I just remembered another church service I walked out of.
This would have been in the summer of 1954 when I was 16 years old. Three friends and I were out driving around drinking beer one Sunday morning. We drove from the town where I lived (Union Grove, WI) to Racine, WI which was about 15 miles away. These 3 guys were Hispanic and were all brothers. They lived in Kenosha, WI. I was around the same age as the middle one.
We drove up to a white frame church at 1250 Lathrop Ave. in Racine. We parked and walked up to the building. Outside was a sign which said (as far as I remember these many years later):
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Bethel Tabernacle
United Pentecostal Church
L.R. Mitchell, Pastor
Without Holiness
no man shall see the Lord
Hebrews 12:14
then underneath it listed the service times.
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We stumbled around the sign laughing for a while and then got up our nerve to go in. The oldest boy with us knew a girl who went there. The girl lived in the town where I lived. I knew her and some of her family members. Actually, I was in the same grade as her cousin (Tex) and Tex and I went through all 12 years of school together. We went on in to see the "show" because we considered it a holy roller church. We kinda stumbled in, sat down about halfway up the auditorium, and then a few minutes later staggered back out sniggering and laughing. There had been no "show." Things were pretty quiet.
Later, March 28, 1955 I became a Christian and shortly after that joined a local Baptist Church in Union Grove.
Later, in late summer or early fall 1955 I visited that church one night during revival services. This time I was a Christian and sober. I think a young man (Buddy Cullen?) and his sisters from Gladewater,TX were holding the meeting. I can't remember his name. I testified during the testimony service. He preached on Ecclesiastes chapter 2 about nothing in this world satisfying us. Of course I agreed with him because I had been saved a few months before and knew that Jesus Christ lived in my heart as the Holy Spirit.
Later, on October 27, 1955 I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ at Elim Tabernacle (UPC) in Milwaukeee, WI. L.R. Mitchell baptized me. This was before he left the Racine church as pastor and went to North Dakota as a home missionary. I had gone to the Milwaukee church that night with Tex (mentioned above) and his family. While there I went to the altar and was seeking for the Holy Ghost Baptism. Tex asked me if I wanted to get baptized in Jesus' name and I agreed. Although I had been baptized by immersion in the traditional manner and had joined a Baptist church, I had been looking deeper into the Word about water and Spirit baptism.
Later, on Sunday (Pentecost Sunday) May 20, 1956 I was baptized in the Holy Spirit at Bethel Tabernacle. I had started going there some time after my baptism at the Milwaukee church. L.R. Mitchell, the man who had baptized me had gone to North Dakota by then. Bro. Lester Thompson was the pastor at that time.
I've been back to that church twice. Once in 1958 and once a couple years later. The church is no longer there. The building was sold and is now replaced by a brick Baptist church. The old Bethel Tabernacle church is now called True Life Ministries
http://www.truelifeministries.com/ and is pastored by Jeff Butler. I don't know Jeff and have never been to that new church.
As far as I know there is also a UPC church in the Racine area but they've had some problems there a few years ago with a youth pastor involved with sexual abuse of a couple of teenagers. I don't know how many of the people I knew at Bethel Tabernacle are still alive and if they attend True Life or a current UPC church.
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