Almost two years ago, I wrote this post about a church we attended back in January 2010. (Has it really been THAT LONG?)

We tried it once, and never went back. Even though we said we would give each new church a three week chance, we never went back.

Until this past Sunday.

Let’s go back a bit. In October 2011, signs started popping up on every street corner in our community about a “new church” opening October 16th. I was excited, thinking it was some huge fancy church that was opening in our areaSince we moved out of Des Moines, we haven’t had much luck finding a Pastor we liked. We never felt that spark, that inspiration, that desire to keep coming back each Sunday.

All I kept hoping was– PLEASE LET ME LIKE THE PASTOR.

So I did some research, and discovered it was the same church we had visited back in January 2010. Since we had last been there, their Pastor had left, a new one joined (recently) and the church had been completely overhauled.

They had a “Friendship Fest” back in October that was free to anyone in the community. It had inflatables, face painting, etc. Even the food was free. I took the two girls that Saturday afternoon, thinking it would be something fun to do while my husband was at work. I also thought it might be a good way to get a feel for the “new” church.

We were there for about an hour, and in that entire time– no one ever spoke one word to us. No one greeted us, no one came up and shook our hand or even bothered to find out who we were.

I was disappointed.

So I didn’t pursue the church anymore.

We spent the next few months in our regular routine of not going to ANY church at all. Then last weekend, I decided I was going to talk my family into going to this church. The kids fought it, because they wouldn’t know anyone there. They wanted to go back to the old church we went to in our community (the one that had the Pastor I didn’t care for.) I reasoned with them and said we would try it ONE TIME, and if they hated it– we wouldn’t have to go back.

Thankfully, they didn’t hate it. They didn’t know anyone, but I had to remind them that we didn’t know anyone the first time we went to our favorite Des Moines church either.

Our criteria hasn’t changed much in the type of church we are looking for:

1. It needs to be located in our community.

2. It must have good music. We prefer the churches with an actual band that plays upbeat Christian music.

3. We want to walk into the church on any given Sunday and see people we know from our community.

4. The pastor has to have personality, and a good sense of humor.

5. I like being handed a church bulletin chocked full of activities– small groups, bible study, kids functions, women’s luncheons, etc

6. The church has to be big enough that we don’t feel like we are the only ones there, but not too big that we feel lost in the crowd.

7. When I walk into the door of a church for the first time, I want to be greeted with a warm welcome and a handshake.

Notice I crossed out number #3. We didn’t know a soul when we went into this church. Not a single person was familiar to us, other than one boy from my daughter’s school that she doesn’t know very well.) I used to think it was important to be amongst people we know, but maybe God has something completely different planned for us.

This is a small church, and it doesn’t have many members right now. It’s just getting off the ground, and I am wondering if THAT is the reason I feel called to this church. Maybe we weren’t supposed to find a church that was already growing or already grown. Maybe God wants US to be the ones to make this church grow. Maybe we’re just getting in on the ground floor of something great– a church full of families, with small groups, and lots of activities. (See #5 & #6 in my list of criteria).

Maybe that’s our purpose, our reason for being led to this church. WE are supposed to help make it grow into the church we want it to be.

And we’re SOOOOOO going back this Sunday.