We’ve been searching for a church home in our new town. This is our first foray into church shopping. When we moved to Atlanta, our friend directed us to the church his sister and brother-in-law started and we fit right in from the beginning. This has been challenging and frustrating, especially since we have kids and want them to have a say in where we go.
12-01-19
We went to the contemporary service at the first (Methodist) church we visited way back at the beginning of our church hunt. They lit the Advent candle and we sang a couple of traditional Christmas songs. The pastor talked about Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor. We said the Lord’s Prayer and it gave me the urge to teach it to our kids. A woman and her daughter came up during the greeting time to introduce themselves and see if Kaitlyn was the same age (the other girl was 10 and at the intermediate school). I don’t know that we liked it better than where we’ve been going. I think both Adam and I have nostalgia around Christmas from when we were kids. It’s not necessarily better than nondenominational churches, just different.
12-08-19
We went to the Methodist church again for the second Sunday of Advent. They had a children’s sermon which the kids went up for. It was nice to hear from one of the service organizations the church partners with. It was an enjoyable service. We learned they have a Christmas pageant next week. A couple of people introduced themselves to us. Adam commented that we’ve had more people introduce themselves to us here than at the school church. Though this church has a greeting time built into the service, so there’s that.
12-15-19
Kaitlyn and I went to the Methodist church this morning (Adam and Jackson were sick). It was a special musical Sunday. I enjoyed the traditional songs and the telling of the Christmas story.
12-18-19
We went to the children’s Christmas Pageant at the Methodist church this evening. It was a nice experience. We didn’t stay for the refreshments.
12-22-19
We went to the Methodist church for the last Sunday of Advent. Adam and I both agree that it reminds us of our childhoods but our kids’ childhoods don’t have to be the same as ours. We could potentially go to either church, but we’ll probably try to get involved in the school church first. Kaitlyn thought both were fine. Jackson prefers the school church. I think he likes the classroom over big service.
12-24-19
We went to the 4 pm Christmas Eve service at the Methodist church. Adam said when he was at the Y on Monday, a woman came up to him and said she saw him and met his wife at church on Sunday. I knew just who he was talking about.
12-29-19
We’ve decided to go back to the school church and try to get involved. However, they didn’t have service this morning so we went one more week to the Methodist church. I really enjoyed the message about the wise men. I’m glad we went so that we could sing a few more Christmas songs.
So we’ve made a decision. Hopefully, we can get to know people and plug into a small group (though I believe they don’t start back up until February). I’m praying that this will be a good place for our whole family.
Tracy Gable says
Praying for you guys that this will be a place you can get involved and have a church home. We miss you here at LifeBridge. Hope you had a nice Christmas and good start to the new year!
meganbyrd says
Thanks Tracy!