Daly Testimonial, Anglican Church of the Word

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Audrey Daly

My name is Audrey. I’m a Christian, and here’s how that came to be. I am the daughter of parents that immigrated to the US from Germany. I have a brother who is 6 yrs older than I, and probably because of the large difference in years we were never very close until well into adulthood. My Father was Jewish and came from a very Orthodox family. My Mother was Lutheran, but her father was Jewish. Now, part of this gets confusing, but I feel I need to tell you this because it’s part of the mosaic of my life.

Okay, ready?? As I said, my Mother’s father was Jewish. But, he did not follow his faith, or any other for that matter. For some reason, my Grandmother felt the need to become Jewish, so she converted and became pretty religious. She even put my Mother into a Hebrew school, though she never forced her to convert. When my Mother was 16 she married my Dad who was 32. Actually, in Europe it was a pretty normal thing to marry someone much older, and it still is popular today.

When Hitler began to persecute the Jews, my Father escaped into France and lived with his brother, but he convinced my Mother to stay in Germany thinking no harm would come to her, as a Lutheran. Of course that was not true. If you married a Jew you were considered a Jew, so she was soon arrested. Because she was a beautiful woman, she was used sexually by the officers. I don’t know how long she was held, but for some inexplicable reason one day she was called into an office and asked if she was the sister in law to a Paul Linick. She said she was and they told her that he was killed and she was free to leave. What followed is too long a story, but she eventually reunited with my Father in France. In 1939 they sailed for the United States. What they didn’t know at the time was that this was the last ship to go there before ships to America were stopped.

In 1941 my brother was born, and in 1947 I was born. In 1951 my parents got divorced. They had been married almost 15 years. My brother and I lived with my Father, and we all moved in with good friends of his for about two years. They were dedicated Lutherans and since they went to church every Sunday, so did I. I never questioned it. I never noticed that my brother didn’t go, or my Father. Just me. However, I found myself intrigued by this Jesus and believed the Bible Stories about him. That’s as far as it went though. About two years later my Dad remarried, this time to a Jewish woman. So, now it was Temple that I went to, and Hebrew School. That experience was not a good one and I always felt I didn’t belong. Hebrew School was impossible for me. I just couldn’t grasp it. It came to either I would flunk out, or be taken out. All I knew was, I was free.

As a child, I was extremely shy, introverted and fearful. Unfortunately, this was due in part, because my Father really didn’t know how to handle this. Consequently, he was often short, irritated and even verbally abusive. This just reinforced the feeling that I was not a very capable person.

As soon as I graduated H.S. I got married, moved to Indiana and had two children. We attempted going to church, but was made to feel so unwelcome that we never went back. After 5 years we moved back to NJ. I felt the need to take the children to church, but my husband refused to go. So, I found an Episcopal Church and the three of us started attending. Two years later I got divorced. I still continued to go to church, but it was sporadic. Somewhere, in the back of my mind I believed in God, and wanted more, but didn’t know how to get it. Believe it or not, this was not talked about in church, so I just drifted along.

Six years later Cass and I re-met. We had known each other growing up. He used to be our paper boy, and often we would walk home from school together. In High School he asked me out, but I would never go. He was always such a jokester and back then I didn’t really know how to take him. Any way, we became serious very quickly. I introduced him to the Episcopal Church and since it was so similar to the Catholic Church he felt very comfortable there. We married 1½ years later. We had found a home up in NY State, and an Episcopal church, which we became very involved with. He was a great leader in our home and I have learned so much from him. In many ways, I wouldn’t be the way I am if it wasn’t for him.

I was trying to think about what it was that made me trust in Christ. Actually, there was nothing specific. It was very slow and gradual. I was not desperate, or in a bad place. I just felt closer and closer to Christ and believed He was who He said He was.

I was Baptized and Confirmed on the same day, in 1981. But, it would still take another year for me to truly find Christ. In 1982 Cass and I went to a conference in Darian Ct. There was a corporate call and I fully accepted Christ as my Savior. There were no lightning bolts, no Damascus Rd. experience. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. I wanted lightning bolts and the Damascus Rd. experience, but this was my beginning.

The deepening of my Christian walk came with my attending Cursillo , a renewal weekend. This really began to change me and I began a much deeper walk with Christ.

Over time, I have gained confidence. I have become more outgoing, caring and helpful person. In other words, I have become more Christian. I truly believe God cares about me and loves me. I have been blessed.

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