Penguin Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 When you left Christianity behind, what was your place in church (if any)? Were you a pastor? Music minister? Deacon? Sunday School teacher? Seminary student? Just an attendee? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llwellyn Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I was a small-group Bible study leader at my religious school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 I was a dropout from the church. I was looking at going back while going through therapy for my PTSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger26 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 President of a Christian club on campus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (Previously) youth group leader, guest speaker at youth camps, prayer ministry team member, helped set up a soup kitchen, librarian. I feel embarrassed about it now. Oh well, I guess I was trying to be a good xian, or something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted March 7, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 7, 2015 I was in the music ministry singing for jesus. Even at the end, I know I was being phony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I was an Elder, bible school teacher, & trained evangelist. In other words, I was one of the cult leaders. If I was able to grab hold of reality, with my level of indoctrination, there is hope for everyone else. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJeffTheIncomprehensible Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Previously a Baptist pastor, but I left that role some years before leaving the faith. At the time of my leaving, I was a Sub-deacon, chanter, and S.S. teacher in a Greek Orthodox Church. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 attendee, i also helped out by volunteering around church from time to time, like moving things etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avandris Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Just a plain little attendee, but I did also volunteer to help with the technical team & occasionally helped with children's church/Sunday School. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I had been a Sunday school teacher for 4-year-olds for ten years, the year before I quit going I had quit teaching. Vacation Bible School teacher, my ex-husband helped with VBS with crafts and other things (he had always been an atheist) Acted in a couple of plays at church -- Lent and xmas. My ex-husband and I had been deacons for a year or two (yeah, he was an atheist deacon, but they didn't know and he didn't tell). When they called my ex to be an Elder, he told them, with sincerity, "I've heard what traits are needed in Elders, and I don't believe I have them, so I cannot accept your offer." They never called him again, and didn't ask me either!!!!! I loved being with 4-year-olds! They were such fun! I felt like I had found my mental age group. Now I sincerely hope that I wasn't responsible for anyone's indoctrination of the more evil aspects of xianity, but it was a liberal church. Years later, I ended up working at regular jobs with two of my former students, and both just seemed like super-nice normal teenagers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConsiderTheSource Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Adult church 1: Attendee (while older brother relished the attention he got as Elder... main example: when mom died every flocked to him to console him...while I was ignored like a picture on the wall). Church 2: Charter member, gopher, and Church Treasurer (oh the monitory giving stories I could tell). Set up church website in 1994, got a national award for it (it had scrolling text! Woo Hoo!) But, church secretary believe the Internet was "of the devil" and would not publish Web address in church program...expect once the pastor made her do it.. but she used 6 font...so the site was nearly worthless. Church 3: None. Had better uses for my time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellinas Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Attendee. Occasional preacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller2 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I was just a bog standard asshole. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaseph Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I was just an attendee, I went to various churches. I was a member of a christian student group, which kind of was my church, so let me tell you about that: I was a bible study group leader, "elder", music leader and I gave several "alpha courses", introductory courses to xtianity, so I guess I also was some kind of evangelist. Ah, it's funny how much things can change with time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Attendee, sound tech, early morning prayer warrior, abortion protester, guitar player on occasion for singles group Towards the end was being groomed for leadership, though they didn't know I was associated with much more "radical" Christianity, nor did they likely care (they wanted help filling seats to make money to pay for the building) Left when pastor wanted too much time, wanted my wife to leave work at tech company to do church stuff (can you say mortgage?), etc. Deconverted after about 4 more years on the outside doing home groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdelsolray Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Not much for me. I was a teenager who just faded away from the church I attended when I was younger. Other than being confirmed (a ritual in the Episcopalian Church), I had no other feathers in my cap. I do remember causing issues in Sunday School on occasion with hard questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eXcelInferno Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Music minister. Just today I told the other leaders that I wouldn't do it anymore! Milestone. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 When I left I was in charge of providing the refreshments for one Bible study class. I would make coffee, tea and provide all the fixings at my own expense. In the last few decades I had always attended huge churches that didn't need much help but back in my twenties it was different. Before I was in a small church that needed a lot of help so I was a deacon (department head), usher, 1st grade teacher and also the janitor. You could wear a lot of hats if you were willing to work for free. Man, I feel stupid right now. If you factor in how much time I was wasting in prayer, quiet time and bible study every day . . . what a waste. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rach Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I had a really interesting dynamic actually because my adoptive family was super-involved in all the church activities and both a-parents were sunday school teachers and a-mum taught bible school and bible club. So my a-family knew about everybody in the church. I was different. I was an unbaptized, autistic, "ethnic" attendee, and nobody at the church wanted me to intrude on their social ranking. So I always sat in the back row. I would get a lot of eyeballs if I tried to sit any further up in the "important peoples" sections. So it really was awkward because the rest of my a-family was accepted and I was not. Apparently the universal love of Christ is not as universal as advertised. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moanareina Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Very engaged attendee who was involved in different ministries over the twelve years at that church including multimedia presentation during services, cleaning team, graphic design, and at the end I was in the prayer team. Also I attended several prayer meetings during the week and I was on training to do deliverance prayer with a ministry outside of my church. For some time I have been a small group co-leader and wanted to start my own small group. Basically my whole life played out in Church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonTheDruid Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I was only an attendee, if even that. I barely went to church because I rather have slept in and take advantage of the precious hours I had to sleep before I had to go to school again the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenWolf Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 At my old church I was a youth leader, helped out at kids prayer groups, went on youth council which organised youth events, I did some prayers and readings, plays and songs at Easter and Christmas services. Now I'm at a different church, and I'm just an attendee (involuntarily) who usually just spaces out or nit-picks the sermon in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I was one of the teachers of an adult Sunday school class and I alternated between playing drums in the worship team and running the sound board. I had also taught Bible studies, been a youth leader for a year, and delivered a sermon one Sunday evening (and was later asked to do a Sunday morning, but I declined). I had also played drums in a couple Christian rock bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklingphoenix Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I was a very involved attendee until age 17 (even interned with the youth group), but I still went on a mission trip at 18 and was a volunteer ESOL teacher in the evenings at church at 19. I kind of just phased out and quit doing church things one by one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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