A recent discussion on another thread got me to thinking that maybe we should make a thread in which we can say what our background is. Not necessarily an entire "conversion story" or anything like that, but maybe just a summary of where we've come from, and where we're at. We might, as some other people have found on this forum, have more in common than we would have at first imagined.
Anyway, here's a quick rundown for me:
Baptized Latin Catholic as an infant; raised in a mostly nominal Protestant family, with rare attempts here and there to get me interested in "church" (my grandfather and uncle on my Fathers side were both pious Latin Catholics, and my Mother's third husband was a sometimes church-going Protestant). I didn't have much of a religious education growing up; I remember reading the Baltimore Catechism through, some prayers in a Catholic prayer book, and some randomly selected parts of the Bible.
At 18 I fell into the sticky web of a Protestant Fundamentalist (on TV), and I started attending a Wesleyan Holiness church in town. I started devoting most of my free time to studying the Bible and debating theology online. I went to the front of the Church and "got saved". I had no prayer life, didn't fast, and was essentially the most obnoxious fundamentalist you could possibly meet.
At 20 I attended a college in Florida started by the Wesleyan Holiness group I was a part of; I was a Bible Studies major (and history minor). About half-way through the first year, aftering having continued studying the Bible and theology, I realised that Protestant "just didn't work," theologically/historically speaking. I left the school, and then Protestantism in general.
After exploring Catholicism and Orthodoxy, I eventually became catechumen at the age of 22 (that was a mere two years ago). I was brought into the Church via Chrismation, Confession, and Communion at an Antiochian Church on Dec. 22, 2001. Saint Justin Popovich was my patron saint.
I had been "traditional" the entire time I was Orthodox, and indeed long before I had become Orthodox. However, I stayed in Antiochian and OCA Churches for some time, and even got married in an Antiochian Church. That time in my life was filled with contradiction. Eventually--once I moved to a town that actually had a traditionalist Church--I entered ROCOR via confession and communion, and have been there since.
And ROCOR is where I plan to stay. I'm currently under Bishop Gabriel and Met. Laurus, and receiving spiritual guidance from Fr. George Lardas. We're about to move a bit east of Pittsburgh, and will (hopefully!) be attending the parish of Fr. George Mitchell in Clymer (Indiana) PA.
