What To Look For In a Church

As my wife and I get ready to move to a new city, we’ve talked a bit about looking for a new church once we get settled in.  Realistically there is, of course, no such thing as a perfect church, but I have learned that there are a few things to watch for.  Some of these are essential elements, while others are non-essentials that may alter my perception of a particular congregation.  Here are some of the things we’ll be looking for to help us decide on a new church.

Essentials:

• Biblically grounded teaching.  One of my favorite podcasts comes from Mars Hill Bible Church.  Rob Bell and the other speakers do a great job of going through scripture and pulling out practical truths and profound insights.  To be honest, I’ve learned more from Rob Bell’s sermons than I have from just about any other preacher when it comes to exegetical teaching.  I can totally understand why some churches don’t go verse-by-verse through the Bible–it can make for a very tough sell for visitors, and there’s a risk of looking overly esoteric to the “unchurched.”  So I readily admit that there’s a definite place for topical sermons, and Christianity at its core is about living out practical life lessons.  But at the same time, these practical sermons should be grounded in scripture, not just the pastor’s own life experiences or some kind of fuzzy humanistic moralism.  Probably the worst example of this kind of teaching is Joel Osteen, who I have never heard quote scripture.  The approach to preaching is that scripture should inform our views of an issue, and not that the issue should inform our interpretation of scripture.  Biblically grounded teaching (informed by tradition, but not blindly so…) is perhaps the best way to make sure a church isn’t going off on its own agenda.
• Discipleship and outreach.  “Discipleship” is the process of maturing believers.  In the way that discipleship is a refining of those inside of the church, the process of refining those beyond the church is outreach. “Outreach” means, at least as I use it, sharing the love of God with folks outside the church.  One of the things I’m looking for in a new church is a balanced approach to emphasizing discipleship for existing believers, and at the same time reaching out to non-believers to show God’s love.  While there should be balance between these two, I’ve been to churches where there is no emphasis on maturity, only on “conversion”–as if somehow the Great Commission does not exist.  I mention the Great Commission because the command is to make “disciples” and to teach them, not merely to get people to say the “sinner’s prayer”…  I really enjoy learning more about what it means to be a Christ follower, and I get very tired of hearing the same sermons/lectures/teachings over and over again.  This is why I think topical teaching is so hard to make relevant to more mature believers;  there’s only so many ways to teach on marital fidelity or tithing before the topic becomes stale.  Maybe I’ll change my mind at some point, but right now I think that exegetical teaching from scripture, combined with strong fellowship, is a much better way to encourage true discipleship, because it opens up the possibility of discovering new insights beyond what the pastor has experienced.  Outreach is important, and welcoming the unchurched is too–but I’m looking for a church that balances outreach with challenging believers of varying degrees to maturity, beyond the initial come-to-Jesus experience.
• Strong fellowship.  Probably my favorite thing about being a member of Chi Alpha (as an undergrad at FSU) was the fellowship.  I came to FSU knowing only a handful of people, almost no real friends, and as a very immature Believer.  After getting plugged into Chi Alpha I gradually made some solid friendships with folks who challenged me to grow as a Christ follower.  I really believe that without Chi Alpha I would be nothing more than a cultural-Christian today.  So when we move and look for a new church, one of the essential elements a new church must have is a strong emphasis on authentic fellowship.  This doesn’t necessarily mean the church has the same hang-out-at-all-hours college atmosphere Chi Alpha had, but it does mean the congregation has plenty of opportunities to allow folks to be in close contact.  Structured get-togethers–like Sunday lunches or other social activities organized and hosted–are a great step in this direction.  But one of the best ways to encourage fellowship beyond merely socializing is through service.  I saw this at Genesis Church in Tallahassee.  My wife and I have attended Genesis for over five years, and we’ve been involved with kids church there for most of that time.  Volunteering to help out was one of the best things we could have done, not just to “give back,” but also to make friends–from the kids church pastor and his wife (Stu and Jess, and later Phil and Evie), the other volunteers, to the many kids and their parents.  I’m not sure how long it will take us to find a new church, but we’ll be on the look out for one that both makes it easy to get involved by volunteering, and easy to hang out with other members.
• Authenticity.  This is probably most accurately described as a subset of fellowship.  I’ve found there are lots of nice people at church on Sundays who have no qualms about being a total jerk at work or school on Monday.  I don’t want to be one of these people, and I don’t want to surround myself with these people either.  I want to find a church where people are honest about their failures, are not afraid of admitting imperfection, and strive to learn and grow from their mistakes.  Authenticity also means that church members who seem friendly are genuinely so.  I’ve had more hypocritical cold shoulders in church from Christians than I have from folks who know nothing of Christ.  Church should be a family, not a clique.  I get really frustrated sometimes when I try to approach certain people and the response I get is more calculated than any politician could ever muster.  I’m tired of people in church who pretend to like you, who want you to shake their hand, who want you to come to their service/event/meeting, but want nothing to do with you as a person.  If God literally is love, then God is far from some of the folks I see on a regular basis in church–and I am not looking for that when I look for a new congregation.

