How I Decided to Become a Member of the Congregational Church

 Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. School has been very time-consuming with quite a bit of projects, but now I have no more school, I hope I can come back more and post!

Today, I wanted to share with you all how I found my church and what led me to become a Congregationalist. 

As I said in my testimony, I didn't enjoy going to church as a young kid, feeling it was an "extra day of school". In my elementary and middle school years, I attended 2 evangelical churches in the Bay Area, 1 every Sunday until around 4th grade, the 2nd as a participant in their Day Camp Program both as a camper and as a staff. While I did believe in the Savior back then, I was not very active in those churches. Me and my family stopped attending the 1st evangelical church around 4th grade due to disagreements in some of their teachings. 

As many of you know, I was inspired by my favorite Disney characters and Disney classics to pursue animation around 5th-6th grade. However, the Disney feature films and short cartoons weren't the only things that touched my heart. Walt Disney, the man who started it all, also inspired me with both his way of seeing the world and his vision to bring entertainment to the "child within us all".

In high school, I was curious to learn more about Walt Disney and the amazing animated films he made. I found out that Walt Disney was a Congregationalist and even that the Disney classics, many of them and the inspiring messages were inspired by his Congregational upbringing. Without a church to call home at the time, I looked more into the Congregational Way. Being inspired strongly from the Disney animated feature Pinocchio (1940) to believe in my dreams and trust my conscience, I found similarities between my beliefs and that of the Congregational Way. 

I really like how the Congregational Church emphasizes the importance of the individual's conscience guiding one's spirit. While many other Christian churches expect their believers to believe and do certain things based on a literal interpretation of the Bible without questioning, the Congregational Way respects the freedom of the individual believer and his/her/their personal relationship with Christ as the guiding force in his/her/their life. I also like how us a Congregationalists not only read scripture, but also are open to different interpretations based on time, place, and circumstance. It's heartwarming hearing all the different interpretations that come from reading scripture.

With that, in college, I started looking for Congregational Churches to attend. With many Congregational Churches belonging to the UCC (United Church of Christ), during COVID, I attended a UCC virtually for a few months back in 2021. While I did appreciate their acceptance of LGBTQ and other disenfranchised individuals, I left due to the church preaching too much politics. 

Turning away from the UCC, I still believed that there are Congregational churches that truly believe in the Congregational way. So, I turned to the Congregational churches part of the NACCC and as I currently live in Anaheim, I started attending First Congregational Church of Anaheim (FCCA) in November 2021 virtually for a few months, before making my first in-person appearance in March 2022. Knowing no one at that church before, I first felt shy to show up in-person. However, my experience has always been much better than expected. Since Day 1, everyone at FCCA, including Pastor Jim, Pastor Emily, both Toms, Susan, and many more, have been very kind and accepting to me and my differences. I enjoyed every service, as well as the church outing to Peralta Park to celebrate 4th of July last year.

In December 2022, nine months after my first in-person service at FCCA, a few days before my trip to Hawai'i, I heard that the church was hosting a new members class in late-January. When I expressed my desire to officially join the church, both Pastor Jim and Pastor Emily were excited. And so, on February 5, right on Peter Pan's 70th Birthday, I became an official member of the Congregational Church! And yes, I will always remember to have faith, trust, and pixie dust!

Even when I move up to Los Feliz or Burbank, I still hope to make the drive down to attend FCCA on certain Sundays. I like the diversity at my church, where individuals of all different backgrounds attend and are respected. I even appreciate how my church is friendly not just to the Congregational Church members, but also non-members and those of different faiths and religions. I even see some Catholics and those of different faiths attend every now and then. So many interfaith marriages at my church. It even reminds me of thinking about marriage in the future. Will my spouse and I both attend FCCA, will we attend our respective different churches, or will we attend both of our churches on different Sundays (like we go to my church one Sunday, my spouse's church the next Sunday)? Will we both be Congregationalists, or will we be of different denominations? No matter what the stakes present itself, I believe that the Lord will find a way to make it work out. 

Going forward, the Congregational Way will be in my heart forever. I can't wait to see all the wonderful things I accomplish as a Congregational Christian today, tomorrow, and forever!

