Church Hunting

Yes. I go to church. Finding one has always been a bit difficult for me, and doing in here in South Korea is no different. Even my “home church” in the US (different from the one I grew up in) wasn’t really that great. It just got the job done.  It was somewhere to go on Sunday.

What is a home church? Well, for me, it’s a place where you go to worship and fellowship and all that good stuff. It’s a place where you feel like you belong and over time, the people become like family. It is NOT just about going on Sunday and staying awake through the sermon (something I’ve struggled with in the last few months), though. It’s about the connections and the community.  

Growing up, my home church was great. There were dinners and events and everyone was “Aunt This” or “Uncle That”. Even now, years later, the idea of ever calling them by name is weird for me.

 

When I first came to South Korea in 2009, the church I found became a really good place for me. It (along with the people) were the reason I wanted to stay on longer. I found friends and got connected to different people and grouped and it was all fine and good. But dynamics change and people change.  I started feeling a bit (really) out of place when I’d go to service or events. I don’t blame anyone and it’s not a bad thing, it’s just that I didn’t have that “fit” anymore, which made my decision to move on that much easier.

Now that I’m in a new city, I need to find a new church. And so the search begins again.

My first week in Suwon, I went to one church. The song list made me think that one of the guys on my last church’s worship team put it together.  It was really nice and the people were friendly (and I found someone who can do my hair *PRAISE JESUS!*), but the church itself just wasn’t my style. It doesn’t help that it is on the other side of town, about an hour away on the city bus. The next week, I went to two churches.

*Detour*

I’m an extrovert, and I need to be around people. I don’t like extended amounts of “me time”. 20~30 minutes with a treadmill or a game and I’m ready to plunge myself back into society. At this point, after having had no meaningful human contact for a few days, I was desperate to be around people. *sad but true*

The second church was much more contemporary and modern. The service was at an international school not far from my apartment. The makeup was a bit more mixed (there were families, teachers and a few students) and the music was great. They played a song I hadn’t heard in forever (Holy Holy Holy), and it made me think of my church growing up. Everyone was really kind. They even gave me a little gift for coming to the service.  But again, it just wasn’t right for me.

The third church, the final one I’ve tried so far, was a totally different kind of service. It was a Spanish-English service.  Yes. There is a Spanish-English church in South Korea. We sang in Spanish and English (and I was grateful that I could remember a bit of my 6 years of Spanish I swore were totally useless), and the sermon was in Spanish and English, as well. Again, very nice, but it just didn’t have that feeling.

So, I know what I don’t want. What do I want? What am I looking for? I don’t really know.  If and when I find it, I’ll know. “Sentimental” isn’t a word often used to describe me. “Feeling” isn’t something I associate with well (heck, I took the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator and got damn near ZERO on the Feeling sector).  But when I find the right place, I’ll just know.

 

IVFC (Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship) is something I considered, but then again, it’s all in Korean. I understand and can speak and blah blah blah, but church is something I want in English.

There’s another place I’ll try next Sunday. It’s run by a few of the professors.  Here’s hoping it works...

How did you find your  home church (or place of worship)? How did you know it was the right place for you?