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How Can You Find the Right
Church?
Whether to attend church, and which one, are among the most important decisions
we can make. What are key factors we should consider?
by John Ross Schroeder
The choice of churches and denominations
of churches has never been greater. A dizzying supermarket of brands awaits the potential
churchgoer, particularly in the United States.
To put the puzzling choices in secular terminology, supply and demand drives the
religious marketplace. According to The Southern California Christian Times,
"more than one out of seven adults change(s) their church each year, and another
one out of six attends a carefully chosen handful of selected churches on a rotating
basis rather than sticking with the same church week after week" (December 1998).
Brand loyalty doesn't carry much weight.
If you were looking for a church, what would you look for? In America, where churchgoers
are more fickle about their affiliation than in any other country, what do people
look for in a place of worship?
Last year the George Barna research company surveyed American churchgoers about their
preferences in a church. In the resulting report the top three factors were:
- Beliefs and doctrines.
- Mutual comfort and care among the members.
- The quality of the sermons.
Mentioned first were beliefs and doctrines. That is a good place to begin. From a
biblical standpoint, certainly few if any other points could be as important. But
we are getting a little ahead of ourselves. The first question to ask is, Should
we attend church at all?
What the Bible Says
Most of our readers presumably have a great deal of respect for the Scriptures or
they wouldn't be reading this magazine. But, if you are not yet quite sure about
the authority of the Bible over our individual and collective lives, we invite you
to request our two free booklets Is the Bible True? and How to Understand
the Bible.
The New Testament admonishes Christians to assemble together regularly. One epistle
specifically tells us: ". . . Let us consider one another in order to stir
up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is
the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the
Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24-25).
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