Confessions of faith
Confessions of faith
Why are you a member of WELS? What does this church body have that makes it unique from hundreds of others? In this series, you will read about why some choose to join WELS and what members treasure most about being WELS.
For these and other reasons, Tammie Radikopf went searching for a new church. Previously a member at a Southern Baptist church, she was looking for a place where she could hear the Scriptures plainly taught—and she found Our Savior’s in Port Orange, Fla.
A time of questioning
“Church has just always been a part of my life,” says Tammie. “I grew up Southern Baptist. Everyone in my family is Southern Baptist, and my dad is a Southern Baptist pastor.” Tammie attended a Southern Baptist megachurch for 11 years, and worked there for almost six.
It wasn’t until her divorce in 1997 that things changed. “That shook my world a lot,” says Tammie. “For the first time, I wanted to know who God was because I needed him more than ever. And the church I was going to—even though it was a great, exciting, huge church—they weren’t focusing on Scripture.”
During this time of questioning, Tammie met Greg. Shortly before they were married, she began attending his church. “It was a Lutheran church, but it was not a WELS church,” she recalls. “And that church was even more far away from Scripture than the Southern Baptist church I was going to. There was just a lot of liberal stuff going on, and the pastor really wasn’t taking a stand on scriptural issues. I was very miserable there.”
After a lot of praying, Tammie and her family began looking for a new church. “Through a community event called Family Days, we saw this Lutheran church called Our Savior’s,” Tammie remembers. “Pastor Dobberstein talked to us and we went and visited. My husband said, ‘Maybe this is the church,’ but I wasn’t 100 percent sold right away. I’m kind of ashamed to admit I pulled a Gideon. I prayed, ‘You know, God, I think this is what you’re saying, but I don’t really like it. So I’m putting out the fleece. If this is what you want, you’ve got to give me a sign.’
That Sunday they visited Our Savior’s again. Tammie saw something in the bulletin that caught her eye—a scrapbooking group would be meeting later that week. Tammie was further intrigued by the woman organizing the event. She remembers telling her husband, “That sounds like the name of the woman I’ve been e-mailing for three years about scrapbooking. I wonder if it’s the same woman?” And it was!
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