The great big search begins...

I am looking forward to life slowing down, and getting settled.  I've found a club to swim with, and local farm to get produce from.  I've learned which day to take my trash out, and where to take my massive amounts of cardboard.  I've found the local public library (it's awesome by the way) and driven home from work without Gretchen, the great GPS, yelling directions at me, and without getting lost.
 Part of getting settled is finding a church home.  This time I am going to be a little more cautious than I was the last time I moved.

I have a tendency to find what I think I'm looking for and jump all in without fully considering the pros and cons.  I have done it while looking for a church after a move, I do it all the time when I am shopping, I did it when I bought my first house.  In fact when I moved to Murray, I signed a lease without actually seeing the place first, talk about jumping in and taking a risk.

I am determined to have more self control this time, and take more time to consider the options.

Being in a new place is hard and I would prefer to skip ahead to the time when I am actively involved in a church, part of a small group, etc...  But it's a big decision.  I tend to just settle instead of holding out for the best fit.

This spring I was reading Financial Peace by David Ramsey, he said that in today's culture we expect to have today what our parents took 20 years to accumulate.  He was talking about finances but I think I look at church that way too.  I would prefer the settled, been going to this church for 2 years place, rather than the "hey I'm new and feeling awkward" phase.  I would rather skip that phase all together.  The reality is that you just can't skip that phase, and I need to be more patient in the beginning.

Some good friends had a very methodical method (I know that was redundant) when they were looking for a new church a while back.  They made a list of churches they wanted to check out, then they attended each church for a full 4 weeks before formulating an opinion.  Their rationale was that you can't fully experience a church in just one Sunday, you might love it or hate it, and it's a fluke.  Even if they liked a church, after 4 weeks they moved on to the next church, going to every church on their list before making a decision.

Making a decision to choose a specific church is a big decision.  This is the place where I am going to commit to ministry, these are the people that will influence my life, this is the pastor whose teaching I will listen to on a weekly basis.

Is this a healthy church body?  Is it a growing church body?  Are there people who can mentor me?  Are there people who will invite me into their church family?  Is there lots of drama distracting the church from it's purpose?  Are there cliques?  Is there a place I can serve?

These are all questions I will be asking over the next several months, it's a daunting process.  This time I am commited to perservering and not settling for the first church that seems decent.