Happy Easter: My Video Testimony

 Hello everyone! Happy Easter! I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful celebration. 

On my end, most of my family is not in the faith (besides myself, only my mom, my younger brothers, and maybe my Uncle Martin are Christians). Most of my family is far away. However, guess who I celebrated Easter with today? ...

Yes, I celebrated Easter with my church, First Congregational Church of Anaheim. We had a wonderful breakfast, an Easter egg hunt, an amazing church service, and much more. 

Devoting my life to Christ took some time. When I was in elementary school, I attended church in the Bay Area with my family. At that time, dreaded going to church and felt it was an extra day of school. Around 3rd-5th grade, we stopped going to that church because my mom did not like some of the teachings that church preached. However, she shared many inspiring stories with me of Christ bringing miracles to many, like helping one who's blind to see again, and bringing life back to those that many were hopeless would ever survive. Growing up with special needs, these experiences led me to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior and really taught me to always have faith and hope in Christ, even in the darkest of times. Anyway, here is my testimony if you would like to learn more on how I came to Christ:

More photos from church: 

Very Excited to Become an Official Member of My Church

 Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a great start to your February. I'm writing today because tomorrow, Sunday, February 5, I am going to become an official member of the Congregational Church! I'm really grateful to have found this church. Through faith in Christ, I've met so many wonderful individuals there. 

Finding the right church took quite a bit of time. When I was young, I attended a non-denominational church back in the Bay Area. As someone who did not like going to school, I at first dreaded going to church on Sundays. My family and I stopped attending around 5th grade because we felt their teachings were too harsh. From the summer before 6th grade to the summer before 9th grade, I attended a summer Christian day camp at another church near my middle school, 2 years as a day camper, 2 years as a staff volunteer. When I was staffing for them, they had us try to convert the day campers into Christians, in the name of "Spreading the Gospel", which I felt uncomfortable doing. 

Both of these churches would try to drill in my head that 'anyone who doesn't believe in Christ goes to hell'. With most of my relatives on both my mom's side and my dad's side (including my grandparents) identifying as Buddhist and meeting so many kind individuals who did not identify as Christian, I started to question that statement. Even though I am a straight male, I also did not like how these churches had beliefs that marginalize individuals who identify as LGBTQ. As a man who embraces diversity and all religions, I personally feel that God loves everyone, not just those who identify as 'Christian'. 

Surprisingly, when I share my tough experience at these churches to many Christians today, they tell me, "Oh, the stuff they are preaching is actually from the Bible." After they said that, I felt a little hurt, and felt that they didn't really validate my experience. From my experience, the Bible has taught me many important truths and lessons from Christ through his word, however, there are things in the Bible that I would question, "With the love and hope God provides to myself and many, would God really do this today?"

While I may not have had the best experiences at these churches, what encouraged me to continue to have faith and believe in my Lord and Savior are the love he gives me and the hope he provides along the way. I saw a Brazilian Healer who visited New York 3 times in my 5th, 6th, and 10th-grade year. These experiences helped me to see more of the spiritual side of Christ. 

Anyway, back to the search, the search continued on, especially after I moved down to Southern California. Around 5th-6th grade, if you know me well, that was also the time when Walt Disney and my favorite Disney characters all inspired me to pursue animation. I was looking into Walt Disney's life and found out how his Congregational upbringing and faith had a big influence on the creation of his films. With that, I looked more into the Congregational Church and the Congregational way. What really resonated with me was the freedom of interpretation of the Gospel, the importance of individual conscience (Pinocchio), and most of all, the importance of a personal relationship with Christ. 

So then, I looked into Congregational churches. From mid-2021 to late-2021, I attended a UCC (United Church of Christ) in L.A. virtually through Zoom. However, while I really liked how open and accepting they were, I stopped attending since I felt the talk on politics was too much there to the point where I started to feel worried every time I would attend a service. I also felt the Congregational Way at that UCC was not really being emphasized there. At the same time around December 2021, I started attending service for my current church, First Congregational Church of Anaheim, virtually through Facebook Live. I really valued Pastor Jim's sermons and how he emphasizes what it means to serve as a believer of Christ. As a result, in early March 2022, I started attending in person, and that's when I started to meet all of my wonderful church friends! 

