The Crusades!

I was once, during my elementary school years, a Crusader. No, I did not join The Catholic Church and march off to the middle east to fight Islam.  Well, maybe in a past life. In this life, I have never been a Catholic. I was born and raised in the UCC church. In particular, St. John’s UCC, on Second Street in Slatington.  Today, I think most of my readers know, I consider myself a Buddhist.

So what is all this talk about being a Crusader?  In my little town, there was a religious after school program, run by the local Baptist Church, called The Crusaders.  It was open to all denominations and a lot of my friends attended. So I did too.  It was every Wednesday during the school year. I can remember being seated in rows, by grade K – 6.  It was run by two older women, Mrs. Pritchard and Mrs. Breisch.    I remember them being strict and cranky, but we had a lot of fun anyway.

We used to hear Bible stories, and read from the Bible, and learned all about how to be a good Christian.  The year culminated with a public program where we had to openly recite Bible verses in front of a church crowd.  Not fun for this introvert!  In sixth grade, I had perfect Crusader attendance and was rewarded with my very first Bible. My family was not very religious. I still have that Bible today. Fifty four years later.

I don’t often think about The Crusaders. It was a very small part of my spiritual self-discovery. But this memory was triggered by talking to a client whose childhood was spent in Ohio.  He started talking about The Crusaders program he attended as a kid!  I thought it was just a Slatington thing, but apparently it was a Baptist Church thing. Who knew?

As I said, The Crusaders was a small part of my religious training. Most of it came from Confirmation classes and being in the youth group at St. John’s UCC during Junior High years.  I hope this memory triggered some memories of your own. Maybe you were a Crusader too!