Find a Church
FINDING A BIBLICAL CHURCH
These churches in the directory will align with Scripture, so you can just pick one and go.
Church Search Directory - Find a Church:
🌟Look here and here and here and here or here and here for a church near you. [For outside USA, scroll to bottom of this page].
* note, if there's no church near you... find the closest ones and call the pastor there, then ask for recommendation of a couple good churches in your area. They'll be part of an association of pastors so they'll be able to direct you. And you can go from there.
*These churches are on the reliably approved list.
If you are new to Christianity, you dont really need to do the below suggestion, since youll likely not encounter a problem from the suggested directory.
In general, when looking for a church, you will need to do some research. Keep looking until you find the most biblical one.
You can go with one in the directory above, and go from there or go deeper with the below recommendations.
Today there's a few things you will need to do to find a biblical church, in a modern world gone mad.
Unfortunately a 2022 State of the Church report revealed "only 37% of churches today have a pastor who holds to a biblical worldview" 😱. Finding a solid biblical church today matters more than ever. We cannot just join any church, we must do a bit of investigation first.
About finding a church:
What to look for? What-should-I-look-for-when-choosing-a-new-church-home
20 Essentials (included in the below)
How to recognize a real church ?
*The average church size in US is 75. Small churches can also have 300 people.
Church research matters today, vs denomination.
What's the tldr? You def should be reading up on it. Its vital.
Here are ten things to look for in a church:
1. Is Trinitarian
2. Has a high view of Scripture alone
3. Teaches from the Bible, not just topic-based sermons
4. Teaches truth focused on God so that you might worship him, not just sermons that stir up emotions or focus on self-benefit
5. Has opportunities to participate as a servant in the life of the church
6. Displays kindness, fellowship, and an attitude of servanthood
7. Teaches that Jesus is the only way of salvation—no pluralism and no inclusivism
8. Is not LGBTQ+ affirming
9. Does not promote problematic ideas like theistic evolution and critical theory
10. Is not legalistic
11. Holds pastors [men only] accountable
12. Holds believers accountable, to holy living
All the above churches in the directory will generally be safe ones, that mert this criteria, but you can (with other churches not in the directory, but also with those too feel free to) interview the leaders there by phone. After an initial phone call to generally learn about them, it is good to do the below with the intention of ensuring no wishy washy or unbiblical pastor is over the congregation. It is most important to go to a biblical church over any other reason or preference. (As you go through the questions you'll see why it is important to ask these).
Beginning the research process:
Once you find a few initial churches, look through their website. Note if sermons are avail online (look for key messages of importance, and listen to a few), look at what ministries they offer, look at their social media pages for a few ideas about them, and on the website read their faith belief statement (it must be detailed and robust).
Take precaution and Investigate a bit more, esp for any church not listed here -you need to vet them; interview them.
How: Contact the church, ask to speak to the pastor. During the brief conversation let them know you are looking for a new church home and would like to send some questions to him by email. Get his email address, & send the email, using a questionnaire, like this one 🌟 Questionnaire (Updating it here). * if you are uncomfortable asking some of these then save some for a part 2 email, maybe for after you get to the visitation day and have met the pastor (to chat briefly), and - then send email 2, as you weed out iffy & unbiblical churches.
Making a decision:
After finding a couple you find acceptable, whom you got good responses to the questionnaire, meet with the pastor & decons and ask some Bible questions or Faith difficulties you'd like clarity about. If they/he does a good job answering, it shows the church has a good shepherd/leaders.
Finally, visit the acceptable ones again over a couple Sunday's, then decide on the one you will attend ...and go seek membership there, right away. Get plugged in, and off you go.
Theres no perfect church, but
you can find a solid biblical one 😊👍🌟
God bless!!
Additional Helps
Examples of Faith Statements.
