Did you date/court anyone before your spouse?

[Ken]

Yes, I got married in my mid-30s and had a social life before that.

Having dated other women over the years was partly how I knew I had finally found the right one.

[steve-in-kville]

I was raised in The Weaverland Conference Church at a time when the only way you could really get to know someone was through dating them. There was very little opportunity to get to know someone of the opposite sex, outside of dating. That was many years ago and I don't know if that method of getting to know someone is still practiced in that conference. It was not a good thing though, because many times couples would date for several months and the growing love between them was not mutual. Then when one decided to move out of the relationship, and break up, it left the other one heart broken. It also was a time when there was very little physical contact between the couples. If a young man got too handsy, he was told where to get off.

Maybe I have this wrong, but does Weaverland youth still have "gangs" or groups that hung out together?

[Grace]

I was raised in The Weaverland Conference Church at a time when the only way you could really get to know someone was through dating them. There was very little opportunity to get to know someone of the opposite sex, outside of dating. That was many years ago and I don't know if that method of getting to know someone is still practiced in that conference. It was not a good thing though, because many times couples would date for several months and the growing love between them was not mutual. Then when one decided to move out of the relationship, and break up, it left the other one heart broken. It also was a time when there was very little physical contact between the couples. If a young man got too handsy, he was told where to get off.

Maybe I have this wrong, but does Weaverland youth still have "gangs" or groups that hung out together?

Weaverland Conference is very large, covering many states. Here in Pa. there is a very large amount of youth that cover Lancaster county, Lebanon county, and Berks County. There was a time that families went together and had what was called a "crowd supper" where all youth from those counties were invited. They often served between 500 and 600 youth. That was about a good number of years ago. I can imagine that amount has increased. So yes, the youth will have their own smaller groups or "gangs", based on the church they attend or being in the same area.

[Sudsy]

My first date was around 10 years old. I took a girl ice skating at the local arena and bought her a snack. That was it. I'm not sure what people might call a 'date' in their view but for me it was anytime I arranged to spend time with a girl even if it was not alone time. In my teens we did a lot of 'double dating' and in the Pentecostal church we switched dates quite often. More serious dating (i.e. involving kissing) happened in later teen years and not many before my first spouse. Was first married at age 21. My life after that was quite complicated.