My Life as a Pastor's Kid

ThatTheaterGal's here to fill you in on the intricacies of being a small-town celebrity...that is, a pastor's kid. —Sparkitors

ATTENTION ALL: before you run screaming for the hills, before you judge me, before you skip to the next post (GASP! the horror!), know this: I'm normal.

Yeah.

Well, you know, as normal as they come.  Ish.

And this is my life as a pastor's kid:

1. Everyone knows you. Everyone. Even the newcomers. They ALL know who you are.

Being a PK is not for the faint of heart, especially in my church of 200 people.  It's like being a celebrity in a small town, especially during the Greeting (the part in the service after the hymns where people are encouraged to greet each other) Once, I introduced myself to a woman I had definitely never seen before in my life, and she was all like "Oh yeah, you're ThatTheaterGal, right?  I know who you are, I think I met you a while ago."  She actually said that. And so I think wow, either I have a terrible, terrible memory, worse than usual, or I'm actually famous, or... oh wait... I'm a pastor's kid.

2. You help out with church. A lot.

My church's service usually starts at 10:30 on Sunday mornings, but we usually get there around 45 minutes early. Which means there is absolutely nothing to do, because the only other people there are adults I don't know all that well. I usually end up helping sort the bulletins or setting up communion or something.

It helps that I like singing, though, so every once in a while I'll go up on the stage and help lead worship with the band. I even did a whole song all by my myself.

3. You are the first to arrive and the last to leave.

Both of my parents like to talk. Especially my mom, who will go up to anyone and everyone after the service and give a friendly hello. I don't mind it until I look around and my family we're literally the last people in the building. This usually happens, oh, say, every week.

4. You go to at least 3 youth groups or Bible studies.

Like I said before, I go to a really small church, so there aren't a whole lot of teens my age. We have a girl's Bible study that meets for lunch every other week after church on Sunday, but that's really all we have in terms of youth programs. So I also go to another church's youth group every Sunday night, which is SUPERDUPER fun and we do all these completely crazy and wacky things and it's AWESOME. And on top of all that, I have meetings during the week with some of my Christian friends at my school, which are also so much fun and insightful.

5. People hold you to a higher standard than they do to your peers.

When my friends find out that I'm a PK, I usually get really mixed reactions, which range from "Ohmygosh that's so cool! Can I come and be your best friend for the rest of your life???" to "Ew. She's like one of those straightedge Christians times ten billion, I am never talking to her face again." You're expected to get good grades and do the right thing and be the good girl by your non-Christian buddies, and your Christian buddies expect you to lead youth group discussions and know everything about the Bible. Which, frankly, I don't. Sorry.

To be honest though, the biggest difference is that there is a whole lot more theology in my everyday life. My dad uses my siblings' constant shenanigans as "sermon illustrations," and many of the conversations within my family tie back to what God has to say about everything. And the cool thing is, I love it, and I wouldn't ever ask for a different lifestyle.

Would you want to be a PK?

Related Post: Why I'm Episcopalian and Proud of It!

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