What was your first time at Journey like?
My first time at Journey was actually kind of surprising. It surprised me, anyway. My family came to Journey looking for a new church around Easter in 2008, when I was in 6th grade. I wasn’t overly excited about this because I loved middle school group at our old church (College Avenue Baptist Church). I had no desire to leave, but my parents decided for various reasons that it was time for us to find a new church, a little closer to home. They heard about Journey because my aunts and uncle were attending Journey while they were also looking for a different church. My uncle, Tony Schlegal, (who now works at JCC), knew people that either went or worked at Journey, that had previously attended or worked with him at College Ave. That was actually one of the only reasons I was willing to not set myself against the idea of a new church completely. My uncle used to work with, and was good friends with Christina Robertson, who then ran Riptide, the area for 6th through 8th graders.
That first Sunday I came into Riptide, Christina Robertson made me feel welcome, which helped put me a little bit more at ease about the whole situation. As a 6th grader, I was pretty shy, and quiet, and really didn’t like being the new girl anywhere. Honestly though, aside from the vague memories of being shy and uncertain if I really wanted to be there, the most memorable part for me about that Sunday was one of the activities they were doing as part of the service.
Basically it was a competition.. (read on here!)
