I joined St. Paul’s in 2006, but my spiritual journey began many years earlier. Growing up in Northwest Indiana I attended a Byzantine Catholic church with my parents and two brothers. The church, founded by Ukrainian immigrants, was steeped in the traditions of that old and unfamiliar world so it was very difficult to feel any type of connection at such a young and impressionable age.

Like many young people at that age, I didn’t feel like my life had time for church or that my heart had any room for organized religion so I just stopped going. It wasn’t until my mid-thirties that I realized God had indeed planted a seed in my heart; one that never died out, but years later now needed to be nurtured and fed.

I came to St. Paul’s because I had heard that the Episcopal church was similar to the Catholic traditions I grew up with. After attending a few services I came to notice that, despite those similarities, things in this new-to-me church were not so black-and-white the very traditional beliefs that were taught in the more traditional Catholic church.

I feel that St. Paul’s is a great place to both reaffirm and grow my faith. I never feel threatened or ashamed if I don’t understand a teaching or if my personal beliefs are not the same as everyone else’s. I enjoy the diversity of the congregation and get a lot out of spending time with so many people from different backgrounds as mine. We are always growing in faith, even if that means we sometimes question our faith; but, I know that my friends at St. Paul’s are there for me and will support me during those times as well the time when I am spiritually thriving.

This is what brought me, and keeps me coming back to St. Paul’s.

“As a parent of small kids, taking the kids to church is stressful because you worry that they will disturb people, so it was very nice to hear that people enjoyed having my kids in church. My kids also quickly became very comfortable at St. Paul’s. They looked forward to going to church each week. Everyone was very welcoming to them and we felt that people genuinely cared about us and wanted to get to know us.”

Jennifer & Joe