Finding Your Church Home: 5 Things That Matter
Hello!
One thing that is really hard for me, is finding my home church. Who knew that churches can all be so different? I grew up going to a Baptist church. I really enjoyed going to church. I was in littles church, to Awanas, to youth group, to graduating to adult church. I had a strong friend group who I grew up in church with. When I went to college, I was in a very small town. They had a satellite church that I started to attend. It was fun because a few of the people I went to college with was in the worship team or just attending. I soon realized that I did not enjoy the satellite part of it all. The main church campus was in Hutchinson, only 30 minutes away from college. So, the girls and I drove to church the next week and it was so cool! *We made sure to always stop at Starbucks either before or after church.
The pastor was a teaching pastor and the music was phenomenal. It was a bigger church than I was used to, but it still felt like home. As any small town college student, there wasn’t a lot of money just floating around for gas, so I would settle for the satellite church when needed. I still really enjoyed the sermons, and even got to know the pastor a little bit.
When I graduated from college, I ended up staying with my parents for about a year. They moved to the Wichita area and we had to start looking for churches. It was really cool to see what each one of us liked or didn’t like from a church and we all be slightly different on each of them. We finally found one where we all felt like home. Again, the pastor was a teaching pastor and the worship music was phenomenal. I then came to realize that my parent’s pastor worked under my college pastor for a while. How cool is that! My home church in college and my parent's pastor knew each other!
Then I moved back to my hometown.
The only thing I knew was my old church where I grew up. So, I decided to attend. It was okay, but I felt weird. It was most definitely me and not anyone else but I didn’t like my church anymore. It was and is a great church, but it was different. Some of the same people were there but older, the same chairs were there, and the same decorations. What changed was me. I realized that it was my family’s church. That was the only church I knew before going to college. I really never attended different churches. It took me a while to understand why I felt that way. I love all the people who are at the church, love the staff and had amazing memories there. I realized that it’s okay to step away from what you are used to and find something different. So, that is exactly what I did.
Here are my must haves for choosing a church:
Church Doctrine/Statement of Faith/Beliefs
Do your research on the church before you attend. They should list their doctrine or beliefs on their website. If they don’t, go in and ask for one. You want to make sure your beliefs align with what they teach.
Is the sermon rooted in Scripture?
You want to make sure the sermon/teaching is in The Bible. I have personally seen some pastors who make up a little story in the Bible, something that it is not in there or throws it out of context to make people happy. I don’t know if you are like me but I need to be told to fix my life and learn about God and not always have sugarcoated topics thrown at me. I am here to learn and grow my faith. My pastor said something and it has always stuck. It is our job to make sure the pastor is saying/preaching the correct information. How are we going to know if it’s Biblical or not if we are not in the Word and knowing Scripture?
The warmth of the church/people
When you come visit, how welcoming is the church? How warm (not literally) is the church body? When you enter into a church, how do you feel? I believe you should feel welcomed, and feel the love and joy everyone has. We should be excited to go to church and worship. I am always shy and weird when I go visit the church once but that is why I try to go 2-3 times before I make my decision. The sermon may be based on a certain topic due to a holiday and their service may be slightly different than their normal day.
Teacher or Preacher
This may not be as important to some as it is to me. If you don’t know there are different ways to share the sermon. You can be a teacher or a preacher. They are both great but we may prefer one over the other. For me personally, I need a teaching pastor over a preacher pastor. A preacher (in my head) is more someone who proclaims sermons and are more traditional vs a teaching pastor dives more into each verse and does more of what a teacher would do. Again, both are great but I learn better from a teacher. My brain needs bullet points or a slower teaching than what a normal sermon is like. So, determine what you like!
Programs/Small Groups/Activities
What kind of activities or programs do they provide. Do they have a children’s group, do they have youth, small group for adults? I think a church who has activities or programs for people is a growing church. How can we listen to a sermon and not put it into practice or even grow more. It also depends on what age group you are in. When I was in college, I wanted a young adult group but now I am looking for a small group with different age groups so I can learn, build relationships, and grow as a Christian.
These are my top 5 items that I look for when I am choosing a home church. I no longer work on the weekends and I am going to start finding a home church in my hometown. If you live near me and would like to go with me or need a friend to go with you, let me know!
Created for a purpose.
