Monday, 23 June 2008
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Church Shopping
When Mr. Dandelion and I moved to the NYC area two summers ago, the most dreaded part of the move wasn't getting used to our new neighborhood or 5th floor walkup apt but finding a new church. I grew up attending one church until I was 18, my father's church, and then a second church for 7 years. So, while I was super excited to move to the big city, "church shopping" was something I wasn't looking forward to. We prayed we could join a church that met most of the following things:
-missions focused, whether locally or internationally
-congregation that had a group of people our age
-caring, approachable pastor and leaders
-offered Bible studies, prayer meetings and fellowship eventsWe visited 4 churches in our area and to be as objective as possible we visited each church 2 or 3 times to get a good feel for the church. This process took a long time and each church felt not quite right for us. I thought maybe we were being too critical of the churches we visited. I also began to feel discouraged and frustrated because I really longed for a church to call home and missed Christian fellowship.
About three months into our search I received a random comment on my xanga from someone I didn't know. She wrote that she wasn't a Christian but that her coworker loved the church he attended so much so she wanted to share the info on that church.
I thought it was really strange that someone I didn't know would leave me a comment about a church they didn't attend but then I thought who knows, maybe this is God answering my prayer.
We went to the church the following Sunday and within 30 minutes I knew I had found my church home. The praise and worship and pastor's message was great but the part of service that really got me was the announcement time. The two ladies responsible for giving the announcements welcomed everyone to service and then for the last announcement they did a rendition of Justin Timberlake's SexyBack, replacing all the words with their own to announce an upcoming youth group revival.
I wish I had a video clip of their performance to show you all but believe me the announcement was funny and got everyone's attention. I thought if announcement time was this fun, how awesome is the rest of service going to be? The mood of this church felt so different from all the other churches we visited. I felt a sense of joy, excitement and community. This church met everything we desired and needed. The church was missions focused, provided plenty of opportunities to learn and serve and knew how to have a good time growing closer to God.
Here's a video some members made for a church promo:
How did you find your church? What things are you looking for in a church?
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Comments (9)
church shopping is definately a challenge faced when I moved to a new town for university. Unfortunately, I never felt I found the right one. I went to an Anglican church for a while because I loved the hymns and the environment was peaceful but I did not grow as a christian or learn anything really. I then opted for three pentecostal churches which really did not move me. I'm moving to a new city in a couple of months and hope I am led to the right church. I must start praying about it!
It's really funny how we found this church. One of my friends from school used to go there when he lived here a few years ago. My mom and his mom helped with some stuff at school (we were in the same class all through middle school) and they became friends. My mom joined his mom's bible study when we were in grade 8. In grade 9, another friend of mine took me to the youth group at that same church, and I liked it. In grade 10, the first friend and I had a falling out and I claimed I would never go to that church ever again. The beginning of grade 11, my parents and I decided we needed a change. Since some of my mom's friends from the bible study group went there, she suggested we try. I agreed, since that friend and I had made up and he moved to a completely different state anyway. We've been going to that same church now for two years.
What I look for in a church is people who are passionate about helping others. Not just in the church, and not just in the community, but in both places. There also has to be a real passion for Christ, not just going through the motions because this is the way it has been done for the past 50 years.
We found ours through the radio. We love listening to a Calvary Chapel radio station. We love the preaching and singing. So we looked for a Calvary Chapel in our area.
If we would ever move anywhere else we would just find another Calvary Chapel in that area.
I first heard about Mars Hill in a yahoo chatroom lol Some guy said he was going to college and went to church with his roomates.
When we first moved to the area, we felt that church a was the best fit for us. Then the church began making changes that were showing their partialness to legalism. My family started looking for other churches, but I remained at church a.
Church b was an alright place, I visited it once or twice. It's biggest problem was that the people didn't really want to do anything and whatever they did, they didn't do it on time. They couldn't agree whether they wanted Sunday School or not. Much to my family's frustration, the denomination was sending the pastor elsewhere. Once again, my family started looking for another church.
My family had nothing but good things to say about church c, so I left church a to go to church c. it's our current church. Many of the regular attenders aren't Christians, so the sermons have to be geared toward them. They have a believer's service for the Christians, but it's not often enough to suit my taste. It's a little strange knowing that there's people my age at the church, but's better than being the only regular ( and often the only) person my age to show up. Still no Sunday School, but they're in the process of creating another service on Sunday Mornings because so many people show up.
i've definitely learned that looking for the right church is a challenge. my family and i have switched churches a few times and havent found one we like and we currently don't go anymore. Now that I've been growing up, I need to find one and im beginning to figure out what a journey it is, however i haven't found much luck on it
My husband is an associate campus pastor at www.lifechurch.tv
So glad you appreciate the fact that your church is a place that will reach people in very creative ways. I am not ashamed to be creative for Christ... Blessings to you!
Haha I liked this entry a lot
We have just left a Church and are currently looking for another where we will share the heart of the leadership. We are passionate about deep relationships, and intimate and humble worship. We have been to 2 Churchs so far. Really disliked the 1st one. People we not friendly and the worship felt like they were doing because of duty. Didn't sense any joy in it.
The 2nd Church we visited was full of friendly people, the worship was great and the worship pastor talked about how it was so important to value the heart (integrity) over giftings (talent, etc). We will be going back for sure!! The Pastors message was also good, biblical sound and practical application.