What are you looking for in a church?

When my husband and I moved to PA last summer, we began our search for a new church. This lead me to think about what I wanted in a church.  If you don’t know what you are looking for, how will you know if you found it?  Here’s some of what I thought through …

I have no preference on pews - with pads or without. Don’t even care if they have pews. Chairs are also fine.  This has no effect on my worship experience.

I have no preference on the design of the building. Cathedral or store front doesn’t matter – you can meet with God anywhere.

I have no preference on the attire for Sunday morning. Although, I prefer not to wear skirts.

I don’t care if the pastor is young or old, white, black, or other, ordained or not, wearing a suit or jeans. None of that matters.  What is his heart like – that is what matters.

I prefer not to have too much ritual in the service. You know – sing three hymns and listen to a 10 minute three point sermon and get out in exactly 60 minutes.  I would like the service to be whatever God leads it to be. We don’t have to watch the clock. No one has ever died from being 5 minutes late leaving church.

I have no desire for religious pep talks. You know – the feel good stuff but no real meat in it.

Please – no loud music. I don’t like leaving church with a headache. I like contemporary Christian music, choruses, and hymns. I really prefer a mixture of them all. I don’t want to forget the great hymns of the faith.

I want to hear someone open the Bible to a passage of Scripture that he has been praying over, meditating on, and learning from. I want to hear what he has learned and not just an academic lecture but what God has revealed to him. I want to know how this passage is supposed to impact the church and specifically me. I want to know how this passage fits in context with the whole Bible. I want to know the circumstances around how and why it was written. Please no sermons that are 15 minutes of fluff with one Bible verse tossed in for good measure. I want to sit with my Bible in my hand, and look into the Word, and listen for that voice inside me to speak to me.

I treasure that voice. It comes as a quiet whisper. I want to meet with people who also desire to hear that voice. I want to look around me and see people who are longing for God to do something in their lives and in the life of the church. I want to be with people who have studied the Word for so long that their Bibles are falling apart.  I also want to be with new Christians.  You know – the ones who haven’t lost the joy and excitement that salvation brings.

I want an encounter with God. I want a pastor who unashamedly and unapologetically preaches the Word. I don’t want him to hold back but I want him to preach what God gives him with incredible boldness.

I want a worship leader who prepares my heart to meet with the living God. I want time to repent. I want time to be renewed. I need time to reflect on what I have heard. I want the kind of worship leader who knows how and when to change it up. I want him to be so in tune with the moving of the Spirit of God that he senses the need to alter the order of the service and even what music we are about to sing. Worship is about turning people’s faces to see the face of God. It is giving God worship and praise.

I hunger for a community of believers that know God and seek His face. I want them to be prayer warriors. After all, I just might need someone to pray with me and for me. I want to be able to feel free to say, I need prayer without feeling like they think I am weird.

I want to be involved in lives of other people to the point that praying for each other is how we share our lives together. I love it when someone prays for me without my even asking. It reminds me of what it really means to be one body, one church, all in a relationship with a living and loving heavenly Father.

So… I want to hear the Word of God preached by someone who has studied it intensely and sought God’s revelation. I want to worship in response to that revelation. I want to pray with and for other God seeking, God fearing, God hearing people…. who are making every attempt to live out an authentic Christian faith. I want to hear from God and gather with people who also hunger for His Word. I want to be with people who crave to know the heart of God. I want to be with a community of believers who take their faith seriously.

What about you? What do you want?