Church-shopping

I am embarrassed to say that I am a sophomore at TCU and I do not have a church at school. Before college I was a loyal churchgoer, the one in my family who made everyone else go. I loved to sit at the front, sing in the choir, go to bible study and youth group, and be an active participant in church life.

Now I am in a new city with no church. No church means much more than a lack of a Sunday morning service. It’s a lack of a family.

Almost everyone who has moved to a new city can relate to this. The great American church search — it’s nearly impossible! Ever since I moved to Fort Worth a little over a year ago I have been “church shopping.” Every few weeks I switch churches because the one I was attending was too boring, too spirited, too dark, too old, too new, on and on. I can’t seem to find the church with that special something.

It seems to me that the search should be easy. I know exactly what I am looking for- white sanctuary, red carpet, huge clear glass windows, tall spire, and friendly folks who know my name. The trouble is that church is at home in Nashville and I am 700 miles away. Every time I step through the doors of a new church I am immediately comparing it to my beloved congregation in Tennessee, a bad habit I know.

Last Sunday a close friend from home and I decided to forgo church and spend quiet time in the botanical gardens by school instead. She is a member of my home church and is experiencing the same frustrations as me. While talking about our lives in Texas and our lack of a church home we realized that maybe we weren’t giving each church enough of a chance. Just as I needed to get to know a church to feel at home, that church had to get to know me. I wasn’t giving people time to get to know my name or my story because I judged the church on the color of its walls rather than the hearts of its people.

What really matters in a church is whether it brings me closer to God, whether the congregation cares about me and helps me to grow, and whether they call when I miss a Sunday. I must be patient and allow God and the congregation to show me what they can do for me and what I can do for them. No church is perfect, but there is a church that is perfect for me, and I am about to find it!