Church Shopping

The past few weeks Russ and I have been searching for a church home in our new town...... and needless to say, its been quite interesting for us. The church we choose to attend can profoundly affect our faith and our relationships here in this new town, so we have been putting a lot of thought into this.

Living in the South, there is this traditional view of a big brick church with a steeple... stained glass windows...a pulpit, a choir, a baptismal and pews. we've seen a lot of those.. nad have visited a few, but you know, none of that makes it a church. Sure, it makes it pretty, but the building sure doesn't welcome the new visitors as well as a person. Seeing that I grew up in a church that met in schools, a movie theatre and an arts center, I do not feel that a church even needs to have a church building to be a church... the body of Christ can meet ANYWHERE. The strength of a church does not lie in the brick of their building, but rather the people of the church!

The first church we went to was a very much so traditional church with all the "churchy" things... but not one soul introduced themselves to us. It was pretty to walk into, but it was relationally cold inside unfortunately. Most regular church goers don't remember the concept of greeting. They quickly meet people and forget what it was like to be a first time visitor. They walk into church, go to their comfortable place and don't get outside their bubble. I admit, I'm guilty. But after visiting a few churches, I will change because it makes a difference, the more people that say hello, the better. Churches shouldn't have to have greeters or a welcome ministry... the whole church should take on that responsibility.

Then there is the music...some people think of hyms, some of more contemporary music. Should there be organs, pianos, dums, guitars, a choir? We actually visited a church that sang without instruments or a worship leader... it was actually very lively! I don't think there is a right or wrong way to worship, we just need to find the church that allows us to express our love and appreciation to God through their worship service.

One of our must haves is ministries...we feel that a church should be growing deeper within and should also be active in the community through their ministries. Unfortunately, this is one thing that a lot of churches have given up.... there are a few select families that do EVERYTHING and they get burned out and the ministries fizzle away. But, sometimes churches can get too internal with their ministries and thats all they talk about. One church talked about who was going to bring what to the church dinner that week...for 20 minutes. I was ready to hear a message from the Word of God! But instead, got a message from my stomach that it was hungry after hearing about food for so long!

We've also realized how important it is to read the statement of beliefs to make sure it lines up with our beliefs and more importantly, the Bible! There are churches who bend the Word of God to be something different...something they are more comfortable with. The message has to be good and cause us to grow in our faith..otherwise what is the point of going to church?

Needless to say, finding a church that "fits" has been harder than finding a pair of jeans that fits!!!