Ok, I admit it: leaving my church family to head off to a college 9 hours away was pretty rough. Sometimes I wish I could just uproot my school and plant it closer to home! But alas—one cannot always do what one wants. And so I am forced to start the tedious process of searching for a church on my own.
The whole process would be so much easier if God would just stick a Post-it note in front of my nose with the name of the church I should attend. But since He hasn’t done that so far, I have so many questions I’d like Him to answer. Should I look for a megachurch or something smaller? Traditional or contemporary? And what about denomination??
Living in the conservative Midwest doesn’t help matters either; there are about as many churches to choose from as there are cornfields in the state of Ohio! But the more churches I visit, the more I miss home.
Surprisingly, it’s the trivial stuff about having a permanent home church I long for the most. Although I miss the insightful sermons I heard every week, it’s the lack of a consistent community that leaves a hole in my heart: little things like hearing about my friends’ weekly adventures—hugs and smiles from the little kids—advice from older believers.
Since I began attending a Christian college, I’ve had the privilege of surrounding myself with likeminded friends who have been what my Christian Life and Thought professor calls “Jesus Posters”—reminders of my identity in Christ. Yet it seems like something is missing.
While I interact with hundreds of wonderful brothers and sisters every day, I really miss the smaller community of my church home with its variety of ages, backgrounds, and experiences. When I visit different churches every week, I long for familiar faces—people who will smile, give me a hug, and ask about my week.
Some college students I’ve talked with have hunted all four years for a home church in vain. Maybe I’m just impatient, but I’d really like to find a Christ-centered place to get plugged into as soon as I can.
In the meantime, I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for those Post-it notes.
You're a natural-born blogger, and I'm excited to read all your future posts. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as this particular post, I wholeheartedly agree. <3
Great post! I believe that some people struggle way too much with "where they are supposed to be." It would be far easier to establish a few criteria for a prospective church (accuracy in presenting the Word of God, some diversity in the pews, a warm and welcoming atmosphere, etc) and diving in. The ultimate purpose of a church is to strengthen and edify the folks in the pews through good, Scriptural preaching (1 Cor 14:5). That becomes the primary quality you are searching for. The only way to achieve the warm and necessary feeling of familiarity is by being there often enough to become familiar with the people who attend there. Far too many folks try to evaluate a church by visiting just one time. That leaves them open to forming an opinion based on their own brief impressions of a very small slice of church life at that house of worship.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. As a Pastor, it made me pause and consider our church and how we look to visitors.