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Excerpt from

Oral History Interview with Nell Putnam Sigmon, December 13, 1979. Interview H-0143. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

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Differences between religious denominations

Sigmon talks about changing from the Baptist church to the Methodist denomination.

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About this Excerpt

Interviewer	Jacquelyn Hall
Interviewee	Nell Putnam Sigmon
Excerpt Length	0:03:10
Start Time	00:38:11
Stop Time	00:41:21
Subjects	General > ASPECTS OF POPULAR CULTURE > Religion Southern Women > FAMILY AND DOMESTIC SPHERE > Child Rearing Southern Women > FAMILY AND DOMESTIC SPHERE > Culture and Values Southern Women > FAMILY AND DOMESTIC SPHERE > Religion
Excerpt People	Sigmon, Clinton

Citing this Excerpt

Oral History Interview with Nell Putnam Sigmon, December 13, 1979. Interview H-0143. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Full Text of the Excerpt

JACQUELYN HALL:: What church did you go to?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: May's Chapel Methodist. But we had his funeral on Easter Sunday.
JACQUELYN HALL:: Were you raised as a Methodist?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: No, I was a Baptist.
JACQUELYN HALL:: How did you change over to the Methodist church?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: I think when people get married they should belong to one church, and then when we had our family started I just joined his church.
JACQUELYN HALL:: He was a Methodist?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: Yes. His family were.
JACQUELYN HALL:: Did you see much difference between the Methodist and the Baptist church?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: No, I didn't. Only they baptize their babies, where we don't. They wait until they're about twelve years old. They [the Baptists?] baptize their babies when they're small, and then they take this Bible study when they're about twelve or fourteen, and then they join the church.
JACQUELYN HALL:: Did you believe in infant baptism?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: Yes, I don't have anything against it. It's just something that you take the vows that you're going to live right and be good to those children and see that they're raised right. That's the only thing I see.
JACQUELYN HALL:: Did you miss that once you went to the Methodist church?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: Oh, yes, I did. I went along with that. I thought it was good, too. But the Baptists don't. I don't see anything wrong with it. And the Lutherans do that, too.
JACQUELYN HALL:: Has your religion taught you certain things about how to live your life?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: Oh, sure. I think if you stay in the church, your life is a good life. And I have really raised my children in the church. And I see that my little grandsons are in Sunday school every Sunday, too. [laughter]
JACQUELYN HALL:: Did you have a particular conversion experience, a particular moment when you had salvation?
NELL PUTNAM SIGMON:: No, not necessarily. I've just always tried to live a good life. I knew right from wrong, and I knew if you taught your children that, that they would always do right, too.