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For those with faith, church is very important. It’s a place where you can go to learn more about God, meet like-minded people, and be a part of a community. Moving to a new city can be very daunting. Not only do you have to find appropriate housing and pick the best school, but you need to find the right church too. The journey of finding a church isn’t easy, but once it’s done, you’ll see it was more than worth it. With that in mind, here are six tips to help you find a new church. 1. Get Recommendations From Friends Before you move away, ask your friends, relatives, and colleagues if they know anyone who lives in your new city. Even distance connections between friends of friends can reveal options you might not have otherwise heard of or tried. As you meet people in your new home, you should explain to them that you’re new to the area and looking for recommendations for a new church. 2. Listen To Sermons Online Many churches post their sermons online, either on their websites, social media, or a podcast. This means that you can begin listening to sermons before you even move to your new city. As you do so, you will be given a peek into the style of preaching, which will help you to narrow your options. Without even leaving the house, you can determine whether a church is right for you. 3. Read Through The Website Most churches these days have a web presence. While many just have a website, others have social media too. You will also find churches with their own Wikipedia pages, such as Pare de Sufrir. Make sure that you read as much information as you can, including lists of staff, the events calendar, and stories of the ministries. This too, will help you narrow down your search. 4. Check Out Your Options Although there’s a lot that you can learn about a church online, you can’t get a real feel for the place unless you visit. Once you begin seeing churches in person, you should try to attend more than once. After all, it can take a few weeks before you begin to feel comfortable in a new place. Sunday morning only comes around once a week, so try to visit another church in the evening. 5. Visit The Welcome Desk When you attend a church, you should visit the welcome desk for more information. Many churches offer a welcome packet for visitors, which can help to answer a few of the questions you have. Even when a welcome packet isn’t offered, you should visit the welcome desk anyway. This gives you an opportunity to ask your questions and is a great way to get to know people. 6. Ask God For Guidance When you open your eyes and heart to God, He will guide you. Although you’re able to do as you wish, God can show you where you need to be. All you have to do is ask. If you’re struggling to choose between two or more options, then pray about it. With any luck, God will direct you to the church that is best for you. If you’re looking for a new church, hopefully, the advice above will be able to help.
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We live in a consumer society, where we’re told we should only be loyal to products and brands if our wants and needs are satisfied. This is why it can be easy for churchgoers to have a low threshold for leaving a church. When the preaching loses luster, or another churchgoer begins to annoy you, it can be very tempting to move elsewhere. However, these reasons aren’t nearly good enough for leaving your congregation behind. Here are six good reasons to leave a church. False Teaching Takes Place The Bible may seem politically incorrect these days, but it is sure about the fact that not all we hear is true. Some information that comes our way is false, not to mention dangerous and evil. While you might think that these false teachings can’t infiltrate a church, that isn’t always true. When the word of Christ is no longer dwelling richly in a church, leaving is the best thing to do. Unsuitable Leaders Are Established There are good leaders and bad leaders in the world. This is something the Bible makes very clear. Any leader of a church must be a person of integrity, operating in holiness in private, as well as public. Most pastors do their best to live holy lives, but others hide sinful secrets. Rather than allow unsuitable leadership to drive you to sin, you should separate yourself from them. No Opportunity To Serve Every churchgoer should be serving in their church in one way or another. While some people welcome guests at the door, others teach Sunday School classes or take up the offering. If your church has no such opportunities to serve, then that is a good reason to leave. While this may be rare in churches, it does happen on occasion and can make church members feel unhappy. Moved Too Far Away Being an active participant in your church is difficult when you live very far away. You may find yourself attending fewer church events, which can pose challenges to your connection there. This is a fair reason for moving churches. With congregations all over the US, Universal Church makes this easy. Everyone should be able to attend a church where they can actively service. Sin Is Going Unchallenged Sinners should be called to account, not just for the sake of the sinner, but for the whole church community. When you allow serious sin to take place, it can impact every member of the church. The trouble is, there are situations in which leadership failure mean that sin is going unchallenged. If sin is prevalent in your church community, leaving may be the only option. God Has Asked It Far too many churchgoers use God as an excuse and scapegoat for their actions. However, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore Him when He does speak. When God asks you to leave a place and go somewhere else, you should listen. He won’t ever tell you to leave the church completely, but he may ask that you realign yourself with a different one. Leaving a church is never easy, but, if you’re facing any of the situations described above, it may be your only option. |
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