I love the little conversations in this forum. I hope you don't mind another one. What is your church like? What is the denomination? What's the worship style? How many attend your church on any normal Sunday, on average? When do you attend services? Do you attend Bible study? Tell us a little about your church. =)

I'll go first...

My church has been around for fifty years. It's a Baptist church, and the worship ranges from hymns to contemporary music. We usually spend 30 minutes singing and 60 minutes listening and praying. Sunday Service starts at 10:40 and goes to about 12:30-ish. We have Bible study before church and also on Wednesday evenings. Sunday morning Bible study is mixed, men and women, and there are several to choose from. Wednesday is our small groups Bible studies. There are groups for men, women, and children. We probably have about a hundred people on Sundays, normally. There might be more than that. I'm bad at estimating.

Michelle, I think you go to MY church!!  LOL!

We go to a Baptist church also and it sounds just like yours.  We have two morning services; the first is more traditional with hymns, and the second more contemporary.  Same sermon, just different musical styles.  We usually just attend the contemporary service.  Our kids all grew up participating in the AWANA program.  We've gone to this church for several years, but have also attended some non-denominational churches.

On Saturday nights we sometimes go to The Awakening Church, which is a small, non-denominational gathering of believers with lots of loud "alternative" Christian music.  Our sons, Jordan and Josh play in the band.  Jordan plays guitar and sings; Josh plays bass and does a little teaching.  There are several other members also.  We enjoy seeing our guys learning to minister and lead worship.  There is lots of prayer and praise.  If  you go to my My Space page you'll find a link to their band page "Phoenix Awakening" in the Friend's area.

Good question, Michele! My husband and I attend a larger church than we did years ago. Our church has 2 Sunday morning services (9-10:45 is first service and 11- ? whenever it ends is second service). We average 800 and up at each. We also have a Bible study class available at 11 am for those who chose to stay after first service. Sunday nights are a mixture- you can participate in a large class in the main santuary or you can go to a Sunday school-type smaller class. The last Sunday of every month there are no services at night- that is the Sunday that "care groups" (small personal groups based on age group/time of life) meet at one another's homes and do study, worship, pray for one another, and fellowship. On Sunday mornings we have Praise and Worship music for about 40-45 minutes and it is a mixture of contemporary and traditional. Pastor then preaches/teaches for about an hour.

(BIG GRIN)- we are Pentecostal and pretty much all attending stand during music part, we frequently clap our hands & sway to the music, and the Pastor often gets a good ol' AMEN when he makes a salient point. Our pastor is so wonderful- he truly has a gift for teaching and service. He is also a chaplain for the FBI and has been called by them all over the U.S. to assist at disasters and such. He even went to N.Y. on 9/11 at the request of the FBI to minister to them, the firefighters, and the policemen. Needless to say, there is therefore a strong message of service to others in our church. After you get acclimated there, there are many opportunities to participate in any type of ministry service you can imagine and this sort of thing is strongly encouraged.  Our church is made up of a rainbow of race, ethnic group, age, and socioeconomic groups and I LOVE this so much.

LOL Pat... we get a lot of AMENs, too. =) We have an awesome pastor.

I love my church.  I have been going there for years.  It is called Highland (southern) Baptist here in Oregon.  Years ago it was called Forest Ave Southern Baptist., was rebuilt to fit the ever growing attendance!    I attended then also.  My Pastor is great!  He gives you the messeges as if they were prepared just for you !  My church family has been there through many parts of my life from my father's death, to my brother's wedding to my wedding and children being born.  I love the feel that we are a "family" and even though we try our best to walk with the Lord, we are people and are not perfect.  Nice to go somewhere that you are not judged and you have hundreds of people (family) there to support you. What a great way to anchor your child's heart with the Lord, getting them into a church family early in life.   I am so thankful that I was able to get to church this morning, it was just the start I needed for my day.  Praise the Lord, have a wonderful day!  God Bless

Heather

I am cruising the forums and found this thread.   I am in the process of finding a church.   I've been unchurched for some years and now am looking for the place God would have me be.   I went to a Southern Baptist Church (which is where I grew up) and found great comfort in the old hymns and feeling at home.  However, it didn't feel as if it was the right place for me to continue to attend.

I have recently been attending a large Baptist church near me.   I wasn't sure I'd like a large church but I LOVE their services.  While the music isn't what I am used to, I am trying to adjust.   It's not that I don't care for the music, it's more that it's unfamilar.   I've attended three Sundays and have received a blessing from the whole service - Prayers, singing and preaching.         I found out that the man preaching is the assistant minister not the main one.      I am a bit disappointing as I found him a great, inspiring person.     I did not attend this Sunday, because I was sick, but am anxious to hear the main pastor.

