My 6-year-old daughter brought me back to church
As a child, I attended church most Sundays and went to a Roman Catholic Primary School. At school we learned a lot about the Bible and took part in nativity plays. Looking back I didn’t really relate to the Bible; I didn’t realise what it was about and it was never really explained to me why Jesus died or why he is our Saviour.
I went to a non-faith secondary school; Christianity was rarely spoken about let alone studied. I stopped attending church, and then in my later teens and twenties I lived for myself – enjoying myself a bit too much sometimes at the weekends, and I never really thought about religion. I never saw myself as a bad person and if I had to tick a box to show my religion on a form I would have put ‘Christian’.
I thought I was a Christian, without really understanding what it really meant to be a Christian and without having
a relationship with Christ. I thought just trying to be nice, giving to charity, and generally not doing anything really bad made me a Christian.
As I got older, and after becoming a parent, I began to take a bit more interest in Christianity. I thought about joining a church, but never really quite got round to it. When my daughter turned six, she started showing a real interest in religion and enjoyed learning about different religions at school. I remember her coming home one day from school saying ‘Daddy, I’ve decided I want to be a Christian.’
We were made to feel really welcome and it didn’t feel the same as other churches I had known in the past.
As a family we talked about going to ChristChurch, Tilehurst, and we took the step on Easter Sunday! We were made to feel really welcome and it didn’t feel the same as other churches I had known in the past.
I enjoyed the sermons, and could really relate to them some weeks. I would leave church on a Sunday with a ‘different’ feeling; almost a feeling of being renewed.
I started reading the Bible most evenings, and found myself wanting to read more and more, unable to put it down. I began reading the Bible with friends, and I really felt like I had got to understand the love and compassion of Jesus and the true good news of the Bible.
I have put my faith in Jesus and can see that he has a plan for us all, even if we don’t quite understand it at the time. My outlook on life changed: I saw how sinful I was and how I can’t fix it alone, but through faith in Christ we can be forgiven.
I was baptised on 24 September this year as a public sign that I’ve been buried and raised again to new life with Jesus!
ChristChurch, Tilehurst is really welcoming, family-friendly and sociable. I really enjoy spending time with people there, and I’d encourage anyone to attend.