Patti Buie's Faith Story

I grew up in a "churched" family ... at least for the first half of my formative years. Until I was nine or 10, church involvement was what we did, who we were as a family. Unfortunately, that all changed.

The church we attended was a Methodist church. We had everything a good Methodist church has - Sunday School, choirs, missions, youth activities ... But we had something else that NOT every Methodist church had - a divorced pastor. In the 60s, that was a BIG DEAL! To say that there were church members who were struggling with the concept is being charitable!

At about that same time, there was a church member who had fallen on hard times, through no fault of his own. He took on some custodial duties at the church in order to make extra money, but was barely getting by. Finally, in desperation, he humbled himself before the "powers that were" at the church and asked for a loan. It was denied, and more unkind things were said and done.

Sadly, my parents were so disillusioned, they left the church. My father essentially said, "If that's the way "Christians" behave, I want no part of being a Christian." My mom has said that decision was a mistake; even if they chose to leave THAT church, they should have found another one. However, their hearts were so tender; they just couldn't go back into that environment. Other than a Christmas here, an Easter there, or when my children or I were singing, my Dad never again came back to the community of faith. Thankfully, Mom did and her faith grows by the day.

I eventually accepted Jesus into my heart and have walked with Him for many years now, sometimes closer to His path than others ... LSUMC has been Steve's and my church home since our children were young. I pray that I, as an individual, and we, as a church, never do anything to cause anyone to walk away from God's love ... they might just not come back.

Patti is a LSUMC Lay Leader - Read Patti's bio

Read another Faith Story

Learn about Spiritual Growth