The Church Search

Along with moving to a new city comes something I've really never had to do before - searching for a new church. With that comes plenty of excitement surrounding meeting new people, hearing from different kinds of pastors, and the prospect of being involved and seeing God move in new ways.

But there are also a lot of questions.

Should we search for a big church or a small one? Something that's comfortable or takes us out of our comfort zone? Somewhere in the suburbs or in the city? A place where we already know people or one where we can build a different community for ourselves?

And ultimately, how will we know when we've found the "right" church for us?

Yes, all of those little dots are individual churches. So many choices!

I doubt there are right or wrong answers to these questions, and like most things in life, it will probably just come down to making a decision and trusting the Lord to use that decision.

During my time in Madison, I only regularly attended two different churches in almost eight years. One for about a year followed by my eventual home church, Blackhawk, for almost seven years.

It's hard to leave a church that you love and has felt like home for such a long time. It can be even more difficult when looking for a new one to not constantly compare the church you're visiting to the one you just left. And though we don't need to find a new church that's exactly like the one we came from, as I've processed through the things that I appreciated most about Blackhawk Church, here are some of the unique things that I experienced there and will look for as we continue our search.

-A genuine current of humility that runs throughout the whole church. I don't need to see the most flashy preacher or the most hip worship band, but I do hope to find a church with leaders who genuinely love Jesus and don't have to fake that they know everything and have it all together.

-Teachers who pursue learning and encourage a culture of constantly taking God out of the boxes that we have Him in so that our view of Him might increase. (It helps that all of the teachers at Blackhawk are really smart and gifted at teaching!)

-A church focused on the whole Gospel and fostering the coming of the Kingdom in all the different ways that might entail. Personal salvation, restoring and rejuvenating our communities, seeking justice, loving the world - the list goes on.

That's certainly not a comprehensive list and there are obvious non-negotiables that I didn't include, but as we've been in the midst of transition, these are some of the things that I've missed most and will continue to value for a very long time. Thanks, Blackhawk Church, for all the ways that you've helped draw me closer to the Father and have shown me what Gospel-centered ministry looks like!

-CK