mom2denj Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We have been at the same church for 14 years. We are looking for a new church and I really do not know what to do. If you have recently tried new churches, how long did you spend at each church? Did you try a new one weekly or spend a few weeks at each church? I have 3 children, but the one that I am concerned with is the 5 yr old. She really doesn't mind trying new classes, but I am not sure which would be harder for her, trying a new one each week or staying at one for a while and then pulling her out and trying another. I would love to hear about other experiences. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodi-FL Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 when moving to a new area, we did a lot of research ahead of time, and kept our kids with us in the service until we knew it was the kind of church we'd want to have them try a class. prayers to you that you'll find what you're looking for without conflict and quickly- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialClassical Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Actually, in our case my husband and I attended services of other churches during the second hour of our church at the time. So we all were at the old church for an hour and then one of us headed out for another church. We only did that a few times, though. That way the kids weren't pulled here and there while we were narrowing down our options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmama Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Actually, in our case my husband and I attended services of other churches during the second hour of our church at the time. So we all were at the old church for an hour and then one of us headed out for another church. We only did that a few times, though. That way the kids weren't pulled here and there while we were narrowing down our options. :iagree: This is what I did while finding a church too. Only I left DD home with grandma while I went to check them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We tried a church a week, we found two that we liked from the first visit, we went back to eacj of those for a few weeks in row, then decided. Our kids were prek at the time, so we sent them to classes. It was nice to see what they brought home, it gave us a good idea of what was being taught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 One of our priests says he suggests to visitors that they plan on coming as much as possible for six weeks before making a decision yay or nay. This is in a liturgical church with a cycle of services, though, so I don't know if that will apply to your situation. He says six weeks gives a good picture of what the life of the church is like. As for children, they are welcome in the services and typically like being part of what's going on (and a little busy-ness is fine!). HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMWB Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We go to churches where kids are welcome/expected to be at the service and the education classes are before or after and they have adult education classes as well. We narrowed our search down a little by the church website and then went to a church a week. Our kids really liked it, the older generally went to her class by herself, and one parent went to the class with the younger, and one parent went to an adult class. If we liked a church we went a second time, but we went to all of them that we were interested in before we went to any for the 2nd time. It was actually kind of interested to see so many different churches of the same denomination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdreeves Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Suggestions from some air force families have included, check out as many as possible on the web, then call the pastor on the phone and ask some questions. If you like what you see and hear, go for a visit. Blessing to you as you search for your new church home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think three weeks is the magic number. This gives the pastor a chance to be 'off' once (or really 'on') There is usually an off service (holiday, member leaving day, church picnic, visiting missionary etc...) Sometimes I can decide in one week thhat something is really wrong (or every thing is right) and I have taken up to 9 weeks to decide to move on, but usually three weeks is a good sample. Lara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Suggestions from some air force families have included, check out as many as possible on the web, then call the pastor on the phone and ask some questions. If you like what you see and hear, go for a visit. Blessing to you as you search for your new church home. :iagree: We are an Air Force family, we have moved 8 times in the last 10 years. Also, you can ask friends what they like and don't like about their churches. Many churches now how mp3s of their sermons available, and those that don't may have CDs you can try if you call and swing by to pick them up. You can also swing by a mid week Bible study and get an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thanks so much for all your thoughts!! I am still undecided, but I think that we might try a new church each week and then try a couple of weeks at the ones that we feel most comfortable in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) In December 2010, we decided that we had to find a new church home. We had been at our church for 14 years, too, so it was a really hard decision. We aren't church hoppers, and we hope we never have to look for a new church home again. With that in mind, we decided to visit a lot of churches. We visited 21 churches. My dh looked up the churches in our city online. We aren't tied to a specific denomination, but we know where we stand doctrinally. He found churches online that possibly matched up with what we believed, and he threw in a handful of churches that we were pretty sure we wouldn't end up at but that are well known in our town, just so we could see what was going on. My boys didn't go to Sunday school on these visits, instead they stayed in the service with us. It was wonderful to hear their perspective after these visits, and they viewed it as an adventure. After the service, we talked to members and leadership when possible. We always filled out the cards asking for more information. We had great conversations, and got to meet a lot of wonderful people, and it was such a blessing to see all that is going on in our city. After we visited the 21 churches, there were 3 we were especially drawn to, so we returned. The boys went to Sunday school on the return visit. In July we made our final decision. All 7 of us agreed, which was nice, so we decided to attend this church with the understanding that we might have to move on if any major red flags popped up after attending for a bit. If you would've asked me when we started the journey if we would've ended up where we did, I would've told you that you were crazy. But I have no doubt that we're where we're supposed to be. No church is perfect, and there are some issues where we are, though not with doctrine or leadership. So we're working through the glitches trying it to make it our home. :grouphug: Edited January 26, 2012 by JudoMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We go to churches where kids are welcome/expected to be at the service and the education classes are before or after and they have adult education classes as well. :iagree: We always check out the adult education classes -- that's been a total deal-breaker for us at times. We feel strongly that adults, as well as children, need to be in both worship AND education every week. And some churches seem clueless about adult education, sigh. Plus going to an adult education class gives you an hour or so to interact with people who are involved in the church. The sermon is just a tiny part of what makes a church "right", since we plan to be involved with the church on several levels, so listening to a sermon online doesn't give that much insight. At times we've laughed and said that we should hire ourselves out as secret-shoppers for churches -- we'll let you know how your church REALLY looks to an outsider. But, honestly, it's tough to find a new church home. :grouphug: as you embark on this journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 When attending a church for the first time, the first step was to decide if it was a definite loser or not. If not, then I went to that church for a month, because I felt I would get a better overall picture that way. The other thing I have done is interview a church ahead of time. There was absolutely no point in attending a given church if their children's programming was bad or if we didn't agree with their doctrinal statement. The doctrinal stuff I can usually find online, but the children's programming usually requires an extensive conversation with the youth pastor. I also liked to sit in on the Sunday School class that my kids would attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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