Finding a church home can be difficult, especially if you've just started looking for one on your own. Maybe you've been to church with your family your entire life and are now looking for one of your own. Maybe you've never been to church and just want to check one out. Maybe you've graduated college and miss being plugged into a Christian community on campus. Maybe you're in a different situation than any of those. Regardless, there are thousands of church to chose from in the U.S. alone (seriously, have you ever even just noticed how many First Baptists churches there are??). Narrowing down your options will definitely help, but only if you know what you're looking for. Here are a few considerations (in no particular order) to keep in mind when looking for a church.
1. Location
Just like looking for a job, you gotta make sure that you're both willing and able to make the commute to whatever church you decide to check out. Try Googling to see what churches are near you first and visit their websites to see if they interest you. Next point is equally important.
2. Values
This gets a little tricky unfortunately since not all churches have the same values. Some may place more value on giving than community service. Others may adhere strictly to the Bible while others don't. Social justice may not even be a high priority for some churches, and others may be so traditional that certain genders may not have that many privileges. If you're LGBT* and looking for a church home, this can be especially difficult. It's confusing, frustrating, and even saddening that not all churches value a lot of these points, but that's why you gotta do your research. Find a church that values what you value and then some.
3. Service Times
Whether you're an early bird or a late riser, you're gonna wanna know what time the service starts. Some churches have one service while others may have two or three. Some may even have Saturday and Sunday services. Figure out which times you'd be most willing to and available to go and go from there.
4. Ministry Opportunities
Ultimately, you'll want a church that's active in its local and/or in the global community (some churches may be small/just starting out and can't do global ministries yet). A church isn't just a place where you can freely worship and hear a sermon once a week; it's a place (or should be anyway) where non-members can come and find shelter, get a meal if they can't anywhere else, or even just go to talk to someone if they need it. Churches should be actively serving in their communities to help those who normally can't get help otherwise. They should be working to make this world better. They should be working to further God's love and kingdom with kind and gracious deeds. If a church isn't actively helping others, they're stagnant, and that's not a place you wanna be.
5. Community
You definitely want to feel welcomed when you visit a church. You need to feel safe and comfortable when you visit and especially if you plan on going back every week and getting involved with one or a few ministries there. Your church home should be like extended family; it should always be there for you and always helping you grow as a person (even if that involves tough love at times).
Keeping all this in mind may be a bit overwhelming, but don't stress about it. Take some time to do some soul-searching to find out what all you need in a church before starting your search. Hope these tips helped and that your search goes well. May Jesus be with you!
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