Jamie Janosz

  If you grew up attending a Baptist church, you should recognize most of these. Can you add more?   1) You know what an Awana circle is. 2) You always hold a hankie over your nose when you go under water. 3) You can name at least five different kinds of Jello salad. 4) As a child, you “marched in the infantry.” 5) You know what it means to pray for “unspokens.” 6) Campfires always make you break out in song. 7) When it is six o’clock on a Sunday evening, you get ready for church, again. 8) You’ve passed a concern over the prayer chain. 9) You know that sword drills have nothing to do with sharp objects. 10) The word “potluck” makes you salivate. 11) You can quote John 3:16 word for word. 12) You fellowship with the best of them.

  My dad, Neil Storms, was the piano player at the First Baptist Church of South Holland. He played the glossy black grand piano wedged into the front left corner near the pulpit. When he was not at the piano, my dad always sat in the first pew. At First Baptist, no one else sat in the front row, except for the organist, who also sat in the front pew on the right side. The first three pews were always empty. Baptists are known for sitting in the back of the church. Our church sanctuary was one long rectangular room with an unfashionable suspended ceiling. On each side of the auditorium were long pews upholstered in nubby red fabric. The carpet was also red, and the church walls were covered in brown paneling. The red pews and carpet, which looked rather festive at Christmastime, was often a problem for other occasions. I knew of many brides who moved their wedding ceremonies to another church because the red theme clashed with their chosen colors. The piano and o...