unable to attend her services because the timing was too close. I've since learned that the newer Kingdom Hall here in Concord was financed by their money. On the other side, my mother's brother, and later, my aunt were members up in Wilmot. My aunt passed in 2009, but my uncle remains a devout follower*.

My connections with the Catholic Church have been few and varied. Growing up, my parents and I would attend Midnight Mass at Christmas, but only because my mother saw beauty in the service. That was one of the few restrictions my she has always placed on her organ playing. No Catholic, JW, or Mormon churches. The only Sunday morning services I have ever attended at a Catholic Church were 1 or 2 with my Aunt Peggy. She had agreed to raise her kids there on the request of my now ex-uncle Mike. She also had an understanding with the Priest that she was only there for the kids and had no interest in converting from her solid Protestant background. Other than that, I've attended 2 weddings. Longest. Services. Ever. ;p My only further connection with that church was with the Catholic Charities Office in coordination with the church on which grounds it is located. I'll just say that, without their help, I would have been homeless as of November 2012.

Last, but not least I have visited a Jewish Synagogue on 2 separate occasions. The first week I went, the Rabbi wasn't there. The 2nd week, I had the opportunity to talk to him about Christians United for Israel, which my pastor at the Word of Faith church at the time was Northeast Director of. Sadly, the Rabbi didn't trust it. I can only hope that he has since changed his mind.

So there you have it, and in more detail than I had originally typed it. Somehow, I ended up deleting the first one and just now got around to replacing it. I apologize for any confusion surrounding this issue.

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes: (who knew I'd need any for this??) ;p

1. Interior Design had been my dream through HS and I even started college for it. For all of 3 months before giving it up. Long story short, God knew where I was meant to be. As to the conversation with my HS friend back in October of 2015, he had told me that God had told him that I was supposed to be doing "something big" with my life. The idea at the time was that no single, middle-aged man was going to be seriously interested in a 40+ yr old woman living on SSI. Well, that part was wrong, but if there was any "silver lining" for me during Covid, it was the extra money from the stimulus. That provided what I needed to launch this blog site back in 2021. Praise God!!

2. My Nursery School was run out of the basement of my BFF, Andrea's house, by her mother. They still live in the house, and Andrea, her husband, Matt, and their son Tavis live in the basement where the classroom was. My time with her now has brought me full-circle in 2 ways, including attending the Church building where my former school was located. (They have long since moved and parted ways with the Church itself. It's just Concord Christian Academy now, rather than Concord Christian School)

3. My mother plays on or around March 18th each year at Henniker Congregational, in memory of my grandmother who played there, as that was her birthday. She plays at Hillsboro 3 Sundays during the Summer in memory of her grandmother who played there. (My grandfather's parents were actually married there, and raised their family in the area)

4. During my time in the Methodist Youth Group, we went to Camden, NJ for a Volunteer Week. We attended the Methodist Church down the street from it on the Sunday we were down there. Six white people in a church of "non-white" people, now that was one adventure I actually wouldn't mind repeating!! (We were 7 total, but the pastor's wife at the time was mulatto) ;)

5. Mike has actually expressed an interest in attending that church as it turns out he mostly grew up there, but I've explained to him why I'm not. And it's not that he doesn't like the environment and beliefs at Centre Congregational, he just hasn't had the time to feel comfortable there yet. (he was there once in a while as a kid, but that was more than a couple of years ago)

6. My grandmother was trained by Spiritualist Isobel Hickey, who was based in Boston and had a retreat in Nottingham, NH. She also stood as the first woman in the US to be ordained as a minister by approval of the Government. (I recently looked up more info and discovered that people founding their own church can be independently ordained by authority of the Government)

7. They all lived within a 2 block radius of my current apartment, so that makes 3 ways in which life has come full-circle for me in one aspect or another. Actually 5, if you count my reconnections with Jeremy and Mike!! :D

8. Despite my life-long associations with family members who were/are JWs, it's only been in the past 10 yrs or so that I have really "dug in" to what they actually believe. Growing up, I was entirely unaware of my great-grandparents' affiliation, and the agreement with my Uncle was that we would agree to disagree and simply not talk about it. In recent years, he's invited me to meetings a few times, but I've always declined. As a result, my only personal experiences in the buildings have been 1 or 2 weddings, and my Aunt's funeral. (I definitely attended my Aunt and Uncle's wedding when I was 4 or 5, and there may have been a second with some friend's of my parents', as the woman who introduced them had become one for a while)