I have heard tons of stories about Apostolic Pentecostals — They don’t watch movies or T.V., women can’t wear makeup or pants, they can’t drink or dance, and they also handle snakes. Those were just a few of the things I had heard. Oh, and let’s not forget, the spooky speaking in tongues. Basically, in my mind, the religion represented every negative idea that I had about religions. So, with a not-so-open mind, and a friend who was willing to ride shotgun, I decided to visit a Pentecostal church and experience it for myself.
Let me first provide some context for my curiosity. It was not a God epiphany or spiritual awakening. Truthfully, over the last couple of years I had visited several different churches with friends and had enjoyed some of them. So, I was game, when my friend Jordon, who has been a member of the Pentecostal church since he was a child, invited me to attend his church. (Interestingly enough, Jordon decided last year to leave the Pentecostal church.)
Trying to allay my nerves, I decided to research Truth Chapel in Loganville before my visit. The website had a lot of young happy people on the home page, and the minister looked kind of young as well. There were pictures of his wife and kids dressed in outfits that looked like an advertisement for Free People — very hippy chic. Okay, the nerves were settling a bit, maybe this would not be so scary after all.
On the morning of my visit and taking my cue from the pictures on the church’s website, I put on a nice dress and finished my look with what I thought was a modest amount of makeup. Boy, was I wrong. As soon as Jordon and I walked in the church, I knew that I did not belong. I do not know who those people were on the website, but they were not at this church. Every woman that I saw there had long, obviously uncut (or styled) hair and absolutely no make-up. I imagined that my bright red lipstick and the dangly earrings were screaming “WHORE,” “SINNER.” But in reality, no one seemed to pay any attention to me. They greeted Jordon with hugs and smiles, and when he tried to introduce me, they averted their eyes, hurriedly said “hello” and rushed off. It was extremely uncomfortable for Jordon and me, so I excused myself to regroup in the ladies’ room.
Two girls around my age were deep in conversation when I walked into the bathroom. They looked at me and immediately stopped talking. I smiled at them, but they dried their hands and left. I had expected a different worship experience from the Pentecostal customs, but I did not expect to feel totally rejected by the members. It was strange and unsettling, and I had thoughts of Pod people from outer space, but rather than leave, I decided to put on my big girl panties and stay for the church service. Jordon guided me into the worship room and before they worship, they have a custom called “Family Time” where everyone goes around the room and greets each other.
For the first time since I arrived, someone actually spoke to me. David Kennel, a serious-looking man in his late 40s, asked if I was a new comer (Good observation Sherlock, did the red lipstick give me away.) I answered yes, and he proceeded to give me the run-down of the church. “I’ve been coming here for about four years now and I absolutely love it. Everyone is so inclusive and warm welcoming. The Pastor here goes above and beyond for us. We can call on him for just about anything and he’ll almost always be there.” When I told him that I had not experienced a warm welcome, he told me that some people could find me intimidating and unapproachable because of my appearance. Red lipstick and dangly earrings intimidating? I was completely shocked by his opinion but kept my mouth closed.
When he left, two older women came over and hugged me. They talked to me and introduced me to their families. The rest of the church service was a blur of loud music, clapping and dancing. (I couldn’t help but notice that one of the other new comers who had worn jeans instead of a suit, got side glares as he walked out of the room. Haha, I thought, at least I wore a dress.)
After the service, more people came up to me and made small talk. The pastor was not there so I talked with his assistant pastor, Tommy Pinkerton. He said that although the church is part of the Pentecostal denomination, a lot of non-Pentecostals attend as well. “The Pentecostal church is not the so-called holiness churches of the past. Our message is based on Christ’s love for us and his desire that we live a life based on Biblical principles. Yes, we are vocal in our praise and we sing and shout, but that is such a small part or who we are.”
According to Pastor Pinkerton, while other churches are experiencing declines in their youth membership, the Pentecostal church is actually experiencing growth. “I think that the youth of today are looking for authenticity. They are sick of the hypocrisy of some of the other religions. We tell it like it ism even if you don’t want to hear it.”
When we got back into the car, I asked Jordon why he had decided to leave the Pentecostal church. He said that even though his family was unhappy with his decision, the Pentecostal church was not a good fit for him. “I think the rules don’t make sense. All of these people really think that by not cutting their hair, watching movies or listening to music is automatically going to buy them a ticket into Heaven. I personally don’t think any of that stuff matters to get into Heaven. You have to do much more than just that.”
I decided to get an outsider’s point of view when it came to the Apostolic Pentecostal church. Rev. Angela Harrington Rice, former Assistant Pastor at Hillside Truth Center in Atlanta, and doctoral student at Interdenominational Theology Center, explained that the Pentecostal Denomination is actually not a denomination in the traditional sense, and that in fact many churches in the Pentecostal faith don’t use the term to identify their church. “The origin of the word Pentecost comes from a festival during which the Holy Spirit was said to have descended on the disciples after which they spoke in tongues. It represents the beginning of the Christian church.”
Although I’m not sure if the church was a good fit for me, I discovered that the preconceived ideas I had about the Pentecostal faith were not all true. Some were of course, but I learned that I had no reason to be nervous about visiting and that people are people no matter what church you attend. Will I visit again, maybe.
