Finding a Church Community

HOW DO YOU FIND A CHURCH THAT YOU LOVE?

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Most of us who take our faith seriously see the necessity of being part of a healthy Church, but the number of people doing just that continues to decrease across our country.  Scripture clearly tells us not to “neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”  You find that directive in the book of Hebrews, chapter ten.  During the recent pandemic, sadly many church goers got out of the habit of meeting together with other Jesus followers!  On top of that our world has changed drastically in the last few years with the devastating result of being disconnected with others.  This was certainly a pain point for my family.  The community we were all created to be part of seems to be harder and harder to find. 

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So how in the midst of world and life changes do we find a healthy church home that we would be excited to be part of?  

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Five years ago, we made the decision to change churches.  The pandemic gave us that opportunity to make a clean break.  I had been a pastor for over thirty years, and then stepped out of ministry and we began trying to find a new church home.  It was hard!  My wife and I learned some basic lessons in that process.  I remember as a young man loving to go to church.  I had a group of people I knew cared about me and I wanted to grow in my faith.  I couldn’t wait to go.  It was exciting to meet people, plug into groups, and learn new truths from God’s word.  Then I went into full-time ministry, and the challenges began.  In my early days of ministry, we had a goal to make our services the most exciting part of people’s weeks.  We may have had success from time to time, but if I was to be honest, I was bored and I saw the same in the faces of many. Through our transition from our church, I learned some valuable lessons about becoming part of an exciting church community.  There is so much more than just finding the most entertaining church experience. 

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First, as I have looked for a place to plug into I needed to determine what we were really looking for.  Second, we began to ask God to lead us and confirm to us who and where our new church family was.  After all, it was Jesus who said, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you.”  Matthew 7:7  If we are really in a relationship with Him, then asking for his help only makes sense!  So we determined what we were looking for, and we began to ask God to help us!

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Here is what we came up with:

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WHAT ARE WE REALLY LOOKING FOR?

I came up with seven things that we were looking for in a church community.  Here they are:

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1. A place where God’s Word is taught as truth
2. A place where we are given the tools and the help to grow in our relationship with God
3. A place where people enthusiastically respond to God’s love with authentic worship
4. A place where we can integrate into a loving community of people easily
5. A place where we sense the presence of the Holy Spirit
6. A place where we are encouraged to use our giftings to help others
7. A place where our family is loved and helped to do the above items also in their perspective age groups

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We found that there is no perfect church and It took some time, but God answered our prayers and has given us a new church family.  The process was priceless and we now have a place where the above is happening.  It takes time to develop new relationships and four years into our new church home, we are seeing fruition of all the above.  May God guide you as you step out in faith and ask God to help you with a new church family beginning also.  Our lives are forever different and we are so grateful!  We pray you find the same!

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Don Erehart