Please pray that I will find the place God would have me be.   I do know this church has several Bible studies which I am interested in but have not attended, since I will be out of town most of the summer. 

Gladly, Cozi. I usually give a church three visits before I decide on it. I wish you the best in finding your new church.

Our church is very small - less than 50 official members. Most of our membership is older seniors - we have very few young families which is really hurting us. Our pastor is fairly new to the church as well. The church was a lot bigger when I was a kid but unfortunately they've had some bad luck with very judgemental pastors over the past 2 decades that has driven people away. Now we have a really great pastor and wife team so maybe we can start building back up again.

We don't have a lot going on but we do have MOPS, yearly VBS, we support several missionaries and we have a very active youth group considering how small it is. We have a shut-ins outreach program and a program where the young people visit local nursing homes. We have two women's Bible studies every week and one men's. We used to have Pioneer Kids and AWANA but they have stopped due to lack of children in the church. We do have a nice library that I help out with.

I have gone to this church for a good portion of my life and love the people there. I would hate to leave it but my best friend and I are considering checking out some other local churches just because this one doesn't have enough resources for parents with young children - her daughter is actually the ONLY child in her kindergarten Sunday School class!

Cozi, I hope you find a church that is right for you.  We've been lucky that we fell in love with the first church we tried here. 

To answer Michelle's question, we have maybe 20 minutes or so of contemporary Christian music, with a live band, then we have announcements and such, and then the pastor speaks for the rest of the time.  I go to a non-denominational church.  Every once in awhile they have baptisms, sometimes communion.  And about once a month or so they have a special communion service on Sunday nights.

There's also a children's Sunday school, and they have services geared towards each age from birth to high school.  My kids love going there.  The pastor is great, and I love his wife as well.  We've (my husband and I) been going to a small group with them at their house (and other people) once a week.  We're new Christians, so this has been such a blessing for us.  I also go to women's bible study on Wednesdays. 

I go to a little country church right down the road.  I enjoy walking  there, except in very bad weather.  It is an old, old, Presbyterian church--over 220 years old.  We have about 125-150 in attendance to our one morning service in addition to Sunday School.  Sunday School begins at 9:45am and church begins at 11am. 

We have a pretty traditional service.  I guess the one thing we probably do that isn't traditional is we have a "time of fellowship and greeting", which comes about 1/3 of the way into the service.  We sing a little chorus and then everyone (including the choir members) move around talking and shaking hands with everyone else.  The rest of the service is more formal.  We have communion the first Sunday of the month. 

Our pastor is 83 years young and very jovial.  He brings great messages and everyone loves him.   We have large youth groups for a small church.  They meet on Sunday evenings, but are also very active in mission work and have other activities.   During the school year we have Wednesday night Bible study and prayer at the church.  We also have a women's Bible study at one lady's house all year around and it is not just women from our church, but includes anyone who wants to participate.  We have 16 in the study right now, but it varies up and down depending on people's schedules and other activities.

We attend a Nazarene church.  It is an old building, but we have been in the process of building a new church building for a few years now (counting all of the financing, red tape, inspections, etc) The first Sunday in June we will be all moved in and having our first service.  I'm so excited!

anyway, we currently have Sunday school at 9:30 am, church service at 10:45 - 12:00.  Sunday evening prayer time at 6:00pm, with service following at 6:30.  We also have Wednesday night service at 7:00 pm.  We have classes for all ages, and we also have what is called "Recovery" class; this is a ministry that helps recovering addicts (drugs, alcohol, etc)

I love our church because the people there are very friendly and you feel comfortable right away.  Our pastor is an awesome man.  He and his wife used to be missionaries to Africa, so it is interesting to hear thier stories.

Our service starts out with announcements about upcoming events, etc.  Then we introduce any visitors, then we have a time of greeting one another.  We then sing a few choruses and hyms, have special music, and prayer time at the altar.  Then our pastor preaches.  Sunday evening is less formal.

I love my little "hippie, peanik" Episcopalian church in upstate NY.  We're about 40-50 people strong. My mom is 1 of 4 choir members.  Another choir member has an amazing Irish tenor voice and also plays different instruments to complement the organ, including many diverse African instruments.

As a young man, our (white) pastor did some of his seminary work under the Ebenezer Baptist Church, under Martin Luther King Sr.  This was in 1961, so he saw firsthand what segregation in Atlanta was like - and became like a son to MLK Sr., while knowing MLK Jr. a bit too.   This has left an indelible mark on who our pastor is, and what he preaches, and it's why I attend this church first and foremost.   It's because of his strong civil rights beliefs that we open our doors to everyone, including homosexuals. 

I probably wouldn't be much of a church-goer without all these amazing things in place.