Have I found our new church?

It's been about six weeks since our last gathering with our "old church", and I've now had the chance to visit a "new church" for a few services.  I thought I'd give you all a bit of an update on how that's been going.

The church we've been checking out is the Presbyterian church down the road from us.  It is literally a five minute walk from my house, ten with the kids in tow.  I can honestly say the proximity to my house has been a real draw for me to make this our permanent church home.

The first service I attended was their Good Friday service, which also included participating in communion.  It was a little daunting because they perform this sacrament by having everyone file to the front pew by pew to partake of the bread/cracker and wine/grape juice, and I felt a little out of my element just because it was a new church, and I didn't know anyone.  Awesomely, it turned out I did recognize someone there as our neighbour from across the street was also in attendance that morning.

I found out later that it was also her first time visiting the church, and they are also looking at perhaps making it their church home.  We've gotten to know those neighbours quite well since moving here, and I find it really cool that we might end up going to the same church together right here in our own neighbourhood.

Since that day, we've gone to three more services, and each time I go, I am more and more convinced that this is the church God is leading us to make our new church family.  They have amazing kids' programs there, which is something I was hoping to find in our new church, and the kids have handled the adjustment really well.

I feel such a sense of community and togetherness from these people during the services, and they have been very welcoming to me and my children.  Several people have already introduced themselves to me, and I'm looking forward to more chances to become part of this church family.

And all that aside, this past Sunday during the service it really struck me that this church is a place where I sense God's presence, and it's a place where I feel comfortable to worship and meet with Him among these other believers.  They have an incredible praise team, and since music has always been a big part of my life and the way I worship, this has helped significantly in making me feel at home here.

Have I made a firm decision that this will be our new church?  Not quite, but I'm getting close.  I haven't spent as much time in prayer over it as I need to yet, but that will come.  I'm also hoping that at some point Tim will be able to come to a service with us, but given that he works on weekends, this might be a while.

Anyway, I could write more, but the kids need breakfast.  Till another time...

Losing a Church: Moving Forward

This will be my last post in my "Losing a Church" series.  I have loved sharing this journey with you all, but now it's time for me to put this series to rest.

Are there some lingering personal issues around our church closing that I may need to deal with yet?  Probably.  But I think the hard work has been finished, and the time for publicly blogging about it is done.  The slow work to come to complete healing and forgiveness will continue, but by God's grace, I am truly in a place of acceptance over the situation, and I am ready to look forward to the next steps.

The next steps.  Finding a new church.  (Do I sense another series?)

Ugh.  The initial excitement over finding a new church has waned, and I am left with a sinking feeling of dread over having to be the new face in the crowd again.  I have never been good at getting close to people, and it took three years to form the tentative relationships I have/had with people at our previous church.  (It is so weird to call it our "previous church".)

And I hate small talk.  I am so not good at it.  I'm not even good at it with people I've known for years.

This does not bode well for how easy it will be to fit in with a new community of believers.  And so, first order of business in my journey to find a new church, crash course in small talk.  Google, here we come.  Or maybe there's a "Small Talk for Dummies" book I can find...