Church hoppin'

Having lived in the greater Philly area, Washington DC vicinity, Indianapolis, and now the Bay Area, I realized today that I have gone through the church hunt/hoppin' process A LOT. So I thought I would share some thoughts regarding my current church search for those who might be going through something similar, either right now or in the future. Just a few notes on the three churches I've been to thus far:

Church #1
This is a church that is within walking distance to my apartment. I guess you could call it a "start-up" church as they really only started up about 18 months ago. Very friendly people, smaller church family (~100 people). I was a little lost during the worship service (although contemporary, they sang a lot of songs I did not know), and the sermon was very heartfelt. What I found hard to believe was that the senior pastor is my age - never had that happen before! I always love it when people talk to visitors at a church, and I was very comfortable with the individuals who took the time to meet and greet me. There were some things that didn't seem very organized, but I am guessing that this is pretty typical in new churches. Definitely a lot of opportunities to get involved!

Church #2
This is a church that I had heard a lot about prior to moving here. I have a family friend who attends, plus the senior pastor at this church is a friend of the senior pastor at the church in which I grew up. So I was very excited to check it out. The music was absolutely fantastic - their choir and musicians were awesome, and I knew every single song that was sung (it is indeed a COG church!). I also got a lot out of the sermon - definitely a pastor who has a lot of experience. My biggest issue with this church was the people - there were people EVERYWHERE, and many of them were somewhat rude. Even the greeters never greeted anyone (they pretty much handed out bulletins and that was it). To be honest, even though I have been to churches with large congregations (1000+), I was extremely disappointed in the lack of welcome at this one.

Church #3
This is a church, oddly enough, that was recommended to me by someone who now attends my former church in Indianapolis (he used to live in the South Bay but moved back to Indy as I was moving out of there). It is the farthest in terms of distance out of the three churches, but I decided to give it a shot. I attended a Saturday night service for the first time in my life, and you know what? I think I might actually continue going on Saturday nights. Hmm. Anyhow, this is a church with four services (2 on Sat, 2 on Sun). It is also a very large church, but I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a "hugger". Yes, they have someone assigned to greeting visitors and give everyone hugs! I knew 50% of the songs, which is always good, and the music was upbeat. People also took the time to greet me, just like they did at Church #1. The sermon was very real and relevant, which was GREAT. Normally people think that talking about dating and sex is taboo in church, but it really shouldn't be. Where else are people going to get God's view on these topics? I thought the pastor did a fantastic job on this. The other really cool thing is that the pastor did a Q&A session at the end of the sermon. People were given the opportunity to ask questions, be it in regards to personal experiences or hypothetical ones. It was definitely the most relaxed atmosphere out of the three churches.

Overall, I think the key point is that finding a church takes time. Even though it's best not to dwell in the minutia (i.e., church decor, whether or not there is AC, how good of a singer the worship leader is), it's still really important to understand what your needs are. In other words, factors such as church size, number of young people, number of families, and type of worship service may be important, but ultimately, the question is whether or not you are able to grow in your relationship with God. It can be really easy to get discouraged when you aren't able to find a church right away, but continue to pray that God will guide you to your new church home. I am going through that myself right now - I still haven't made a decision (it's hard when you're not at home every weekend), but I trust God in leading me to the right place.