Non-essentials:

• A website.  Part of the “outreach” I mentioned earlier is making folks aware of what the Church is, and what a particular congregation offers to the local community.  The who/ what/ when/ where of church can be kind of confusing to any newbie, unchurched or otherwise, and I think a good website goes a long way to both offer information and to demonstrate a real concern for those seeking a place to learn and fellowship.
• Simple worship setting.  Music style can be a major dividing issue for some worship-minded Christians, but I honestly don’t care about the style so much as the lyrics of the songs, and the way the songs are performed.  One of my biggest struggles in attending corporate worship services is that I get really distracted by the frills.  I don’t mind fancy lights or loud guitars; I do mind when the purpose of the service is less about God, and more about the band and the audience.  I have seen far too many ensembles that make a bad concert out of worship.  By this I do not mean bands that are well rehearsed, or that have a high degree of technical flourish.  I mean bands that sing for an hour straight with songs that are doctrinaly unsound, have little to do with God, and everything to do with easy emotionalism.  Worshiping with music doesn’t mean you have to feel like crying, or shouting, or jumping, or lifting hands, or any of the outward manifestations that so often go along with song in evangelical/emerging Christianity.  Worship is an attitude, a time of reflecting, to center ourselves and honor the Creator.  If you think I’m overstating how much this can be about the audience over God, then just take note of how often people will raise their hands during either the chorus or a key change.  What is it about that shift from verse one to the chorus, or from F to G major that so enhances our appreciation of God???  It may be cynical, but I think too often our worship is a self-serving emotional drug.  And besides this self-serving side of worhship, I sometimes get annoyed by the “look at me” lighting that crops up in some churches.  There is no way that seeing four women in denim vests circled around a Casio keyboard (or for a more modern take, four dudes with “oh is it still cool to wear girls’ clothes?” outfits strumming their redundantly reproduced parts on various electric guitars…) with a bright spotlight on them is going to advance my perception of God’s majesty.  So why do so many churches prop up the worship band?  I suppose this point runs the risk of turning into a rant, so I’ll stop here.
• Casual atmosphere.  I’ve learned to love wearing jeans to church.  Flip-flops too.  I think that most folks like the idea that they don’t have to dress up for God.  I mean doesn’t God see us the same, regardless of how we dress?  I know there are churches where dressing up is a way to show respect for God, to revere His power.  But I think we can still revere God by dressing casually (even if flip-flops aren’t always a smart choice).  I guess I think people who have to dress up to go to church run a higher risk of thinking of their time with God as something they do once a week–with the clothes they usually wear symbolizing the fact that the “real” person is not welcome on Sundays, nor is God welcome to visit the rest of the week.  Wardrobe is definitely not an essential thing I look for, but still a factor I consider.

So hopefully we’ll be able to find a church that satisfies all these elements.  I’ll be sure to update once we get out to Oklahoma and our search commences in earnest.