What I owe Eastern Parkway Baptist Church

I had a lonely childhood in terms of my immediate family, which was fractured by personal problems and, when I was ten years old, divorce. My mainstays in life as a child were always school (where I was recognized for being smart) and church (where I learned how to perform in public, developed my love of books, found friendship in my Sunday School teachers, and made a commitment to my relationship with God).

The myriad of ways in which school nurtured me is the subject of another short essay. Today, I will list the five most important gifts that Eastern Parkway Baptist Church gave me.

1The knowledge that I can shape my own life. I decided to go to church, got myself there, and participated in the activities by my own will.
2The ability to perform and gain energy from my love of what I was doing and from the audience’s response. I sang in the Children’s Choir, learning how to sing harmony parts and solo parts.
3An abiding love of books. The church had a small donated library in the basement, open a few times a week and staffed by a volunteer librarian. I read every book in the children’s section and asked the librarian if I could borrow adult books, which she agreed to let me do. I was so happy in that little library, knowing I could choose any book and read it at home.
4The caring I received from my Sunday School teachers. Most of my Sunday School teachers were young and enthusiastic, a nice counterbalance to my public-school teachers who were old and strict. The lessons, mostly on the Old Testament, were thrilling and engaging. My teachers made me feel special and told me that God loved me, a fact that has shaped my entire life.
5My public commitment to following God. For some of the five years or so that I went to Eastern Parkway Baptist, my friend Brenda came with me. Brenda had a disorganized family, too. She lived down the street, so we’d meet and walk to church together. The year I was twelve, she came with me to Revival Week. Baptists don’t christen infants but expect young people to ask to be baptized of their own volition; the highlight of Revival Week was the altar call on Friday night. I was moved to go forward that night, in front of the congregation, and ask to be baptized. Brenda was on the aisle seat, and I asked her to let me out of the pew. She stood and then came with me up front—a surprise for me and a confirmation that God was moving in the church that night.

In many ways, the most important part of my church-going experience is that I went alone. No one in my family was interested in going with me, but luckily, the church was a fifteen-minute walk. I navigated all the parts of church—when things happened and in which room, special events like Vacation Bible School, and all my relationships with adults and other children. This taught me that I was capable of socializing and adaptable to meeting new people, giving me the self-assurance to leave home at age 18 and go to university in New York.

My time at Eastern Parkway Baptist Church taught me a lesson that has guided my life—I can decide what I want to do and make it happen with no support from anyone. This lesson has perhaps made my life more solitary than I might like, as I tend to make my own decisions without consulting anyone except my closest friends, but it has also given me tremendous confidence in my ability to adjust my path as needed, keeping my goal in mind.

Thank you, Eastern Parkway Baptist Church.