Journeys

A little over two years ago, my husband and I began the painful process of looking for a new church. I say painful because it was hard to leave the one we belonged to because they are family. We love them and feel no ill will toward them, but we knew that for our own spiritual growth we needed to do something different. (BTW, I think it SHOULD be somewhat painful to leave a congregation. When you invest so much of yourself, you should expect some pain if you leave. I think it helps keep people from constantly being church hoppers…but I digress.)

We started visiting the local churches of Christ but didn’t really find a good fit. Eventually, we ended up visiting a church in another community that we had originally not intended to visit for that very reason; it was in another community. There were a lot of good things going on there, and we have family there, so we stepped easily into relationship with them. We ended up being there for 8 or 9 months. We were working in the sound room and attending regularly, but we hesitated to place membership because it just didn’t feel like home. We hated to leave family, but needed to see if we could find what was missing.

Eventually, we started looking again. By this time, we were really tired and frustrated. I don’t think that our expectation was to find a perfect church. We knew that didn’t exist. But what we were really craving was a church that had a clear vision of where they were going and friendly enough to let us in on the journey. I think that some of our friends thought we were being unreasonable or not trying hard enough to fit in, but the truth is, we knew what we were looking for and also knew we hadn’t found it yet. I began to wonder if we ever would.

So, we pulled out the phone book and started down the list. What an interesting and varied couple of months we had. Except for the congregations that have bilingual services, we visited every church of Christ on the list that we hadn’t already been to and a few that were in the non-denominational section. We met many nice people, most 30-50 years older than us, but sweet nonetheless. We met some ladies who still cover their heads in worship and who were quick to let me know that it was ok with them that I wore pants. They didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable. I didn’t, and I’m very sorry I made them feel that way. We found one unexpectedly young and friendly place, but they didn’t have any clear leadership which was important to us. We also discovered that there are about 8 small c of C’s in about a mile radius from our house. Who knew?

N and I grew up in church. Our parents were actively involved and so were we. When we married, we continued to be. So by this time we were feeling particularly forlorn. Homeless even. We decided to go back and revisit some of the larger congregations that we had previously discounted because of their size.

In November, we ended up visiting Southwest. The preaching blew us away. Brian is a great speaker, but what compelled me was not the eloquence of his sermons but the challenge of them. Every week, I left feeling revitalized. I began to long for the Word again, to be fed not just from the pulpit but outside the building. I wanted to be better, more like Christ.

And at some point, I began to realize that my desire to be more Christ-like was indeed their vision. Brian talked about it from the pulpit all the time – discipleship, getting into intimate community and relationship with one another in order to be more like Jesus.

In December, they had a special Holiday Happenings service on one Sunday evening. Brian talked about the Word being alive in our lives, and we sang the song The Word is Alive by Casting Crowns. Then he had the elders and their wives move to different stations in the auditorium that had signs such as - The Word is alive in my marriage. The Word is alive in my job. The Word is alive in my family.

Then, he challenged us to go to one of the various places and share with the elders (and wives) our needs, and they would pray for us. They played music quietly in the background and gave us about 20 minutes for this activity.

Well, this was definitely a new experience for us. But I was ready. We went to a station and talked with the couple for a few minutes, and then we huddled and prayed. By the end I was absolutely sobbing. We had to step out so I could pull myself together. In my memory, the only time any elders ever prayed for me or my family was when my dad was dying of cancer. I was really moved and began to think that something really special was going on here.

Since then we have continued to experience a leadership of elders and ministers who are all deeply and personally committed to the spiritual growth of every individual in the congregation. They are more than just a board of directors; they are shepherds. We finally placed membership a few weeks ago and really feel connected for the first time in a long time.

This whole process was extremely long and difficult, but God has been faithful. I believe that He has brought us to just the right place at just the right time. I know that this congregation is not without flaws, after all, it is made up of flawed human beings, just like us.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a bit of our journey. We are really excited to see where this new journey will take us and what God has in store. God has already been working on us and showing us time and again how faithful He is. But that is a story (or two) for another time.