While browsing through my regular sites this morning, this headline on the New York Times immediately caught my attention — “Americans Change Faith at Rising Rate, Report Finds”. Hmmmm. Reading through the article, I could not help but think of my own faith journey.
I was born a Catholic, went to an exclusive girl’s school for my elementary and high school where Communion and Holy Mass was part and parcel of your daily life. I crossed the creek and moved over to a Jesuit University where I was soaked in spirituality and 12 units of Theology. Catholicism was a huge part of my life and to this day influences the manner by which I choose to worship.
Somewhere along the way, after leaving school, and when I entered the work world, I chose to surrender my life to Jesus Christ and joined what was then popularly more known as the “born-again” movement. After a few years, I backslid, went back to Catholicism, got married in a Catholic church then subsequently in Christian rites in Hongkong.
When we moved to Korea, we began going back to a Catholic church to worship, until we finally found a small Christian church inside the U.S Army base in Yong-san. When we finally returned to Manila and after I had my second child who was born with a congenital heart problem, we joined a local Christian church and we were there for many, many years.
In 2004, the year I turned 40, something inside of me radically changed and it was, what I would call my year of growth, in many different aspects. I continued to be a part of the Christian evangelical church but decided, in that year, to move to a different church, the one which I now call home. I’ve been with this church for the last four years and by God’s grace, I am praying and hoping to grow old here. This present church is more conservative than my previous one but the manner of worship here is one that has drawn me closer in my walk with Him. In this church, I feel that I belong and I am able to develop a closer, more personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The article says, “While the unaffiliated have been growing, Protestantism has been declining, the survey found. In the 1970s, Protestants accounted for about two-thirds of the population. The Pew survey found they now make up about 51 percent. Evangelical Christians account for a slim majority of Protestants, and those who leave one evangelical denomination usually move to another, rather than to mainline churches.” I believe this is what happened to me a few years back.
It goes on to say that, “The trend is toward more personal religion, and evangelicals offer that,” said Mr. Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University, who explained that evangelical churches tailor many of their activities for youth. “Those losing out are offering impersonal religion and those winning are offering a smaller scale: mega-churches succeed not because they are mega but because they have smaller ministries inside.”
And this is what part of what my church life has been about. For the last few years, my husband and I have been quite active in a bereavement ministry called Griefshare where we minister to those who have lost loved ones through death. Borne out of our own experience of losing our 4-year old son in 1998.
Yes, it’s been quite a faith journey for me as I am sure it has been for others. My closest friends remain to be staunch members of the Catholic faith but I also now, have treasured friends who share the work and the beliefs that I try to live my life by. Whether Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, or what have you, tghe more important thing is that you develop a close personal, relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, I’ve done many crazy things in the past, and to quote, Jun Lozada, the man of the hour, “there are some things I am not proud of”. But I know that God in His graciousness and love has forgiven me. The cross is the only proof I need that no matter how many times I have fallen, His grace will always be sufficient for me because His strength is made perfect in my weakness. As you grow and change, so does your walk with Him. That’s what my faith life is all about.
