Shortly after this life shaking decision, I started to share my experience with several people. I called my sister in California. She was a Christian and had been praying for me for years. I told her, "Dee, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior." There was silence. She stammered, "You did what? Are you kidding? Are you serious?"
When she finally realized that I was serious, she was elated. But I asked her, "Now what? Where do you think that I should go to church?" I really had no idea! There were so many denominations; and I was soon to find out that there were even more nondenominations and pitfalls than I had imagined.
She said that she would ask her pastor if he could recommend a good church in the Washington, DC area. Then we prayed together for the first time. She called back within a few days and gave me the name of "Christ Church" on Massachusetts Avenue in DC with Pastor Jolley. I visited that church on Sunday and started to attend an evening fellowship that met there on Thursdays called "TAG" for "Take And Give Ministry." This was an exciting group of young people experiencing charismatic worship and dynamic Bible teaching.
Next, I told Rob my graduate student that I had become a Christian. He said, "That's interesting. You should talk to my girlfriend's sister, Gina. There's a St. Patrick's Day party at my house and she may come to it."
So I went to the party and met Gina. She told me that I should go to Pilgrim Hill Fellowship on Friday nights. This was an interdenominational, charismatic group with Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and Catholics. The speaker was usually Pastor Richard Kline. After the meeting a group of singles would often meet at a couple's house. It was there that I met Karen.
Karen had been raised Catholic, but had fallen away from the church for a number of reasons. Through a series of many events she had also come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I was at first not particularly interested in her or anyone else at the fellowship. But something happened with Karen.