I was raised in a Chrisitan family and educated in Christian schools through senior high. At a young age, I dedicated myself to the service of the Chritian deity, eventually attending seminary and receiving ministerial credentials from the Assemblies of God. I was active in evangelism, Christian education and counseling. I founded a house-church and eventually was called to pastor an established non-denominational church in West Virginia. The church grew dramatically and my wife and I were instrumental in the founding of a Christian school, counseling center, and a weekly radio broadcast as extensions of the church's outreach to the community.

The more I studied the Bible and theology, the more inconsistencies and outright irrational contradictions I was forced to accept to "keep the faith." Questions posed in prayer were not answered. Likewise, questions posed to experienced clergy from a variety of denomintional backgrounds yielded no useful answers. As the years went on, I gradually became less and less certain in my belief and my doubts eventually were responsible for my resignation from the pastorate. It became an issue of avoiding hypocrisy since I found I no longer believed that which I was exhorting others to practice. I continued attending other Christian churches for about five more years, but eventually ceased in my early forties.

What have I found since breaking the ties with Christianity? I have found myself much less internally conflicted, much more at peace, and a much better husband and father.

As it says in a Christian epistle, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Religion and the fantastic beliefs in supernatural agents and beings served a purpose in my youth, but I have outgrown the need for it.

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