Finding a New Church
Now that everything is well under way for the move, I have started to think about finding a new church. It is a process that really brings out the worst in me. You never know what you are getting into when you go to a church for the first time. Usually, people are excited to see a new face, and they hope you liked it. Then the uncomfortable time comes when they ask you what you thought about the service. What do you say if you really didn't like it? It's hard to tell someone that you won't be back for whatever reason.
I do have a list of criteria that I look for in a church, some items are important others not so important. Off the top of my head, here are some things I look for (kind of in order of importance):
Bible Based - The service is centered around and based on God's word
Prayer - Time and commitment is given to speaking with God
Community - There is a genuine love and caring for one another
Outreach - There is a focus on reaching out to the community and the world in general
Worship - There is an importance placed on praising and worshiping God through song, dance, anything really. The more creative the better.
Communion - The church regularly practices the sacrament of communion
Freedom - The service is relaxed and encourages people to worship in their own way.
I could go on and on to the point that I rule out every potential church in the country. Obviously, you have to be a bit flexible. Ideally, God will provide some direction as to where he wants us to serve. Sometimes you get this, other times you just have to pray and go with what seems best.
I know that there are a lot of great churches in London, and I expect that it will be easier to find something there than it was here in the Midlands. It's always nice to attend a church that is close to your home. It provides an opportunity to reach out to the community that you live in and it means that you don't spend so much time travelling back and forth. With that in mind, here are a few churches in South East London that we might be trying out once we get settled...
http://www.restore-peckham.org/
http://www.kingscentre.org.uk/
http://www.newcommunitychurch.org.uk/
http://www.cityhope.co.uk/
7 Comments:
We visited a great church here in Edinburgh a few weeks ago that is part of a group called New Frontiers, and we were going to recommend to you to try out one of their churches in London - but I see you've beat us to it. :) New Community Church is part of New Frontiers. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it if you visit!
"Church shopping" (for lack of a better term) can be one of the most disheartening things about moving somewhere new. I hope it doesn't take too long to get settled somewhere.
-Sarah
Hmm, I just noticed the others you listed are part of New Frontiers too! :)
Sarah
You dope - you forgot to mention some of the most important criteria ...
Must have glass podium
Must be led by man whose title is 'preacher' & who wears suspenders
Must be excessive use of a big hand-held orange microphone at every phase of the service
Must have keyboard player whose title is 'song leader'
Must have semi-serious but badly acted skits every service
Must use sloppy hand-written overhead transparencies for lyrics & sermon notes
Preacher must scream 90% of lines, with 10% dramatic whisper
Must have old lady who dances up & down isles during music
Preacher must have healed at least one pet during last calendar year
Must be prominent use of 'comb-over' hair style among elders & deacons
All elders & deacons must wear chocolate brown suits with extra wide but very short ties
Church must smell like very old crackers.
Happy hunting.
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Hi Sarah - I didn't realize they were all affiliated with New Frontiers. I found them all through various internet searches. I'm going to have to go back and see what exactly New Frontiers is!
JE
Hi Clint - Thanks for pointing out some of the glaring omissions in my list of church requirements. I can't believe I missed some of those. Especially the "extra-wide but very short ties". No wide ties = no anointing!
JE
There's one more:
Must be big enough that any PA array hung over the "preaching" area will be perceived as a point-source by an observer in the farthest seating areas.
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