find a church home

Today marks my graduation from Starting Point. Hooray! :D After attending 6 weeks of classes I am now officially eligible to become a member. It is pretty darn exciting for me, because this is the first time in a very long time that I have wanted to actually really connect to a church. I guess that I just needed some time to emotionally recover and to grow before trying to connect, but now I am ready.

Last night was a really late night and this morning I was just going to skip the class and try to make it to the Wednesday night one instead. All of a sudden at 11am I was wide awake with the thought that I better get up and head to the church. Part of me was like, “go back to sleep you crazy lady, it has only been 3 hours and you need more zzz’s”. And the other part was like “ok, you have 15 min to shower and throw on some clothes to be able to get there. GO!”. Haha, I jumped up and took an insanely fast shower and ran out the door. It was a good thing, because turns out there is no Wednesday night class this week and I would have had to wait a few months before I could graduate if I would have missed this one. Whipsers It was defiantly a God thing that I actually got out of bed :D.

Recently I decided to sign up for the membership classes since they started a few weeks ago. It is a great opportunity to find out exactly what the core beliefs of this church are. To see if I agree with their beliefs and if I would be a good fit there. So far I have attended 3 weeks of classes and each week makes me feel more and more like this really is my church home.

For a person who is afraid to make commitments when it come to any kind of relationships (and being part of a church is most certainly a relationship) it is quite scary, but honestly I think it is time to commit. For quite some time, I have felt God pulling on my heart to connect with His church, his children, because my relationship with can not grow past a certain point if I am not willing to connect to others…To help them, and to actually let them help me.

I have, in a sense, been dating churches long enough, it is time to step it up and make a commitment so that I can actually put something into it instead of just taking. I want to help in some way to further God’s kingdom, not just come and listen and then slip out the door unnoticed :).

As of today I am over half way through the classes and am excited to see where this may lead.

Honestly, I think that I have found my church home. And the crazy thing is that I have known it for a while. I attend it regularly, but I have not yet made the commitment to be a member… That is the scary part for me… Haha, sounds silly I know :)

My friend invited me to Agape in Culver City and I really enjoyed it. I really want to go back.

I’m still church-shopping around the Minneapolis area, but I’ve been going to one that I really like. Not ready to commit, but enjoying the experience thus far!

This is one of my New Years’ resolutions. I’m a progressive Christian (Lutheran specifically but I don’t NEED my church home to be Lutheran) in the Twin Cities area. Any suggestions?

After moving here from Kansas City I finally found a church that is much like the one I attended in KC. Community Alliance Church in Butler, PA was both lifting and to the point. I feel I have found a new church home

Having been raised in a church-going home, it was confounding to my parents when I chose to reject that practice as a teenager. After 8 years of unbuoyed wandering, I finally realized that my foundation of faith was sturdy and God did have a vested interest in my life. But the habit of sleeping in on Sundays and not becoming invested in the church was a stronghold that took many more years to conquer. Finally, in summer 2006, I finally broke free.

First McKinney North is a community of worship, a church on mission. What I sought all those years is ever before me at FMNorth. There is a freedom to be exactly who you are, to worship in whatever expression comes from within, and my heart soars each week at how faithful is my God to answer these long-held prayers with such blessing.

And it’s right around the corner. I’ve been going for a few months now and am now feeling confident that this is a community that I want to be a part of.

I have done a bit of visiting…but, it’s impossible to visit every church in the Tri-Cities. We literally have a church on every corner. Smack dab in the Bible Belt of the South.
But, I did find out about Grace Fellowship Church in Kingsport (GFK) and loved its emphasis on building community and reaching the community. It’s also full of engineers that are employed by Eastman there in Kingsport…so, that might be a better fit for me anyways. It’s a young church…still small enough to get to know people…yet, I know it’s going to grow quickly. I feel a bit ambivalent…I loved my first church back in my hometown in N.C. But, it feels wonderful to be plugged in somewhere here…to get support and build community with other dedicated Christians.