I don’t have very much experience with different churches. I attended the same one since I was a month old until I was 21 and moved to Victoria. Even in Victoria, I didn’t search for one to suit me. I just went to the one my room mate went to, and it worked for me. We know a couple people here, but have yet to attend the churches they go to. We have stuck to ones close to our house so far.
Last week we went to The Mosaic House, is a new church plant of the CRC denomination. It is a relatively young crowd, and probably no more than 75 people. It is quite multicultural and they have a lunch after the service every week. Unfortunately we weren’t able to stay for it because we had to meet our landlord, but there were a handful of people who introduced themselves to us, and it was a friendly crowd.
This morning we went to Southgate Alliance Church. The demographic is older, quite similar to Oaklands where we attended in Victoria. But there were families with young children as well. Since it is an older, established church, there are set programs and things throughout the week which would be great for getting to know people there.
We will probably revisit one, if not both, because it’s hard to get a feeling of a church by going just once, but I will probably try out a program or two at the Alliance church. It is within walking distance, and it would be great to have people to hang out with while Tim is at work. So far I have yet to leave the house except to go grocery shopping or to the dr.’s office. Like I said in my very first post, I don’t find many reasons to go out and do things and have fun around town. Having somewhere to go every week would help with that.
There are lots of other churches we could try too and I will probably feel a little unsettled until we decide on one to be home. I am not used to this!
Have you ever had to church “shop”? How do you decide where to attend?
I’ve never had to shop, have gone to the same church all my life. I think it would be important to find a church where the focus is on sound teaching. If you’re looking for programs as ways to meet people, there are bowling teams, community clubs, etc. Of course you want to be able to establish meaningful relationships with the people in a church but I think that is secondary to the reasons Jesus had for establishing the church. Avoid the common pitfalls of church-hoppers… searching for the “perfect church”…looking for a place where everything “feels good” instead of finding a place where you can serve others. But like I said, I’ve never had to look so… happy hunting!
Oh yes, of course sound teaching is high on the list! I like to look at church websites and see their statements of faith and stuff. It just never crossed my mind to write it down here.
And yes, having a place to serve is huge too, which is probably easier in a larger church, but maybe a growing church has more new opportunities and you wouldn’t feel like you are stepping on other peoples’ toes.
I don’t want to be searching for too long. Like I said, I want to feel settled with a new church family!