Choosing a Church

Sarah and I have been in the process of trying to find a new church. We currently attend Bethany Community Church, a wonderful church that is unfortunately located about an hour away in evening traffic. Over the past year or so we have felt more and more strongly that God has been calling us to move to a church closer to home, somewhere it is easier to invite friends and easier to engage on days besides Sunday. We have as of this week attended three different local churches. Each of these churches are assuredly home to numerous people that love God. As we have progressed through this process we have discovered a number of things about ourselves and perhaps about church in general.

First, Sarah and I thought we had a pretty clear vision of what we liked in a church service. I think we both wanted something a lot like Bethany. Now having attended a local Baptist, Lutheran and Community church we are very confused. The Baptist church and the community church from a church format were very similar to our home church, contemporary and non-liturgical. The Lutheran church, for obvious reasons was very different. While you might expect we would find the very liturgical service a turn off, quite the opposite was true. I found that I really enjoyed the liturgy and the next week when we attended the community church I found I missed that element. I think that if we stay at a non-liturgical church I will probably continue to miss it.

Second, Where have the churches from the middle ground gone? It seems like modern churches are divided into two groups, Huge and tiny. What happened to the church of 200 to 500 people? In our hunting we have found that, on the Eastside, the churchs are either in the 1000+ or the 150- size range. As parents of a burgeoning family, building relationships with other young families is very important to us. We want to be able to spend time with other folks who are walking through the same challenges as we are. Unfortunately, it would seem that all of the young parents are, perhaps like us, dismissing the small churches in favor of the gigantic churches in an effort to find other people in the same walk of life, as well as the Christian education associated with the other families children. So again I ask, What has happened to the church of a few hundred people, a church with enough bodies to provide peers for most walks of life, as well as the talented folks who educate and train up the next generation, but not so many that you get lost in the muddle?

Lastly, for now, I have discovered how very important it is to feel welcomed by a church. As a long standing member of my current church it was very easy to lose sight of the first time visitor or newcomer. Now, as a visitor, I have experienced several different churches of various sizes and all different levels of welcome. I have found the welcome the regulars offer is probably the single largest influence on my impression of a church. As a visitor I have also found that churches, in general, need to do a better job making themselves accessible. Here is just a little advise I think churches could take to help with this process. First, make an intentional effort at every service to have members of your church tasked with hunting down newcomers. This is easy and natural in small churches but is no less important, even though it is more difficult, at larger churches. Once the newcomer is found intentionally connect them with an individual of similar age or life stage, have that person show us around the church and introduce us to their friends. Have a great website. If it is not better than mine it probably needs work. Please give us a realistic idea about what to expect when attending your church. I can enjoy a variety of worship environments but there are certainly some I am more comfortable with, please try to help me avoid feeling awkward during your worship time, an order of worship would be completely reasonable and helpful. Lastly, clearly enunciate how your childrens ministry works, both on your website and at your church, with signs and personal help where feasibly.

So this is a brief look at our church hunting Journey. I still have not determined what is the correct way to actually choose a church outside of praying and asking God to reveal where he wants us.