The Church We Chose

In the winter of 2008, when Lydia was born, Nick and I were not serving in a church, so for the first time as a married couple, we went out church shopping. With my background in a small country church that sang traditional hymns and Nick’s background in charismatic independent churches with guitars rather than organs, you would think it would be hard for us to find something we agreed on. It was not.

We visited a church that was considered the “mega” church of town, with all the glitz that goes along with that title. They had fancy pagers in case our infant needed us and everything looked as though it was renovated in the last three years. We got a mug full of candy and information at the visitor’s table. There was a full band rocking it out in what looked more like a theater than a sanctuary.

We visited a rural church that looked like it hadn’t been renovated in thirty years, too. The music was mainly organ and piano, and the nursery definitely didn’t have the little pager things. There was no screen and projector either. It felt….old.

So where did we go? I know many of you would answer quickly that it was the first. It is after all what a “young family” like ours wants, isn’t it? A full band, a mug filled with treats and information for visitors, it had everything we possibly could want, even a pastor from glamorous California.

A youth from that church, showing our daughter her 4-h cow.

Of course, that is not the church we chose. We chose the small country church. 

Why? Because after worship that first Sunday, some older couples came up and invited us to lunch. They sat across from us at Bob Evans and asked about our lives and families and shared about their lives with us.  Nothing close to this had happened at the big church. It had nothing to do with the pastor. In fact, it had nothing to do with worship. Our whole decision was based on who we thought cared more about us as human beings.

Recently we started planning for 2015 at La Fontaine UMC. We have some great plans; plans for worthy activities and healthier systems. But my prayer is that no matter what we do, we do not neglect relationships. My prayer this year is that we will become the kind of church that people are drawn to because they feel God’s love, because they know we think they are valuable not for what they do, but because Jesus died for them. My prayer is that we will become a congregation that a young family could choose based on our love and care for them as people.