Why I left church for three years – Ariyiike Dimples

Actress and media personality, Ariyiike Owolagba popularly known as Ariyiike Dimples, has opened up on the experience that led her to stop attending church for three years.

In an interview on the ‘Open Up’ podcast, she revealed that an elderly woman at her community church questioned her fashion sense, telling her she would go to hell for wearing a pencil skirt.

According to Ariyiike, she felt wrongly judged and shocked by the woman’s reaction, leading her to quit attending church.

Ariyiike Dimples emphasised that despite this experience, she is still a practicing Christian, but prefers to worship elsewhere.

She highlighted the need for churches to simplify their approach and make young people feel welcome without judgment.

She said, “In my community church, you see only elderly people. You barely see the young ones. The young ones have gone to other churches. It was too serious. Yes, you can have your doctrines, but there is a way you can simplify it for young people and take them in without judging them.

“The reason I stopped going to church was because I wore a pencil skirt to church and an elderly woman said I will go to hell fire. I was shocked and felt wrongly judged so I stopped going to church for 3 years. And thankfully, I was already out of my parents’ house.

“The woman reported me to my dad. I had to take picture of the skirt and send to my mum to prove that I wasn’t dressing indecently. But my dad believed in the ideology of a community raising a child. So, I chose to avoid the community church so that they won’t see me.”