Stu and his family had just moved to a new city. His company transferred him unexpectedly, so he either had to relocate or find another job. He chose to go, but had little time to research good churches before they arrived. Thankfully, he knew a couple of websites that pointed them toward gospel-believing churches in the area. They decided to visit two.
The First Church
The “new family in town” first attended the larger of the churches. The greeters at the door asked if they had ever come before. “No, this is our first time,” Stu replied. They were pointed to an information area where they were given a “children’s worship guide” for their eight-year-old. Nice touch. They were then escorted to the nursery for their one-year old.
Once seated in the sanctuary, Stu looked at his bulletin and discovered that the senior pastor was on vacation. Samantha, his wife, got into a discussion with a couple sitting just down the pew from them. “With pastor Robbie gone, we’ll probably have some people missing this morning,” they revealed.
Music played over the PA system, and a countdown was shown on two big screens at the front left and right of the sanctuary. Within a few minutes, the background music died down, and across the stage walked a sharp young man who welcomed everyone. He highlighted several upcoming church activities including summer youth camp, VBS, and the senior adult trip to Amish country. He also mentioned several church activities happening the next week, including what sounded like an amazingly fun youth meeting on Wednesday night. Stu and Samantha’s teenage daughter looked over at them as if to say, “Can I go?”
After a brief prayer for the meeting — especially for the message that the administrative pastor, Frank, would deliver — the music leader and a team of singers and instrumentalists began the first of several doctrinally sound hymns and songs.
Interspersed among the singing was a time of giving and a prayer for various needs in the life of the church, plus an additional prayer for Pastor Frank who would soon speak. At a certain point, children ages nine and under were asked to follow a couple of ladies at the back out to something like “children’s church.” Stu and Samantha kept their eight-year-old with them.
Pastor Frank’s sermon, though short, was biblical and helpful. Stu and Samantha wanted to express their gratitude to Frank afterwards, but they couldn’t find him. They had a difficult time connecting with anyone after the dismissal. Within a short time, the place was empty. They got back in their mini-van and headed home.
The Other Church
The next Sunday, Stu and his family attended the other church. They were greeted warmly. In fact, nearly everybody introduced themselves. A couple of very kind ladies got Stu and Samantha’s one-year-old settled into the nursery and handed them a “buzzer” in case they needed a parent during the meeting.
Once seated, a man and his wife and kids sat next to them. They conversed with them briefly, and it came out that an intern would be speaking that morning. Samantha thought that was somewhat humorous, since something similar happened at the other church the previous week. “Oh, so I suppose your attendance will be down!” Samantha assumed.
“No, not at all,” was the initial response. “Well, the Carter’s are gone this morning, but they’re away for a wedding. Oh, and a couple of our college students are home on summer break. Otherwise, everybody will be here as far as we know. Hey, why don’t you all come over for lunch afterwards?”
Samantha looked at Stu, heard no objection, and responded, “Uh, Sure!”
A guitar-carrying song leader and a few other instrumentalists took their places in front. The song leader welcomed everyone, and asked if anyone would like to read Scripture to begin the meeting. Three or four took turns reading. No teaching happened at this point, just reading. The leader then prayed and led in singing two truth-filled hymns.
Next came a testimony. A middle-aged woman shared how she had been converted to Christ from Catholicism nearly twenty years ago. She paused multiple times to dry her tears and regain her composure. It was a moving and God-honoring account. When she finished, a man shared about his recent evangelistic efforts at the factory where he works. After more Scripture was read, and more praying and singing, the intern spoke for about thirty-five minutes. His presentation skills were weak, but nobody cared — they all seemed eager and happy to hear the Bible taught.
Before ending, the group sang one more song. People then stayed a long time afterwards, laughing with each other, listening to one another, making plans to get together, preparing for their small group meetings, praying together, and reflecting on what they had heard in the previous two hours. Stu and Samantha especially enjoyed encouraging the young man who taught that morning. All four of the elders had introduced themselves by the time they left to have lunch with their new friends. One of the elders got Stu’s contact information and said he’d reach out to him within the next few days. Stu and Samantha sensed that pastoral care was a priority in this church.
The Choice
Stu and Samantha visited the larger church a couple more times, but ultimately joined the smaller church. They really liked the more popular church because it held fast to the gospel and, wow, the senior pastor was a great communicator! As the years went by, they would even have a number of friends from the community who were faithful believers and members in that church. But they chose the other church because, along with rarely amazing but always faithful Bible teaching, it really emphasized the “one anothers” of Scripture, membership accountability, and careful shepherding of the flock.