In my humble opinion, visiting a new church is one of the most intimidating things to do when you move to a new town — not unlike a first date! You can get a general idea about a church by checking out their website and/or talking to others about it, but you don’t really have a feel for the place until you walk in the door.

Even for someone who grew up in church and has been a leader in church, going to a new place as an outsider can feel awkward. Thankfully, the two places we visited were warm and welcoming. There weren’t too many uneasy moments of standing around by myself, though those moments did feel awkward when they happened.

In a relatively small community that is predominantly Mormon, there aren’t a whole lot of evangelical Christian options, but we think we’ve found “the one.” The preaching is down-to-earth and very applicable. The younger guys enjoyed the kids’ class, and the older ones have made some friends in the youth group. The praise band is pretty good, too. It’s hard to compare any band to Crossroads, since they are so good, it’s like going to a concert every Sunday morning. No kidding; they are really that good. It was nice to hear some familiar songs during worship, as that helped me feel more at home.

I have a couple of more thoughts about church-hunting, but I think I will work them into an upcoming devotional, so you’ll just have to wait to hear. 🙂