Looking for a church

Sorry for my extended hiatus but my computer crashed recently and then when I got it back from the repair shop I was swamped and haven't been able to write. Which is too bad because I had a lot of good material I could have covered but now none of it seems very timely. So instead of covering topics in the news I am going to give a little personal update.

Some of you have known that I have been a little restless recenlty and that I have been looking for a change. This restlessness has been on display in most of the areas of my life but particularly with my church. That is why I have decided to leave Faith Church and look for a new church here in Lansing. This has not been an easy choice to make but probably one that is long overdue actually. I noticed over the past year that my involvement and service at the church was on a precipitous decline and that I wasn't able to buy into the direction the church is going. This is not to critique the church or its leadership who I am sure are pursuing what God has called them to do. In fact, I expect that Faith Church will continue to flourish and grow over the next couple years. It's just that I have come to the conclusion that one can outgrow a church, even a healthy church and that is what has happened to me. I love Faith Church and have made some great friends and done a lot of good work there but it is simply time for me to move on and do something new.

Let me tell that looking for a new church is quite difficult. And unlike West Michigan, Lansing's choices are fairly limited. So far I have been to two non-denominational churches, one vineyard, one Christian reform and the other Wesleyan church here in town. So far I haven't quite found my fit yet. Although, it does take more than visiting one service to truly know if the church is the right one. What I like least about my search is going by myself. When I first moved to Lansing I had my roommate Craig that I could go with and also my Kristie and so we could go and compare notes and talk about the church. This time around I am going alone and I have no one to discuss and debrief with.

One observation I have made is that most of the services are well planned and programmed but kind of sterile. It seems like all the churches follow a similar formula and I am looking for a different formula. I don't know exactly what that looks like but I haven't found it yet. My main goal in my next church is finding community. And by that I don't mean some greet your neighbor for 5 minutes during the service but real relationships. I have learned that I perform much better when I am surrounded by like minded people who can spur me on and encourage me.

I hope to have that network of relationships at my new church but so far it's not looking too likely. I am amazed at how unfriendly some of these churches are. If I wasn't already a Christian I would be turned off by the lack of hospitality at some of these places. Not all of them are that bad but at one of them nobody said one word to me and I had to go out of my way to ask the usher for a program and he looked inconvenienced when I asked him. I don't plan on going back to that church.

So this week I am still debating what church to check out. It's either going to be one of the larger seeker friendly types or try an African American church near my house. It will probably depend on my mood when I wake up as to which one I will pick. Pray for me as I make this decision. It was really difficult to leave Faith but I know that I could not stay any longer and expect to grow. Hopefully, I can quickly find a new place where I can grow.