I'm unsure on what Church to go to?

Question

A couple years back I had a pastor who was amazing, we grew so close to him and I've missed him so much. He was a great pastor, and he always hung out with us, and always was a positive influence on us. Yet after a year he left because of issues with our adult pastor. After that we had a couple more pastors that left after a couple of months. Just recently we got a girl pastor, and she's great to. I've become commited to this church, and I feel I have some sort of motivation now. I've been going to this youth group for 9 years, and a couple of days ago I visited my old pastors church. Once I went there everything felt so good, it felt just like the old days. I'm starting to feel undecided now on which church I should go to. I'm commited to my current church of 9 years, but I feel like going to my old pastor's church. I don't know what to do.

Answer 1

There is a list of many Christian denominations on Wikipedia, but there are so many that you would be dead before you'd visited them all.
To filter the list to a manageable size, some principles need to be set.
A suggested list of questions might be:-
Do I want to join a church that suits me or one that suits God?
Does the church I'm considering take its beliefs & doctrines from God's word the bible, or are other sources (traditions etc) given equal weight?
Does it follow the pattern and structure of the churches that were described in the New Testament?

As a personal recommendation, I would propose “The Churches of God in the Fellowship of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ”. The link below will enable you to see how they answer the above questions.

Answer 2

How to Find a Good Church
Almost 25 questions that will save you a lot of Sundays
Looking for a good church? Join the club. Church-shopping can be a long and painful process.
To shorten your search, call the pastor of the church before you visit and ask the following
questions. This might save you a lot of Sundays.
1. What is man's biggest problem, sin or self esteem?
Seeker sensitive and felt-needs churches focus on man’s hurts and problems. The Bible says
that man’s biggest problem is sin.
2. What must a man do to inherit eternal life?
Repent and trust is the Biblical answer. If the word “repent” is never used, say, “Thank you.”
3. How do you deliver the salvation message?
Ask the pastor to describe specifically what he says. Does he encourage people to simply say a prayer? Does he tell people to ask Jesus into their hearts?
The salvation message should include: God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness, God’s response (hell), God’s kindness (Jesus on a cross), man’s response (repentance and faith).
4. How hard is it to become a Christian?
The “formula” is simple, doing it is not. It is not easy to believe.
5. How often do you talk about sin, righteousness and judgment?
Balance is key. This should not be the only emphasis, but it should be a regular emphasis.
6. How seeker sensitive is your church?
It is o.k. for a church to be “seeker aware” but seeker sensitive means that they lean toward
seekers and not the saved.
7. Who do you do church for, seekers or members?
“Both” is not acceptable. Church should be done for members and the unsaved are welcome to attend.
8. Do you dumb down your sermons?
If he says yes, he is probably not trying to wean his members from milk to meat. Answers like,
“We try to make our sermons accessible to everyone” are sermons that are not meaty.
9. What is your mixture of topical vs. expository preaching?
Topical preaching is fine, but if a pastor never or rarely preaches expositionally (verse by verse),
then you are going to be learning from the pastor and not God’s Word.
10. Do your sermons emphasize theology or are they just relevant?
Everyone should say their sermons are relevant, what you are looking for is if they teach
theology.
11. Describe your youth programs.
If fun and games is the major (and usually first) emphasis, you have a youth program that is trying
to compete with MTV.
Don’t just accept, “We have an evangelism committee.” Dig. Are they serious about saving
souls?
13. What church growth model do you follow?
Hopefully they don’t have one. Churches should be reaching out to the lost, but churches that
are plugged into new church growth models tend to follow man’s modern ideas rather than the
Bible.
14. How much do you give to missions and the hungry?
Again, this reveals the heart of the church. While most churches give to missions, many never
consider the poor.
15. Do you believe the Bible contains no errors or contradictions?
No equivocation allowed here.
16. Do you believe in a literal 6 day creation?
Jesus did (Matt.19:4).
17. Do you believe in a literal hell and eternal punishment?
Jesus did (Matt.25).
19. When you distribute the Lord's Supper, do you emphasize the need to examine
yourself?
Paul did (I Cor.11:27-32)
20. Can a person who is living in a persistent lifestyle of sin inherit eternal life?
Sinners can certainly be forgiven, but practicing sinners cannot inherit eternal life (I John3:8,9).
21. Does your church exercise church discipline?
Paul said we should (I Cor.5).
22. Do Sunday school teachers, nursery, and youth volunteers fill out an application to answer questions about their core beliefs and salvation, or are all volunteers accepted because of a lack of volunteers?
23.What are the essentials of the faith?
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Salvation through faith alone, the inerrancy of Scripture.
24. Do you have a cross in your sanctuary?
Many remove it because they fear it will turn off seekers. They should glory in the cross.

Answer 3

Pick one

The First International Anglican Episcopal Lutheran Presbyterian Reformed Methodist Baptist Seventh Day Adventist Pentecostal Nazarene Unitarian Gospel Non Denominational Church and Assembly of God Christ Science Scientist of Latter Day Saints Jehovah Witness Evangelical Christian Restoration Calvary Bible Apostolic Progressive Faith Holiness Universalist Discipleship Congregational Covenant Independent United Communion Fellowship Conference Convention Association and Community Of The Lord. American Baptists, Southern Baptists, Christian Unity Baptists, Primitive Baptists, Duck River & Kindred Associations of Baptists, Baptist Church of Christ, Freewill Baptists, General Baptists, General Six—Principle Baptists, Independent Baptist Church of America, National Baptist, Evangelical Life & Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A., Regular Baptists, Separate Baptists, Seventh Day Baptists, Two Seed in the Spirit Predestinarian Baptists, United American Freewill Baptists, United Baptists, Free Communion Baptists, Anti-mission Baptists, Conservative Baptists, Fundamental Baptists,


Presided Over By
The Most Reverend Dr. Mr.Minister Pastor Bishop Brother Ned Smith Esq. preacher, apostle, Profit

Answer 4

There is a saying, and I am sorry I don't know it word for word, but it says something along the lines of when you go to the church your parents go to you're really not part of that church, but if you leave and then come back and join then you're a member. So basically whatever church you choose is the right church for you, it has no bearing on where you're parents go, its where you want to go. If you like the other church then go there, that's where you feel most comfortable.

Answer 5

hi Jessi. From the define of your modern-day church, i could be unconfortable attending there as properly. you're appropriate: preachers are meant to be humble; they're additionally meant to appropriate human beings lovingly, to speak the reality in love. That preacher seems to choose for an approach adjustment - on his butt - by those in authority over him who could confront him. My gut instinct is that he's asserting that devil's extra involved in him & to no longer problem approximately devil is that devil is applying him to deceive his congregation. Now protecting in strategies that each congregation has some flaw somewheres - that there is no "ideal church", i might actual save this be counted in prayer on a similar time as finding out some different Bible-believing church homes to discover one which you would be extra tender with - particularly one with a preacher with a much extra Christlike approach - that's a could. good success - & God bless you!

Answer 6

go visit this site and tell me what you think? I put a link on here so you can just click hope it works!
www.mormon.org and click on Basic Beliefs

This church is known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Check it out! I don't think you will be disappointed.

Answer 7

Your commitment should not be to a pastor or a building, but to Jesus. Which pastor helps you develop your relationship with Him better?

Answer 8

Sorry, but it does sound like you are looking for a church where you will feel good.....rather than learn about your relationship with God.

Answer 9

Flip a coin!

Answer 10

How about none. Why waste your time with mythology.