MAGNOLIA MINDS: Pick a church, then pick an address

By Andrew Harper

I recently had to make a decision. A decision I haven’t had to make in over 10 years. 

Where would me and my family go to church?

For about a decade I have served on church staff, so this decision was simply a part of the job, a choice made through an interview process. When you work vocationally at a church, you don’t wake up on Sundays wondering what faith family you are going to join for worship that morning.

In the last year I have shifted from local church vocational ministry to state convention ministry. With this transition, my current role serves churches all over our state, so as long as we attend an SBC church in an area of reasonable distance to the convention office, we could live and attend church anywhere we wanted. So, we were faced with finding a new physical home for our family and a new spiritual home, a new faith family. 

Options for housing were endless and included multiple considerations. Availability. Price. Safety of neighborhood. School district. Distance to work. Shopping. Grocery stores. Restaurants. Bedrooms. Bathrooms. Garage. Yard Size. The list really can go on and on, and buying a house for many reasons is overwhelming. One way these options are minimized is by choosing your church before choosing an address.

This might sound strange, but for many believers this is a decision that is made entirely after you close on the house and sign the papers. Some other criteria are used for choosing a house and neighborhood, then afterwards you hope there is a good church somewhere nearby.

Instead of asking, “Where will be my community?” we need to ask, “Who will be my community?” Believers are given a community in the spiritual brothers and sisters found in their local church, and for you to be connected to that community in a healthy way, it needs to be local.

Having folks over for a meal, hosting a small group in your living room, leading a Bible study around your kitchen table, or responding to a crisis quickly is hard to do when you have a longer commute to church than to work or school. The community — the family — that God graciously gives us in the local church is for our formation. His people, along with His word and Spirit, are the elements that will form us into the image of His Son. If this community plays a major role in our formation of becoming more like Jesus, choosing where we go to church is of utmost importance. It is a choice that should lead us to where we buy a house, where we go to college, or even when to take a new job position. 

Followers of Jesus were never meant to follow alone. Discipleship does not happen in isolation. The depth of connection in your community is correlated to your proximity to them, so before you pick an address, pick a church. 

Harper is the Adult Ministry Consultant at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board.