What Church Should I Go To?

So you have begun your new faith. You confessed that you are a sinner in need of God's help. You have decided to turn away from your old life and follow Jesus. So what now?

The very first step as a new Christian is to find a good church in your area to attend to on a regular basis... and this may be a problem, because there are so many to choose from. America is the land of a myriad of choices.

When I lived in the Congo, I travelled hours to a small European store that offered one type of chocolate, one type of soda, one type of any product they had in the store. It was easy to shop because there were no choices. Compare that to the U.S. today. When I got back to the U.S. after living in Africa for 3 years I was overwhelmed by the amount of choices offered to me. There were dozens of choices for every item. No longer one choice of Cola, I was offered scores of brands, flavors, calories or none, etc. and etc.

We in the U.S. are no different when it comes to churches. In fact the common expression for someone looking for a church to go to is "church shopping."

The U.S. has so many churches because so many have come to us from different regions in Europe mixed with our own home grown versions. At one time there was only one Christian church, but it divided and then divided some more. Even though politics, geography, theology and all kinds of other reasons divided the churches into different denominations and groupings, many churches are in agreement about the most important teachings of faith. So when you look for a church to go to there will be quite a few you can choose from.

Before I give you a list of some of the churches that are good, let me forewarn you that every church has its good and bad. In other words, no church is perfect. Churches are made up of people, and where people are there will be friction, problems and so on. But where people gather together there can also be some amazing stuff happening.

Here is a list of some of the churches that I have been good:

Evangelical Covenant
Evangelical Free
Baptist (most kinds)
Assemblies of God
Church of God (most kinds)
Many Lutheran churches
Foursquare
Non Denominational churches
Church of God in Christ
Methodist and Presbyterian churches are struggling with different social issues and may or may not be to your liking
If you like formal churches with ritual involved you may like some Catholic, Episcopalian, or Lutheran churches

When you shop for a church look for what it can offer you, your children, and friends who may want to join you some day.

Make sure that the Bible is preached and taught regularly.

When a company looks for outside products that are going to cost a lot they usually seek out 3 different providers and compare prices and goods. In the end they choose one. That may be a good idea for you. Pray, choose 3 different churches and try them out. When all is said and done, pick one and go to it.