This time around our search for a church was supposed to be relatively easy because we decided to only
- consider a small geographical area
- visit Mainline Protestant congregations (and those largely aligned with Mainline theology)
Our relatively modest attempt has grown a few times:
- Plan A: 10 congregations
- Plan B: 13 congregations
- Plan C: 15 congregations (still far smaller than our last search that included 36 congregations!)
Plan C
When we set out for our original search for a church in suburbia the list of congregations that would have met the criteria we are now using for our version 2.0 of our search for a church could have been counted on a single hand without using all such digits. Now, living dowtown in America’s fifteenth largest city , the options in near proximity are much greater.
As of yesterday, we have now worshipped in 15 nearby congregations as part of our present search. A quick run down of these experiences based on the denominational affiliation of the congregations follows:
- Baptist (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship) – 1 congregation, 4 services
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) – 3 congregations, 5 services
- Episcopal – 1 congregation, 2 services
- Lutheran (ELCA) – 1 congregation, 2 services
- Presbyterian (PCUSA) – 3 congregations, 11 services
- United Church of Christ, United Methodist – 2 congregations, 4 services
- United Methodist – 2 congregations, 3 services
- Unitarian Universalist – 1 congregation, 1 service
- non-denominational – 1 congregation, 3 services
So What?
I’m delighted to have experienced so many vibrant communities of faith. And, I’m happy to share that our search seems to be close to completion.
With so many quality options, we are committed to taking as much time as needed to finish the discernment process.