Everyone has their own perspective when it comes to thoughts about church.

Maybe you love church and think of it as a second home. Maybe you had the worst experience with church and you have never gone back. Maybe you’ve never even been to church or are more of a spiritual person and you don’t think that going to church is all that necessary.

The meaning of church also changes with age.

A six-year-old might be happy to go to church but for different reasons than someone who is 30 years old. I think this process is interesting because it shows a developed way of thinking along with a developed relationship in religion.

There are probably a lot of different ways to assess your religious development but I like the perspective of looking at church, just church. No matter your religion or beliefs, you have something like a church. Even in that Maren Morris’s song, “My Church,” she sings about how her singing in her truck is her church.

I tried to look back at my religious growth and decided to write letters in my perspective at different ages. Who are the letters addressed to you ask?

You guessed it, Church.

Dear Church,

I’m so glad I went to church this morning! No one wanted to get up but I really wanted to go to Sunday school. We put red stuff in applesauce and I guess that was supposed to be like a red sea kind of thing about Moses or something.

I don’t know why my siblings say that church is boring. I offered to go to their big kids Sunday school but they said that it didn’t work that way. Maybe they don’t get snacks or color. I guess that would be kind of boring.

Sincerely,

Erin (age seven)

Dear Church,

I’m going to need some help with making my mom understand that it’s OK to wear jeans to church sometimes. I know the term is “Sunday best” but if my dress pants are dirty then they’re dirty. I don’t think God smites the comfortably dressed.

This wouldn’t even be a problem if my parents just let me stay home to do homework like I suggested. They let my sister stay home for one Sunday because she had a lot of homework. So, I don’t know why mom didn’t go for my suggestion. I thought my grades were supposed to be a priority but oh well, I guess a weirdly fitted dress it is then.

Sincerely,

Erin (age 15)

Dear Church,

I’ve been contemplating about life a lot recently. I know, I’m only in high school, so there’s not much to contemplate, but it’s more like the "why" of everything. I don’t know if it's because I have actually been paying attention in church but I’ve been focusing on things that have happened in my life.

I'm trying to see how some of those things might have happened to teach me a lesson or, perish the thought, turn into something good. But to find out, I have to have patience. And as I mentioned before, I’m a high schooler. Patience isn’t really in my bag of tricks right now, so I might need a little help over here.

Sincerely,

Erin (age 17)

Dear Church,

I’ve tried to come to church. I know I should every Sunday but it’s hard. Mom’s not there to sit with us and nudge me when I’m not singing. Some songs make me cry. It’s not because the music makes me sad or anything. Actually, the music is beautiful. Too beautiful, if that makes sense.

So I may not be in church every Sunday, but it’s getting easier.

Sincerely,

Erin (age 19)

Dear Church,

A lot has happened in the last couple years. We’ve moved to a new state and my husband and I both wanted to find a place to call our church. But we were stuck in this limbo of church and stay at home because we kept finding churches that didn’t really fit right. Like a pair of shoes that are only half a size too small so you tolerate it but eventually you just don’t want to wear them anymore.

I knew we didn’t have to go to church to pray and talk to God and read our bibles but there was a bit of accountability that we didn’t seem to get without a church. Well, maybe accountability is the wrong word. Maybe it was the need for a connection.

Sincerely,

Erin (age 20)

Thankfully, we finally found a church that fit like a worn-in pair of spiritual sneakers. For our first service, we sat and listened to the sermon and after, we didn’t pick at all the stuff that we didn’t like about it. We just talked about the message. It felt like we finally found that connection that we were looking for. We finally found our church.