I've Started Writing

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by ILG

Well, I've started writing the book I've had in the back of my mind for a number of years. It is the experiences of my life....first being raised as a Catholic, drinking and partying, meeting my husband, getting into first the charismatic church and then the UPC, getting into the ministry, staying there and assisting for a number of years, going into Home Missions, pastoring an established work, the horrifying experiences we had there, and, finally, leaving,

We have been out of the UPC for 6 years now. My how time flies. I could not even sit down and start before this without getting way too emotional. Now, it's just flying out. I have written 11 chapters in a brief period. I am writing about Home Missions now. I am not sure how I will do when I start writing about the established pastorate.

Anyway, just saying I'm finally writing it, if anyone is interested.

Glad you are coming to terms with your past and are able to write about your experiences. Naturally, I am interested but would have to read your book (And I will want to do just that!) to comment further.

You understand, I am sure, that many will not share your enthusiasm with what you are writing. Your experience will resonate with some who left abusive situations - and some of those UPC, and it may even resonate with some who still are a part of UPC. I am truly sorry you were hurt so. It's indeed sad you had such a negative experience while so many others have been blessed and found the Lord in the midst of programs such as Home Missions and the United Pentecostal Church.

Let me know when the book is available, please.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Hoovie

Glad you are coming to terms with your past and are able to write about your experiences. Naturally, I am interested but would have to read your book (And I will want to do just that!) to comment further.

You understand, I am sure, that many will not share your enthusiasm with what you are writing. Your experience will resonate with some who left abusive situations - and some of those UPC, and it may even resonate with some who still are a part of UPC. I am truly sorry you were hurt so. It's indeed sad you had such a negative experience while so many others have been blessed and found the Lord in the midst of programs such as Home Missions and the United Pentecostal Church.

Let me know when the book is available, please.

One of the biggest issues I've had with writing it is knowing that some people will not share the enthusiasm that I am writing it. But, I am not writing it to bash anybody. I am writing it to tell my truth, my journey.

I have been writing it in such a way to explain it to people of all perspectives. For example, I am explaining things in detail in case people in my family were to read it. I am not sure if people raised in fundamentalist churches can understand how odd and strange fundamentalism is to people not raised in it. So, I am writing it partially to try and explain my journey to them. I am also writing it to explain my journey out to those who are still in etc.

So, I have the first draft of 11 chapters done. The third part (part about the established church) is going to be the most difficult emotionally. I wrote a few times a week to a friend of mine back then, telling him and his wife everything that was going on, both as a way to let off steam and to compare notes as he and his wife were making their own journey out of an Apostolic organization at the same time we were. I saved all those emails, so I should have a written journey of it. I have put it out of my mind a lot and not sure how fast I can look at all that junk and feel like I still have my head screwed on straight!! LOL! Anyway, after I write the whole thing, I want to go back through in segments and add things. I intend to document it very well. I have a lot of footnotes already from UPC authors concerning doctrines the UPC espouses and why.

So, anyway, I suspect it will take me a number of months, but I will let you know when it is finis! Thanks for your interest!

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by ILG

I am not sure if people raised in fundamentalist churches can understand how odd and strange fundamentalism is to people not raised in it.

Could you explain this statement a little further? I've been trying to understand the real difference between fundamentalist churches and non-fundy.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

Could you explain this statement a little further? I've been trying to understand the real difference between fundamentalist churches and non-fundy.

http://everything2.com/title/The+dif...ist+Christians

That's a pretty decent explanation of the difference between fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

Could you explain this statement a little further? I've been trying to understand the real difference between fundamentalist churches and non-fundy.

I was raised Catholic and, as a lay person in the Catholic church, it was definitely non-fundamentalist. Non-fundamentalists have a different view of the Bible. The Bible is revered but it is not followed literally the way fundamentalists do. Fundamentalist churches take the Bible very literally although they interpret it differently. For example, some fundamentalist churches may be KJV only and some may not be. Some may demand baptism by immersion and some may not. There are fundamentalist Baptist churches and evangelical churches and pentecostal churches.

Wikipedia:
[B]Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines typically in reaction against the theology of Modernism.[1][2][3] The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the Protestant community of the United States in the early part of the 20th century, and that had its roots in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of that time.
The term has since been generalized to mean strong adherence to any set of beliefs in the face of criticism or unpopularity (see Establishment), but has by and large retained religious connotations. Historically, for some constituencies fundamentalism connotes an attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs.[4]

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by ILG

I was raised Catholic and, as a lay person in the Catholic church, it was definitely non-fundamentalist. Non-fundamentalists have a different view of the Bible. The Bible is revered but it is not followed literally the way fundamentalists do. Fundamentalist churches take the Bible very literally although they interpret it differently. For example, some fundamentalist churches may be KJV only and some may not be. Some may demand baptism by immersion and some may not. There are fundamentalist Baptist churches and evangelical churches and pentecostal churches.

So in your book, which things will you discuss - what about fundamentalism will you need to explain to your family?

[ILG]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

So in your book, which things will you discuss - what about fundamentalism will you need to explain to your family?

Everything. They really don't know anything about it. I don't think they even know what born again really means. They won't understand the different types of baptism. Speaking in tongues will be as foreign as it comes. Honestly, they are at a very basic level as there was no real discussion about my beliefs beyond the very, very basics. They didn't want to discuss it, so I didn't. My mother is Catholic and my sister, brother and Dad don't attend church.