I was born and raised a Ukrainian Catholic (under the Eastern rite of Roman Catholicism) and I had a draw to holy service. From the earliest days I was always fascinated by the mysticism and ritual of the Church.
I was brought up old school. The priests, nuns and deacons taught with weapons and spoke of a jealous, spikeful and angry God...you did something wrong...you suffered the wrath of the clergy, then your conscience and finally as Maude would put it, "God will get you, Walter!" So I remember the metal edged rulers and having to genuflect on dry peas for doing something stupid like talking during mass.
My first service was as an altar boy. I thought I was getting a "get out of Hell FREE card" and was usually overlooked for corporal punishment. I had the time of my life! usually the pastor (now he's a Monsignor) would tell us that we could finish the bottle of consecrated wine as long as we behaved.
A couple years had passed and thoughout the period of being an altar boy, I would be pressured by the priests and bishop to become ordained. The usual line was something like "When you going into seminary...I don't have that much time left on this earth"
While that was in the back of my head, I went on through high school and university and then entered seminary. I don;t know what it was, but I just couldn't go through with it. It was like a brainwashing exercise or like something prisoners of war would be forced to endure. You go in, and you are stripped of any free will that is given to you...you are reminded you are worthless and that ONLY Jesuits have a right to free thought. There was memorization and meditation, lots of praying and lots of archaic lessons on church history, stewardship and pastoral care. I'm told you are only told you have any worth at all, once you are ordained.
After 4 months, I left. I was so turned off by the church and then I felt a void...got ordained in the ULC back in 1996 by Bishop Kirby J Hensley and have been reading alot about various religions and practices.
In 2001 I became a part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. I loved the messages of tolerance, acceptance and community...but hated that every second the pastor was begging for money...The pastor is very handsomely paid and also has a very exclusive condo provided gratis. While he's a nice man, he does love the sound of his voice a little too much. I found that others were passing ahead of me to become deacons and I decided to leave MCC...
Now I'm back home to ULC and I have met many great people in the short time I've been back...I love the forums and embrace the diversity that is ULC...I also wish that the laws here allowed me to perform marriages.
So that's a little about me...I look forward to everyone's guidance and opinions.
♱ Rev. PJ Finczak ♱
