Your Religious Heritage

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My family was Jewish, mostly Reform, especially on my maternal grandmother’s side. My maternal grandfather was Orthodox, and practiced daily Jewish prayer rituals, but often worked on Saturdays. He would occasionally go ‘off-the-rails’ and insist on very Orthodox practices, but mostly he was pretty moderate, although he sometimes expressed outright hostility to Christianity, going as far as spitting when he passed a church. I found this latter habit objectionable, even at a young age. My grandmother and grandfather did not attend the same shul, because my grandmother objected to men and women sitting separately. Her family had been Reform Jews from the beginning of the movement in the 19th century.(Baltimore had the first Reform temple in the U.S.) My father’s side of the family was mostly indifferent to religion, but attended services on the High Holidays.

My maternal grandmother had what I would term an ‘inordinate interest’ in the Catholic Church. A large number of her friends were Catholics, including several nuns. One of those nuns gave her a Rosary, which she continued to carry in her handbag for the rest of her life. My grandmother insisted on watching Cardinal Sheen’s TV program weekly, as well as another local Catholic program. She also used to play the OF (Protestant version) on the radio every morning, and sing Christmas Carols. Both of these practices drove my grandfather crazy. She was a close friend of the then governor of Maryland, and once took his children to a Jewish Temple on a Saturday morning. Mrs. O’Conor was, as they say, not amused, but it didn’t end the friendship. She also insisted that I attend a local Jesuit high school. (As a Jew, I didn’t have to take religion classes.)

All this brings-up the question of whether she secretly converted at some point, or converted and later changed her mind. My mother thought this to be the case.

I converted to Anglicanism in college, and later to Catholicism. That’s another story, which I’ll talk about when I have more time.
 
I discovered the connection to the Quakers researching my family tree, and discovered a few with the last name I share, buried in Quaker cemeteries.
 
My dad’s side has always been Catholic.

My mom’s side was Catholic for a long, long time. But then my great-grandfather moved his family to a Presbyterian church. My grandmother and mom grew up Presbyterian (although my grandmother was strongly influenced by Catholicism). Then when my mom met my dad she converted to Catholicism.
 
My father was a big city Methodist. My mother a small town Southern Baptist after his death she found a home with the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
 
JustaServant said:
What is it?
Not the denomination or church you attend now, but the religious affiliation your family is connected to and you were raised in. Your parents or grandparents.
Both sides of my family were Catholic. But I have a feeling my mothers side might have been Orthodox or even Jewish in the past.
What was your family’s reaction when you cut yourself off from that heritage?
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My family was originally Methodist and Anglican on one side and Seventh Day Adventist on the other. No one in our family cared when we became Catholic, although there are very few Catholics where my family comes from.
 
My mother’s side is Catholic.

My Fathers I don’t know. My Father converted and was not raised in any faith. That his side were religious is obvious in their letters but what faith they followed is unknown. Some were Masons and my great grandfather is buried in a Mason graveyard. He claimed to be Scotch Irish which many were Presbyterians but I don’t know what they were.
 
My great grandfather was Church of the Nazarene, but my grandma and grandpa decided to church hop around different Pentecostal churches until they sort of settled on the Pentecostal Church of God. Today, my family (self included) still attend that church, but it is now non-denominational Pentecostal. My great uncle still sometimes tells my mother that she needs to “return to her roots” in the Nazarene Church, even though she never was a member.
 
JustaServant said:
What is it?
Not the denomination or church you attend now, but the religious affiliation your family is connected to and you were raised in. Your parents or grandparents.
Both sides of my family were Catholic. But I have a feeling my mothers side might have been Orthodox or even Jewish in the past.
What was your family’s reaction when you cut yourself off from that heritage?
Click to expand...
Rather simple for me, at least in the last three generations. Dad was a Lutheran pastor and, so far as I know, a completely Lutheran heritage. Mom’s side was Lutheran except for a convert to Lutheranism from Catholicism - I think her mother’s side, perhaps her grandfather (not sure).

Jon
 
My father was raised as a Reform Jew, though it doesn’t appear that religion played much of a part in his family’s daily life. He became a Christian in college, and went to a Methodist church.

My mom’s side is old Pennsylvania German with a little Welsh—typical for this part of southeast Pennsylvania. Not surprisingly, her family was Lutheran.

When I was young we went to a UCC church–all I remember about it is one or the other of my parents would tickle my back or play with my hair throughout the service—between that and whispered games of “Quaker Meeting” with my brother and sister, I didn’t too much mind having to go to church every Sunday.

At some point we started going to an Evangelical church. I seemed to me that it was less for theological reasons, and more because the people there let their faith impact their day-to-day life more fully and deeply. That’s my impression, anyway.

I still attend an Evangelical church, so any sort of converting hasn’t really been an issue with my family. None of us would be upset if another family member chose to be Catholic or Orthodox. I’ve come, however, to lean towards some “emerging church” values, which initially did worry my mom.
 
For the most part people are what they are born into. My wife and I are cradle Lutherans. It was by chance that whe we first dated, we found out that we were both Lutherans.
 
My parents were both raised Anglican, with my mother’s father being a minister.

I don’t know much beyond that.
 
My parents Catholic, Grandparents (both sides) Catholic, Great Grandparents (both sides Catholic) not sure before that. But our Heritage by right was Hinduism. I think we were converted by Portuguese Catholic ministers not sure exactly when. Family names are Portuguese at least:D

MJ
 
I come from a family split by divorce and remarrige.

My mom went from Baptist, to Nazarene, to Independent Christian.

My dad was raised Free Will Baptist and when he “re” married my step mom he became a very strict “church of Christ” campbellite.

When I left the “church of Christ” I was told “you have left Christ and his church”. I was shunned, disowned and disinherited.

I am fairly sure that my earlier ancestors were Irish Catholic. I have an Irish name and my dad and gramma had flame red hair.
 
My paternal grandma was born Catholic, but I didn’t even know that until a couple years after her death. I don’t know about my paternal grandpa. He was Finnish, so chances are his family was Lutheran.

My mom’s side is super Protestant and has been for hundreds of years. Her side of the family was Catholic, but that was way, way, way back when.

I grew up going to non-denominational Protestant churches.

Hubby grew up in a super Catholic family.
 
My grandmother was Pentecostal and my mother is Baptist. I grew up going to church at both denominations, but as I got older, mostly at the Baptist Church.

I was baptized in the Baptist church when I was around 19. I found documentation that says I was baptized as a baby, but can’t prove in which denomination.

The interesting thing is that my grandmother and granduncle were raised Catholic. At some point my grandmother “got saved” but my granduncle remained Catholic. So we end up with two sides of the family.

My grandmother and her progeny, of which there are many, are all Pentecostal except for my mother, who is Baptist.

My granduncle stayed Catholic and married a Catholic woman and had two daughters. So my third cousins and their kids are Catholic.

By converting to Catholicism, I am returning back to the religion of our origin. Although if my Grandmother was alive, she would be devastated.
 
My family was Protestant (at least in the sense of being Christian but not Catholic or Orthodox) but not belonging to any particular church, and very rarely attending. We didn’t talk about religion at home, and I received no instruction about it. What I learned, I learned on my own, and that was a fair bit since I was always a bookworm, with a particular interest in philosophy, theology, politics, history, etc.

Today I consider myself Anglican, though I attend an Assemblies of God church.
 
Both my mother’s and father’s families are Catholic. I was raised Catholic.
 
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