find a new church

We’ve been going to St. Mark Lutheran pretty regularly the past few months. I think we’re going to stay there, but I guess I’m not quite ready to commit yet. We like the pastors, but haven’t really met any of the members. It’s hard to find the time to stick around after church, but we’re going to have to make a stronger effort.

I’m all for unconventional sermons and trying to keep things interesting for your audience, but to my way of thinking there’s only one book upon which to base a sermon, and it isn’t Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince.

a home.
We have been attending at the same church for a couple months now. Its tiny and small, but the people are warm, it feels like family already, the preaching and the worship is sincere, and we are excited to be with them as they grow. Its officially our new church home. Yeah!

Alright, so this year for Lent we went to St. Mark’s. We went to the Wednesday night services all the weeks that we could, and also to the Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. Now it’s time to start going to some regular Sunday morning services, and going to the fellowship hour afterwards. The people have been friendly so far – it must be obvious that we’re not regulars. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll have to take a later start time on Sunday mornings at work, but that’s not the end of the world.

I’ll report back in after next Sunday.

I’d completely given up on this goal last December. I went to a church and although I wanted to be there, my heart wasn’t feeling it. I knew that at that point in time, no church was going to fulfill what I was looking for.

Normally I make a point of going to church for the duration of the Lenten season. Well, this year I was very sick on Ash Wednesday, and that set the tone for the next 6 1/2 weeks. Today (Easter Sunday) was the first time I’d been to church since Christmas, I think. That’s very unlike me, but again, I had nothing pushing me to go.

Well, we got lucky today. We found this amazing church about 10 blocks from my sister’s apartment. Not only was it BEAUTIFUL, but the music was great (all songs I knew or that I could manage to sing along with) and the homily was probably one of the best I’ve ever heard – simple, easy to understand, powerful, and not drawn out like many churches I’ve attended. My sister (who is a Christmas/Easter church goer for the most part) and my dad (who attends mass every Sunday) both really liked it, as well.

I’m not saying that I’ll be going to church every weekend. I still only believe in going when my heart is in it. But I can almost guarantee that when I do want to go back, this’ll be the place I go. And that feels pretty good.

Now too bad I’ll likely only be here a few more months…

My sister and i have been attending her church, which is more traditional as her husband prefers. There are some lovely people there, but we knew we weren’t getting fed. The sermons are so shallow and trite there. She attends several Bible studies, and was invited to another church by one of the women there. The church is currently in a restaurant, and is pretty new to the area, but I’m not sure how new. So we finally went, and the music is a good mix of praise songs and old hymns that we know from growing up. Better yet, the sermon is not from one or two verses of scripture, but the better part of a chapter! The pastor is doing a series on the exodus and it is soooooo good. It’s funny and makes you think about your life, if you’re going where God wants you to go, how to be more like Jesus, etc. We’ve only gone three Sundays, one of those times attending both churches the same day, and i think we are going to continue going there. I haven’t decided yet to become a member (it’s too soon and i don’t know how long i will be living here), but i think that we will be fed and serve God more boldly if we stay here. I’m starting to become excited about attending church for the first time in a long time. (:

we tried a new church the last three weeks in a row. I have to admit. Im just ready to find our new home church, I get so tired of looking.

this weekend for my neices dedication. too bad its so far from home, awesome preacher, amazing worship, its what Im looking for, reminded me that the church we have been going to, definetly is for us. hubs agreed.

sadly our old church actually closed its doors last Sunday. breaks my heart.

I went to church last weekend and was full of doubt. I just had no desire to be there… not that I lost my desire to seek spirituality/God, though. Prayer and God will always be a part of my life… but for now, church will not.

I was sick last week so I skipped church for the week. I did a little research, though, and found another church to try out… here are the results:

Pros
- Simple but pretty church
- Younger crowd/priest
- Engaging homily
- LOTS of young adult (20s and 30s) fellowship opportunities
- YA mass is Sunday evening, so there’s a better chance I’ll make it to church if I’m out of town for the weekend

Cons
- Farther away from home (not within walking distance)
- A little too musical for my liking
- more inner conflict with scripture (um, maybe I should be questioning my faith, not my church, haha)

I really did like this place… it’s not TOO far away, but I just prefer walking. I think this might warrant a second visit, but I won’t likely be in town on Sunday for another three weeks. We’ll see…