United Church of Christ
Gus’s Story
As a child, I started taking other children to Sunday School. I’d go over to their houses and ask their parents, “Can I take your kids to afternoon Sunday School at the Baptist church in Northern Liberties?”
Then I started trying out other churches: a Catholic church near Temple U., an AME church on Girard Ave. I even went to the mosque one time with my brother.
Until one Sunday, years later, I came to Old First for an early morning meeting and stayed for worship. During that service, the pastor called the children up front and asked them about what she’d said in the sermon. That drew me spiritually – that she cared enough to ask kids what they’d heard. And the message she drew out of the conversation with the kids was: “We welcome and accept anyone here because we are the church.”
