Quote:
Originally Posted by longhairgirl
Well, I have to say that I am 100% UPC. I just joined today, and will probably leave since I was under the impression that this was a UPC forum, and it is not (oops). I was really just looking for some fellowship like I have with my girlfriends after church, so this is not for me.
But I do feel compelled to respond to your post. From the other side. As I have said, I am 100% UPC...I was not raised in church, I've been to every church under the sun and studied everything from Buddist to Wicca. When the Lord found me, I knew this was the real thing 
So, I joined the church at age 21, and got married at age 24. A year later, my husband left the church. I was devasted. I cried and cried to the Lord, I did things the "right" way...and my husband leaves the church! It was very hard on me and my child (I have 3 children now). My greatest concern was for my children...you see, I love this church, its standards, its doctrine. I want my children to love it too. Thank the Lord my husband has now been back in church for 2 years!
I say all this to say that I really admire your concern for your husband. I would hate for your objection to standards to drive a wedge into your family. It's sooooo hard for someone who tries to keep the churches standards to live with someone not in church. Keep on praying about this, and talk to your husband about his concerns. Coming from his point of view, its very scary when your other half leaves the church. I still have things in my house (TV....I can't stand it!) that haven't left from when my husband was out of church. Some things are not easily undone.
I hope I have not offended you in any way...I simply speak from the heart as one who has been on the other side. Your family will be in my prayers. |
There are a lot of different dynamics at work in different families. I wasn't raised in the UPC either but joined up as a teenager. My wife was born and raised into it by a set of parents with several generations of Oneness background - and they were very zealous for all of the new "holiness" stuff that was being introduced at the time.
My wife's mother stopped trimming her hair and her oldest girls' hair in the mid 1960's. My wife was young enough that she had never had her hair cut or trimmed. All of this was a new thing for them even though my mother-in-law's uncle was a disciple and successor to GT Haywood himself. It's a simple fact, the teaching on uncut hair was never prevalent until the 1950's.
The UPC Ladies' Auxiliary Presidents from the 1970's and 1980's were both cousins to my MIL. Despite all of the "old fashioned holiness" appeal found in their publications and pics, they were all raised in godly Oneness Pentecostal homes without even a hint of the "uncut hair" teaching.
My in-laws took to the new stuff (Three Stepper "Water & Spirit" salvation, no pants on women and no uncut on women) with all the zeal of new converts. But every time the old family picture books came out there were many inevitable questions. I especially like the pics of the church picnics where all of the Pentecostal ladies are wearing slacks and have trimmed bangs. Then I'd pull out a recent Pentecostal Herald and see the same ladies, older now and with their hair done up in beehive fashion.
Threaded Mode
