2 /5 Laurel Hostetler: I really wanted to like this church and was ready to jump, but sadly, I had a negative experience.
I wanted to bring my therapy dog, since we were going to volunteer at JWA after church. (Daisy is one of the AirPAWS dogs that bring joy and stress relief to all). So I wanted to be respectful and ask if she could come and all the powers that be said “Yes, but if this is going to be a long term thing, we’ll have to figure something else out”. I told her we’d sit in the back, to minimize any distraction which we did.
I was greeted by the woman with whom I spoke earlier in the week (Debbie?) and she was lovely and greeted me warmly.
It is a VERY small church with about 40 parishioners and staff. Well, if this where God wants me, I’m game. (I come from Saddleback and Mariners Church, so it was a bit of a shock).
Daisy didn’t create a fuss, except for several people looked as if they were happy to see her. One woman sat with Daisy on the floor for a good part of the service.
The teaching was fine, a little dry, but I could handle it.
It was sad to me that everyone was so unfriendly, except one guy that wanted to talk about Daisy. I had to introduce myself to three people and their response was tepid at best. Didn’t they want people to attend? Was it because I was there with Daisy?
Walking out the same woman who greeted me was pleasant. Daisy’s buddy throughout the service didn’t even respond when I thanked her for sitting with Daisy.
Like I said, I really wanted this church to work. My niece is gay, and I was excited to find a church that I could bring her and hopefully she would consider accepting Jesus-something I’ve been praying about for decades. This was not it.
I really didn’t want to leave a review, but I couldn’t find a way to email the church. I just knew I had to share my experience with them, so maybe they can be more welcoming in the future.
Its a wonderful to be a church that accepts the LGBTQ+ community and it would more effective if new people felt welcomed.
