I thought my experience in the kids room might have been an outlier, but after leaving the church, I had a chance to speak to other former members about their own experiences.

The “kids room” on the Sabbath was no Sunday school. It wasn’t the sweet garden of cherubs that promotional videos would have the general public believe.

I had never been interested in kids before, but one day I woke up and suddenly wanted to take care of kids.

The messages in the church about bearing fruit were very strong—to bear no fruit was akin to being dead.

A new house church opened near where I lived.