What do you look for in a Church?

[calledtobehome]

We may be looking for a new church home because of some major changes in our leadership, our Pastor is 86(awesome man of God) and has taken sick about 2yrs ago and the new leadership person is more like a dictator than a leader(not to sound judgemental but the truth).

We have tried to hold on for the last 2yrs but we think the time is coming, and deep in my heart I knew it was coming. Last night my husband mention it to me, he stated "I think it's time for us to find a new church home". What do you guys look for in a church. We are not church hoppers by no means, we have been at our church for 11 yrs(me), 8 yrs(hb) and it's going to be a change for us. I think I'm just a little nervous because we have so many memories(I was baptised there, got married there, kids were dedicated there) but I understand the need for the change. And to be honest I think I'm ready.

[i.love.lucy]

First and foremost for me is agreement on doctrine. And you can do a lot of that research from church websites. When we were Southern Baptist this wasn't so big of a deal because you could just look up "Southern Baptist" in the phone book and go from there.

 

But we are now attending and love a Bible church, so it was kinda hard at first for my dh to get used to (I was always more non-denominational, but he was born and raised baptist). Once he read and understood what the mission statement of the church said, and exactly where it stands doctrinally, all the other pieces could fall into place: next was preaching, children's program, etc. And I like big churches, so there was always a lot going on here. We connected pretty quickly because instead of the traditional Sunday school my church does Real Life Groups that meet in people's homes, so we got some great friends and fast.

 

Good luck in your search. A good friend of mine locally is going through it and it's deeply troubling to her. She and her husband aren't really agreeing, so it's been hard on her and she just wants to feel settled in the matter.

[Heather in Neverland]

Number one: their most important goal should be to glorify God in all they say and do.

 

Number two: the must follow the Bible as their only source of truth

 

Everything else is gravy.

[Chris in VA]

I go for the preached beliefs first--need to be biblical.

Assuming I agree with the doctrine, I look for healthy leadership. The priest's marriage has to be rock solid. I also look how they spend their money and how they treat their children.

I'm mostly looking at my own church, as I'm not really free to choose, with dh being the priest! lol

[calledtobehome]

Thanks ladies I'll take these things into consideration along with much prayer!

[lllll]

..

[Hillary in KS]

I look for a church with a preacher who teaches the Bible, expository, verse by verse, and who also knows the original languages and actually spends many, many hours a day studying and preparing to teach his congregation. Pretty hard to find these days.

 

 

:iagree:

 

This is what we look for first, as well. Then we check their statement of faith, doctrinal stances, etc.

[Heather in Neverland]

I look for a church with a preacher who teaches the Bible, expository, verse by verse, and who also knows the original languages and actually spends many, many hours a day studying and preparing to teach his congregation. Pretty hard to find these days.

 

A good example of this is John MacArthur (Grace Community Church, CA). BTW, they have recently put ALL his sermons up on the net for FREE (MP3 downloads).

 

Well, gotta run. HTH.

Kathy

 

:iagree: It is VERY hard to find this now. Churches are jumping on the "Your Best Life Now" bandwagon and sermons sound more like pop psychology. Finding a pastor who REALLY knows the Word and proclaims without compromise is tough indeed.

[katemary63]

I didn't read any other replies. This is what comes to mind for me.

 

After I would determine that the church is doctrinally sound and Bible based, I would look for authenticity. I want people who are REAL, not wearing masks and relating with each other based on pretense. I have to be able to be myself with my "family" and not put on aires or worry about what people think about me.

 

I also like contemporaty music instead of traditional, organ type stuff.

 

I don't care about much else.

[Aubrey]

I'm always excited to see people actively serving ea other & their community. In one of John's letters, he says that we will be known by our love for one another. I'd say that's tops for me. There will always be (hopefully small) doctrinal divides. Faithful love & service go pretty far to expand His kingdom & strengthen ea others' faith.