Church (e.s.)
Between Amy and I, we’ve visited an uncountable number of churches that span the denominational spectrum. So it’s easy for us to look at a church name, figure out its worship “flavor” and decide whether it floats our boat. Because the both of us have been members of churches for years, we almost forgot what it was like to go church shopping. Part of our missionary training requires us to visit a church that is vastly different from the type of church we’re used to, research it, write about it, but most importantly, become part of the community. So today, we went forth – shopping for churches.
It took us a couple of days and literally up to the last minute to decide where to go. Something that I realized was that I rely heavily on websites. Though a church doesn’t need to have a great website, I have found that the website is an important tool and can convey a lot to the wood-be shopper. I like pictures. Seeing a gallery full of photos capturing the joy and community of a church can sway me. What is the church doing? What are they teaching? Let me know about the staff… Oh, and what about the worship music?
Out of all our research, we decided to go to Forest City Foursquare Church (I’ll let you figure what the Foursquare denomination believes – google it). It had lively worship, friendly people, inter-racial couples (a bonus for us!), and great preaching. The lady giving the message was so vibrant and the Holy Spirit was so evident in her preaching. There was even a barbeque at the end. The community was awesome. We totally loved it. We don’t have the luxury of actually shopping for a church. Once we pick one, we’ve gotta stick to it because we only have a summer to get to know everyone. By God’s good grace, the first one we visited is one we enjoyed. So there you go… our first church shopping adventure.
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