Initially it started out as a joke with one of my non-christian friends when I told him I had to start church shopping once I moved up to Portland from Orange County. He asked the obvious question of course; "how does one shop for churches?" So here is my mini pseudo-guide for church shopping...
1.Google and search the web for various churches around the area...I went to Saddleback (home to the 40 days of Purpose and such) so I used the purpose driven website as a stepping stone with this.
2.Browse through a couple sites, and though it is rather shallow, I judged some churches by their sites. It's 2008, it doesn't take a genius to know that websites can either help a church seem friendly for visitors or not. Also, if a website is well designed I think it shows that you are generally going to be dealing with a church aimed towards a younger crowd and such.
3.Once I found a couple websites that met my very initial test, check service times...make sure they have a weekend service that fits you. One service at 9:30 on Sunday morning does not cut it for me or my fiance. We needed at least two options...and surprisingly in the suburban north-west, that's easier said than done...
4.Now, with a list of 3 or 4 churches that look pretty good, get out there and check them out. Ideally you can try 2 or 3 services a weekend (either a Saturday night or Sunday night service, and two morning services) or it can take forever and you can do one service a week.
***Like I said, I moved from one area of the country to another. My old church was very casual, jeans and a t-shirt were the norm, the first couple of church we checked out made my fiance and I to feel very under-dressed. Who knew. We stuck out like sore thumbs. But checking churches out is kind of cool because in a way it allows you to be picky. You're picking out something that you are going to invest a ton of time in...is the worship a bit too dead? Do they do things just make you cringe? The very first church that Dean and I checked out, paraded us around the entire building introducing us to every single staff member and elder there was (yet did not point out where the bathrooms were...) When it was time to leave we were also pressured to leave our information for a follow up with their welcoming team ("please put your information on the card and drop it in the offering tray" "we figured we would look through the welcome packet and fill it out later, maybe bring it next week" "we would really appreciate it if you filled it out now" "you know, we have to go, sorry...bye") There's a giant difference between genuinely nice and scary nice...I didn't want a church that was scary nice also, one of my biggest pet peeved about churches is that so many always want money, and 3 of the 4 churches I went to, started off the sermon with a "we're trying to raise this much money.." speech. No bueno. ***
If your initial list didn't yield results, go at it again...and of course, always pray...always always pray...church shopping is so crazy and hard....I can't tell you how many times I felt so out of place, and how my faith was tested throughout this period. It actually showed me that there are some things I will not waver on, but thankfully, today was the end of my church shopping. Dean and I decided to plant our roots in a church that was initially at the top of my list but took me 2 months to check out. Go with your gut, God will get you where he wants you. It's almost scary. But now marks the beginning of a new journey. And I am sooooo excited!!! Things are starting to come together. Thank God. Now for pictures of the day....the first one is actually me just being reminiscent of the old days, and it's of me and one of my old youth leaders on stage at Saddleback for a conference after I shared my testimony (lifehurtsgodheals.com) and the second one is one I shot in the city when I first moved up to Portland...have a good Sunday everyone!!!
