The Search

This week I am going to take a step back from going through the whole explanation of what my youth group has been up to and the things we have been learning and doing. Instead I am going to talk a little bit about what it was like coming to college and starting to attend a church here. As I mentioned before I had never been to a Sunday service other than the one at my church, so coming to college and going to a bunch of new churches was quite an experience.

The hardest part of the transition to college was not finding, trying, and exploring new churches, but it was the fact that I wasn't going to be at my church every Sunday. My church is relatively small and everyone knows everyone else, and to be honest we are all related to at least 3 other people in the church, outside of our immediate family. We are all close knit and leaving that was difficult. There is something comforting about knowing everyones name and having them all say hello to you and catch up with you each week.

It was especially hard leaving my youth group because they have become my brothers and sisters and I don't like not being able to see them each week. But as we all grow up we are going to start to move away from each other, that just makes the times that we are together even better though.

So the search for a church here began at a very large church that was in New Jersey. I don't know if you know anything about Hillsong churches but it reminded me of a Hillsong church. It was big and there were lots of people and a big worship band with lots of lights. I liked it a lot, however, I knew that it would not become my home church for college. As the weeks progressed and I tried numerous different churches, I eventually found a church that I enjoyed going to each week. It was very quaint and homey however, I was still incredibly aware of the fact that it was not my home church. In the end I came back after my first semester and found a church that I liked just a little more and have been attending there since.

Going to church at college is very different. After having a church where I feel so at home and then not being able to go there each week, is difficult. However, it is nice to experience different churches and see how different congregations join in worship. I am still very much partial to my home church and do miss attending there all year long, but with each passing week I am becoming a little more comfortable with the church that I am going to here.