One of the big things of moving to a new area is leaving our church behind and searching for a new one. The church we came from we were members of for five years. It very much was home to us. It was different than any other church we had been to up until that point, and it challenged us. At the same time, it fit us so well… though the funny thing is we often felt out of place and not the norm for the church. My point is that as we look for a new
church, the old one greatly affects how we search.
Currently there is only one church we have been to and really liked. Though we have only visited three. We really do not want a mega church, which there are a decent amount around here. We would love to go to one of our denomination (PCA) but we know that ours was rare and the one up here is a much older congregation.
There is one other church the that their website has caught my eye. I’ve listened to a couple sermons and enjoyed them. Theologically they are very solid (Though it’d be a switch to Baptist from Presbyterian). They have studies, prayer meetings and services throughout the week. It seems they are very good at building up the body. Not so sure about their outward focus…
Then there is the one we have visited twice and like a lot. It’s nondenominational, but the pastor has a Presbyterian background. Theologically I am pretty sure we agree(their website doesn’t have as much detail but from talking to the pastor I feel confident as of now). Its downtown, very diverse (as much as a church can be in this town), and clearly has an outward focus. They are small and have lunch together every Sunday. They have one study for men and one for women during the week. One thing we are somewhat unsure of is their small groups. It doesn’t seem they have any, but they have groups that meet every other week. A little unsure there.
We want to be challenged. We want to be discipled. We want to have opportunities to serve. It’s funny because our old church was very focused on urban ministry and we never got involved in anything. Yet its something we really want in a church now. I think the season of our life at our old church was one of healing, trials, and more healing. That isn’t to say we should have served more, because I think we should/wish we would have. But thank God for grace. I think we are concerned that if we are at a good, Bible preaching church that doesn’t have much of a focus on outward ministry, we will remain inward focused. After all, its a lot easier to sit around with like minded people than be around those who don’t believe like you.
As of now we are planning on visiting the Baptist church. We feel like we should at least visit…after all we could be making up ideas about it that aren’t even true. And if we decide it’s not for us, we will begin going to the other one regularly.
I’ve given a lot of time to this issue. Why? Because for us, our church here will be our family. We have no family here. Our church will be a huge part of our lives…or at least that is our desire.
An Anchor to My Soul 