Non-Believer Former Members of the Worldwide Church of God

Brisbane, Australia
rebecca.perkins@bluewave.com.au

I grew up in the church from about the age of 2 years old until I left, whilst still in my first marriage to a church member, when I was about 22. I swing between atheism and alternative/free thinking views on spirituality.

My parents joined the church in the early 70’s in Brisbane, Australia. I don’t associate with anyone who is a member of the church. I have kept in touch with a few previous “members” (kids of parents who joined the church). My parents eventually left the church in the mid 90’s and improved as people immediately.

I am not sure what your experience was like. My parents, particularly my father, took all of it literally. Spare the rod, spoil the child.  He even went through a phase of us having to call him "sir." I think the church doctrines were much harder on women. I experienced a lot of physical and emotional abuse and witnessed other parents treat their kids the same. I have horrible memories of fathers beating their child (often teens.) I’m sure not all families were like this but a lot were. The church attracted a certain type of individual.

It’s turned me off any type of church or God. My husband grew up in a relatively normal Catholic home in South Africa. It’s been hard for him to comprehend my upbringing, which is how we found your website.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2005 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Personal Story. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments must be approved by the moderator before they will appear.