why are you looking?

Rachel and I went to Borders tonight just to get out- and of course, we both love reading and love books. So it was a natural idea. Anyway, on our way home, we were talking about church searching some, because we were trying to decide where we were going to attend this coming Sunday.

I realized that through two lengthy blogs on this, I still had not covered everything. surprise, surprise- there's probably too much to talk about on this subject. But we were talking about this and I have decided to add it to the discussion.

Why someone would be looking for a new church makes a huge difference on where he/she would choose. If you're looking for a new church for a noble or acceptable reason, then you are looking for a church to plug into still. Usually, I’d advise people to be aware that in a mega-church, there are often times already a number of volunteers as well as a sense of being a nameless face. Unless you know lots of people there, and even then sometimes, it can be very anonymous.

However, in cases like Rachel's and mine- we've been burned by a couple churches now and the reason we're looking for a church is not to be ministers, and not even to spend all the efforts we have serving there. We are in a state of needing to heal, needing to be ministered to (as we have been taken advantage of and burned to the point where we're pretty empty), and needing to not be as involved.

Personally, I’ve taken a liking to smaller churches, and even see a LOT of value and benefit in them- maybe even more than large churches. But for this particular case or need- why we're looking- a larger church is a place to go. The church of 40 we visited will likely not be a good place for us because it is so small. But, then again- everyone is different, and the sense of family that is present in a smaller church may be just what healing people need to have. If we were in Lancaster instead of Shippensburg, we'd be going to a church of 100-125- because we know so many people there, there's no awkward "not knowing anyone" feeling, and those people there genuinely care about us. so... yeah

and if you're looking for a new church because you left your last one for reasons like music, or a personal conflict with one other person there, or because you simply are not able to sit still and can only be in one church for a few months at a time, you need to DEAL with your issues and stay put. At least, until God gives you the release to leave.

anyway. I’m not sure if I have much else- I’m not thinking of too much else just yeti. Keeping on keeping on.