People have searched the heavens and all of nature to know where we came from and Who that supreme being might be who created our world and humankind. It is a journey of faith, a journey most of us take. My faith journey began in a tiny brown church with a red door. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Mullens, W.V. is where I learned about Jesus, faith and the love and support of a church family.

My parents met when St. Andrew’s was being built. They married there, baptized and confirmed three children, had their 50th wedding anniversary and their last rites in that beautiful little church. Our church family was an important part of our lives. We shared the joys and sorrows of raising families and later grew older together. Because the church was so small everyone was involved in some way. My mother was organist, choir director, Sunday school teacher, church treasurer and on the alter guild. Dad was on the vestry, lay reader, and a great Sunday school teacher and many other duties.

When I was in college, I was a fairly regular member of the campus Episcopal Youth congregation. When I graduated from WVU I moved to Huntington. I lived there for fourteen years and never joined a church. I had a strong Christian upbringing that I embraced. So, it was my opinion that I really did not need to go to church.

We moved to Wilmington in 1990. For the first four years I lived very close to St. Andrews On-the-Sound. I felt the church beckon to me. On a very few occasions I went there alone. I was very uncomfortable with that. After we moved to Scotts Hill, I was busy working an average of sixty hours a week. Sundays were for rest, housework, laundry, etc.

Then came 2003. This was, without a doubt, the worst year of my life. On January 16,2003 Greg was hurt in an accident while working and almost lost three fingers. Instead of working and building our house in Deerfield he spent a year in rehab. My sister had been battling cancer for four years. In late April of that year she suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed on her left side. That same April my mother was diagnosed with Cancer. My father had been diagnosed with cancer in 2001. My sister died in June of 2003. In August my brother had a heart attack and bypass surgery. In October my father died. All I remember feeling was overwhelming grief and constant stress over work and finances. There was no peace. In March of 2005 my mother passed. My way of dealing with the grief was to become amerced in work, work, work!

My best friend, Robin Miller, was now a member of St. Andrew’s On-the-Sound and I occasionally went to church and some events with her. After Robin lost her father and mother, she suggested we go to grief counseling at St. Andrew’s. I felt it had been too long since my losses, but Robin convinced me to go. I found that I did need this to finally grieve and to know I was not alone in my journey. It was at this time that I decided to join St. Andrews on the Sound. It has been a blessing that has changed my life. Being involved in the church has given me new focus and the love and support of a church family. When I walk into church and sit on a pew alone, I no longer feel alone.

God bless St. Andrew’s On-the-Sound Episcopal Church! I started my faith journey at St. Andrew’s, and I will end it at St. Andrew’s.

God`s Peace!

Melinda S. Rider