How long did it take you of trying a new church almost every week before you finally found your home church? I have a lot of specific things I'm looking for in a church and it's very hard to find one that fits all the needs. :sigh: Just looking for encouragement.
The first time we moved, there was a church that we passed every day on our way home. We went back and forth about trying it out for quite a while before we actually did. We went on a Sunday morning and never went anywhere else. We were there for 11 years. This time God put the name of a church in my mind before we even knew we were moving. There was a church by that name in the town we lived in but when I tried it, I just knew it wasn't right. After we moved, I found out there was a church by that name here. My mom had "heard" things about it, so I tried out several other churches over a couple of months, but never found "home". I finally decided that I didn't care what people said, I was going to go see for myself. I should have gone there in the first place! Everything that my mom "heard" came from people who had never set foot in the church. Our church does things a little differently than most churches around here so people talk...We LOVE it! I knew without a doubt the second Sunday we went to service and my son went to his class all by himself (after his experience in PS he didn't let me out of his sight). Don't know if that helps, but I think sometimes we try to hard to find a church that fits our idea of what it should be. No church is going to be perfect, but if we ask, I believe God will lead us to the church that is best for us.
We go to a specific denomination, so when we move there is usually only one or two "choices" in our new area. I think if you have been to a couple which have had a few items on your checklist, to go back and give them another try for a month or so. See if you meet any people, get a feel for their Sunday school and class structure, etc. That way you can get a true feel of the congregation and worship style. It's hard on a given Sunday to truly be welcomed, or to know if the Spirit is there- even a pastor can have an "off" day. Just a thought, MT3
It took us about 6 weeks of visiting before we finally visited where we ended up staying. (Although, similar to the story about, we kinda knew that's where we should go and hesitated because it was a longer drive than we thought we should be making there in the big middle of the city with literally dozens of churches between our home and that one. LOL But we knew.) And we visited there about 3 times before we decided that's where we were going to stay for sure. (And we didn't stay terribly long because we moved! LOL But that's beside the point.) I think the Lord often helps us in knowing where He wants us to go, and for some reason we push that still, small voice out of our minds. Try quieting yourself and listening, and trying that church that just keeps popping out at you or coming up in your mind, etc. The Lord gave me the name, too. In fact, at that time I'd already decided to name baby girl Lynndi Grace, and I had a dream that was something along the lines of the baby and the church. I was confused until I heard myself make a joke about, "What, does the Lord want us to go to Grace Church??" The name of the church where we ended up was Grace Point. As soon as I heard the joke come out of my mouth, I knew that's what it was. Lord's funny like that. LOL And I agree that you have to continue to visit a place for a while before you know if the spirit is there and if it's where you need to be. Even with a dream and confirmation like that, we never know God's reasons behind something (maybe a situation there He wanted us to see but not participate in or something) and it's important to know that your church family has and shows the love of Christ. Praying you'll find somewhere soon!
It took us 14 years of searching before finding our church. Part of it, though, was that I was stuck on what I knew. We went to tons of A/G churches because, well, I was A/G! We did go to a 4 Square church for a while because it was close to A/G. The crazy thing was, there were core doctrine of the A/G that I didn't agree with. lol. Anyhow, I know you're trying tons of denominations (and I hate that our church can't accommodate you're ds), but I did want to say that it took us forever.
I am open to denoms as long as it's not too hard for me to tell my children "they say this, but I believe this". I'm somewhat open to not having an interpreter if my son's welcomed. My son is the important deciding factor in my search- I know where I am in my faith, but I need help drawing my special needs son closer to the Lord. I'll keep looking. When a church clicks with me with their statement of beliefs, I keep going for at least two months (8 Sundays in a row), but if their statement of belief has me going whoa, wait, what?! That's the only time we go. Just wanted to clarify that I do attend a particular church for a while before moving on.
We haven't had a home church since my 7 year old was a baby We've tried several churches. One we even attended every week for at over 6 months. But we still haven't found home.
SimplySonita, I'm sorry that you're going through the same struggle that we are, but at the same time, it helps knowing it's not just because of our family's special needs.
I'm not really sure how long it took us, but we visited about a handful of churches before we found the one we belong to now. It wasn't that those churches were bad...they just didn't feel like 'home' to us. We attended a very large church prior for many years, but mainly because that is where I grew up. After our oldest (now 9) was born, we set out to find a church that we felt we belonged to. It wasn't that we disagreed with our past church or felt it wasn't a good church, but we just felt that our faith wasn't growing there anymore. We wanted to find a church that would challenge our faith and help us grow as a couple and family...something we felt was at a standstill at our past church. I guess my only words of advice are this: remember that you wont always agree with everything a church stands for. There is no perfect church, because churches are ran by flawed people. You will disagree with some things at any church, while there will be things that you love as well. I can truthfully say that I do not agree with every single thing in our church doctrine...but, at the end of the day I am able to agree to disagree with those things. In the end, those things are really minor compared to the many things I absolutely love about our church family. Good luck in your search! And pray, pray, pray about it in the meantime.
I don't know if this will help you or not, but when we found our current church, we just knew. We knew right away. We felt right at home when we walked through the door and started being greeted by others. I'm not saying that you will have the exact same feeling once you walk through the door of a certain church. However, even if it's not until the second or third visit, at some point you WILL know once you find it. You wont be able to explain why, but you will know. Kind of like when you find your spouse...you just know. I'm glad Tiffany shared her experience. We have had a few people leave our church in recent years due to (IMO) minor concerns, although they have led people to believe other things and have spread rumors in the process...inaccurate ones, at that (and to think...our church is the bad guy to them when they are the ones spreading lies...hum...???). Anyways, it just goes to show you that you can't rely on other people's opinions about a particular church. There are churches in our area that I really don't 'care' for, but others have found those churches to be their 'homes'. Don't let someone else's opinion get in the way of trying to find your true 'home'. As long as the church is preaching the truth, from the Word, and the church can meet your top needs, people should not judge. Good luck in your search, and many prayers for you. :angel:
We recently moved and we are looking for a church to attend. My husband and have a difference of opinion on what is our ideal church; however, we both agree that we will know in our hearts when we have found our place in a church.
