I was raised in the Presbyterian Church, US, the old Southern Church.  Our denomination later joined the PCUSA.  There was nothing abnormal or ultra-conservative about the church I grew up in.  Our ministers were kindhearted and loving, never used the pulpit for hellfire sermons or social issues.  Politics were never discussed.  We were never encouraged from the pulpit to vote.  Those things, in Presbyterianism, were not considered matters of faith, but matters of conscience.

We were never told what kind of movies we should see, whether or not we should dance in public, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes.  I never heard talk about what we shouldn't do - only positive things we should do.  The sermons I heard were inspirational, sometimes awe-inspiring, but always encouraging.

But every summer, my father dropped my mother, my brother, and myself off in rural Georgia for a month, to visit my mother's parents.  Southern Baptists, they were, and every year, Preacher Joe threatened to withdraw from  the Southern Baptist Convention because he believed their Sunday School literature was far too liberal.  This is where I heard stories of eternal hell and damnation of the sinner.  Every Sunday, Preacher Joe gave an altar call - a chance for some poor sinner to come forward, repent of his sins, and receive Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.  Nobody ever came forward, because the village was small, and the same Christians showed up every Sunday.

When I turned 15, I joined the Presbyterian Church back home and was baptized by pouring - a big relief for me because in rural Georgia, they dunked you in baptistry behind the pulpit.

At 18, I experienced something called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I spoke in tongues.  This happened to me as the result of my own Presbyterian minister's experience, which he shared with his entire congregation.  I felt compelled to open myself to this as well, and received the experience in the minister's office, while a few other congregants prayed for me.  This was a turning point in my life.  Our minister eventually lost his job, partly because of his spiritual boldness.  I left soon afterward.  I visited many Pentecostal churches, and during that time, I was exposed to an early form of Dominionism: The Faith Movement.