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How My Church Controlled Every Part of My Life — and How I Left
Understanding Control in Evangelical Churches
The college years are a pivotal time for many young adults. We experience a certain amount of independence, some of us for the first time. We meet new people and experience new things. It’s not surprising that many Evangelical churches create college-specific ministries to reach this demographic. From concert-level worship sets with hipster (for my fellow millennials, indie-sleaze for my Gen Z peeps) college and young adult pastors, churches work hard to win college students over to Jesus, and I was one of them.
I grew up culturally Catholic and in a very strict Mexican-American household. College was a freeing and sometimes lonely time in my life. I was making poor choices and trying but failing to be everything my parents had pressured me to be.
I ended up getting connected with an old friend who explained all about the forgiveness of Jesus, and for a 20-year-old shame-filled college student, it sounded like the fresh start I needed. I gave my life to God and, unbeknownst to me, began a whirlwind indoctrination process in the American Evangelical church. Though I had doubts and questions about all the things I was learning about the bible and church history, I asked God to help my unbelief.