Ever since I started attending, I'm really blessed getting to know many there, including Jim Weddell (the DVD man who knows the son of Frank Thomas, one of Disney's Nine Old Men), Tom and his wife Susan, Pastor Emily and her husband Ricky, and Pastor Jim Schibsted and his wife Penny. While this church is mostly composed of older adults and seniors, everyone there I have met is very accepting with true love that comes from the heart. 

Even when I do move to Los Feliz, or elsewhere in the Hollywood-Burbank area, I still plan to make the commute down when I can on Sundays to attend service at FCCA. Whether I end up attending just FCCA or 2 churches (FCCA and my wife's church), whether I have barely any time or a lot of time, I have faith that God will find a way to make it work out.

So tomorrow, I am very excited to become an official member at my church. Not only that, I am also going to get baptized for the very first time through sprinkling tomorrow, not because it is required (it's not required), but rather because to symbolize the dedication of my life to the Lord. I'll make sure to post pictures! 

Thank you for reading my piece here. I hope you all have a magical evening! No matter what you may identify as, always know that you are very special and that there is something very special inside of you that the world is waiting to see! 

I say this in Christ's name we pray, Amen!

The Three Characters That Changed My Life

     

Sorry I have been away for so long. I've gotten very busy with my film and being in the Animation BFA at my school.

My 3 favorite animated movies of all time that inspired me to dream of becoming an animator are Fantasia (1940), Pinocchio (1940), and Peter Pan (1953). It's not just the moral messages that inspired me, but rather more, the characters that encouraged me through these messages. Today, I drew my 3 favorite cartoon characters, Peter Pan, Jiminy Cricket, and most of all, Mickey Mouse.

 Third to foremost, Peter Pan always reminds me to not grow up too fast and to always have faith and trust. When I was in elementary school, I was often made fun of for liking things people thought I was 'too old' to like, such as dressing up as Mickey Mouse and watching shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. That made me both question my childish personality and feel pressured by society to 'grow up'. At the same time, Peter Pan encouraged me to embrace the child inside of me and to never let that go, to embrace my immaturity in that there's always something new to discover. 

 Second to most is Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio (1940). In elementary school, I also really doubted myself on many of the decisions I was making back then and felt tempted by my tutors and parents to conform and have similar interests as peers who are the same age as me. At the same time in 5th grade when I was starting to see and believe the miracles, angels, and spirits that my Lord and Savior can bring to me, Jiminy Cricket came into my mind during the Remember Dreams Come True firework show at Disneyland, reassuring me to trust my heart, to follow my conscience, and to believe in my wishes and dreams. For the first time, I felt then that my dreams and ambitions were validated. 

 Most of all, as a lonely child in elementary school with barely any true friends, Mickey Mouse shined the light. In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I felt welcomed by Mickey and his pals into the clubhouse. I would always feel sad when he has to say 'so long' at the end of each episode. In the classic Mickey Mouse cartoons, he taught me what it means to love and care for each other and what true friendship means. In the Fantasmic! show at Disneyland also in 5th grade, he also inspired me to keep using my imagination and to be open to all the amazing possibilities out there. 

These 3 special characters are not just my favorite cartoon characters, they are the first true friends I met. Yes, many of you may think I am weird for saying this, but this is why I say 'Happy Birthday' to my favorite cartoon characters. 

I feel like my struggles to make friends, while it did come with feeling lonely and excluded through the end of high school, I also felt it came with a blessing in disguise. Owing to my loneliness, I thought about how Mickey and his pals, Jiminy, and Peter Pan all made me feel less lonely through their inspiration. This made me think about all the other kids and adults who may be feeling lonely and want to create my own cartoon characters to inspire them and give them lifelong friends they can relate to.

These characters didn't just gift me with my dream to move to/near L.A. and pursue animation. They also helped me to transform my heart, to open up and be vulnerable, and also blessed me with all of you, especially my wonderful and amazing friends I've met both in-person and online since I started at CSULB. 

Thank you for reading my story and for always supporting me throughout this lifelong journey. I'm really grateful for all of you and can't wait to see where this journey leads me.