Looking For a Church: Think Neighbourhood

Tips for looking for a Church?

The word “Parish” is an old term. It stems from the idea of a local body of believers targeting a certain area within a city. They are going to live there, and serve there. Sometimes it may only be possible to also work or study there.

When looking for a church I always recommend that you find one where you are going to live. This means we need to pray for God to guide us to a neighbourhood where we may live.

The reason, proximity is a big deal in sharing the gospel. Sharing the gospel is highly relationship centered. In an ideal situation, a neighbourhood church should be working to live beyond Sunday service, and engaging the heartbeat of the surrounding area.

I understand that at times it may not be possible to find a geographically local group. Try to see if the church has local groups that gather, where you could connect in order to influence your neighbourhood.

When looking for a Church, start by finding out who is meeting close to where you live. In Canada, you can Google map it to find locations. You could also just ask a pastor for three churches you could check out.

Looking for a Church Downtown Ottawa Give me a Shout. matthew@matthewlaker.com