You need to know what they believe, to ensure it matches with the essentials of Christianity. [Which those church searches above will], but also pick the one with secondary issues you have studied well on, so your beliefs agree (since theyll teach that there). If you are a new believer and have not looked into that, you can just pick one in the directory - but is best to form a view and look into those churches views before picking a church. You can move on to another church later if you just pick one now, after you grow to understand those areas better, if find your church is not teaching what you believe you can move to a new church. If you jump into a church before solidifying those views, be prepared to move on to another church once your grow in understanding if what Scripture teaches, [or to stay (but your kids will grow up under that teaching there but something diff at home under you; confusing them)].
Even if you move on it doesnt mean you cannot still be friends with or stay in contact with many of those former church folk, today we have social media, phones, etc to stay connected and email/texting.
But if you are not a person who can leave/ just send a resignation cordially and move on, after firming friendships....then I highly recommend you do not pick a church until you have examined at least the top 2 secondary issues & decide what you believe. It will also help you decide what denominations to stay away from, and help you only seek churches that hold the same secondary beliefs as you.
Related Resources
What you need to understand about Church, and issues related to today's churches.⭐
What you need to understand about Pastors today.
When you review these above you will see why the info provided in and through this page above (especially about interviewing churches with a questionairee) are very important before picking a church. A little bit of research will save you a load of pain (in the long run) should you encounter problems at a church you join. You can avoid those issues on the front end if you put in a bit of effort to avoid future heart break.
*Don't jump into the last link above until you are saved and a member of a church. It is a fairly bottomless resource for new and growing believers 😁. But do bookmark that link and come back to be blessed by it. ✅
If you came here from the believers portal
<<<<< use back button.
Footnote:
(1) Caution: That yt channel is right on this topic, but are wrong about the KJV Bible... so just stay away from their videos and content that we have not directly linked to on our site, having been vetted true. Theres far too many places online that have false teaching or are straight up false churches with false preachers and teachers, so it would be wise to go through our full site, and cautions and false teachings sections as part of our Believers Resources site, to protect and guide you rightly, and safely till you are mature enough to see the red flags and errors of others, to discern well and avoid false content online and anywhere. And set you on the right path for a better beginning in the Faith.
Bible translations are discussed here, but are part of the Bible section on the Believers Resources site (here) to help you and goes deeper. You can compare versions at sites like this, to get a well rounded understanding, along with a Study Bible. Again, all of these are discussed on the Bible section of this site. So you can look at it later. But, note you're not alone in studying Scripture. Not only is the Holy Spirit revealing & teaching you truth from the Word, but God has gifted the local churches with Pastors. Their job is to deep dive Scripture, be led by the Spirit, and explain Scripture to you (including the cultural connection, the history, and the language meaning from Hebrew and Greek, so he unpacks it to educate you more. This is why both your own personal study of Scripture and what you learn at church are together.
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Looking for a church outside the USA?
⭐️Sweden :
⭐️UK & AU :
UK & AU suggestions this can help:
Grace Baptists have a directory but it isnt online.
This has some international churches. If theres one in your country, or in a state nearby, but not local... ask the nearest one for a/some referral.
You can also try asking here.
info@livingwaterseu.com
+44 (0)1636 302230
https://www.livingwaterseu.com
The above are your best ways and choices to find reputable churches you can trust.
The FICE has an online search but is a mixed bag with false churches, so I suggest you avoid. If necessary to use, only look for Baptist, Reformed Baptist, and other "conservative" denominations in Presbyterian, and Methodist church associations. 9Marks site also has some intl in directory but 9Marks went woke and appear to guide folk to woke churches so for any suggestions with a mixed bag situation, (which is why I dont recommend them). When trying to find a resl church, def use the above questionaiire and go thru the videos on this page too to really know what to look for in a church, so you dont end up in a false church or likewise in a unbiblical woke one.
⭐️For churches in the Arab nations you'll have to look into that yourself, or maybe gptchat can help if it's a more open nation. For Muslim ruled Arab nations you might need to call or use vpn and check for [conservative bible focused] protestant churches in Lebanon, India or Singapore who can refer you to someone who can vett you and send you to a underground church in your area. They'll may have a long vetting process for the safety of the Christian community.
Footnotes:
If you want to look into more about Denominations and related secondary and tertiary views, you can jump down that rabbit hole here. 😊
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