Church: Found

In the past when I lived in a place other than 'home' people always told me that it was important to find a church community of which to be a part, but I don't think I really believed them. Not that I didn't go to church. I went to some pretty spectacular churches, actually...

• Exhibit A: Spring Creek Community Church
  When I was an apprentice at Miracle Mountain Ranch I attended the community church at the bottom of the mountain not because I had tried other churches and really liked this one (in fact, I don't think I visited any other churches), but because I felt least awkward about riding to church with the people who went to Spring Creek. What can I say? I was 17 and self-conscious. Spring Creek was a great place for me, though - very small, so everyone knew - and cared about - everyone else, their prayer time didn't come from a typed list but from concerns everyone shared right there in church, and I was able to use my musical talent in worship for the first time.
  
• Exhibit B: Ecclesia Hollywood
  Again, I didn't really look for a church in LA. A few of my instructors went to Ecclesia and so my roommates and I tried it out, and where my roommates went, I followed. Still insecure, you know. What I love(d) about Ecclesia is that 1) they rented space that would otherwise be empty, because being in a particular community was more important than having a certain style of building, 2) the congregation had a particular vision for creativity and creative people and focused its efforts on them, and 3) the preaching was candid and spoke to the church specifically, rather than Christians generally. I still listen to the Ecclesia podcast and will do my darnedest to visit them every time I'm in the LA area.
  
• Exhibit C: The SOMA Gathering
  I moved to Beaver Falls as a grad student and wanted to assert my independence (particularly necessary, in my mind, because I still saw my parents very frequently). SOMA was initially appealing because people I knew went there and it was close enough to walk. Furthermore, I had started to care about the community - about belonging somewhere and sharing the burdens (and joys) of the people who lived near me. For the first time I didn't go to church with someone (although I knew people who also attended there) and I was constantly encouraged to do something with the message. 

There are two common themes in my 'independent' church experiences: 1) they were all really great churches, and 2) I 'found' them because 'people I knew went there,' aka they were convenient. What I learned through those experiences was that having a church community is REALLY important, but also that if I was going to commit myself to a church, this time I didn't want it to be accidental; I wanted to find a place with a community and ministries in which I, personally, could invest.

Church 'shopping' was an ironically profitable experience. I visited Life Bridge on their 'free donuts' day, I was given a John Piper book along with my free coffee drink and pastry at Broadway Christian Church, and was invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Wallen Baptist (along with the rest of the congregation). They were all great places, and I appreciated the music and the preaching, but none of them felt quite right. So I did a Google map search to find something really close to campus and found "Anchor Community Church." I visited once, then forced myself to try a few other places, but at Christmas I found myself wondering how soon I could go back.

I've been going to Anchor for almost three months now and I like it a lot. It's not what I envisioned, exactly, because the congregation is generally older and younger than me, but it feels right. The people I meet are friendly, there are opportunities for ministry and growth (not get-involved-as-an-underling opportunities, but we-need-more-people-for-this-to-work opportunities), and every sermon gives me something to think and pray and journal about; every sermon challenges me personally, but also reminds me that I am part of both the local community and Church universal.

There you are. I'm glad that I took my time that I didn't stick with my modus operandi and just tag along with the first person who invited me to their church (especially for Amy's sake!). At Anchor I have the opportunity to work with youth group, I can get involved in the local community, and I find encouragement and comfort each week.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. - Hebrews 6:19 - 

Settling in.

Three weeks ago I left my home, my city, my family, my dog, and my friends and moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where I stepped into full-time on-campus residence life position at a Catholic university in the latter half of the middle of the fall semester. Does that sound dramatic to you? I'm trying to make it sound dramatic, with the run-on sentence and the comma-separated list. Is it dramatic, though? Because people keep asking me how I'm doing, if I'm "settling in" well, and I've run out of clever responses:

Yes, I'm settling in well. You're all very friendly. I love my job. I'm learning as I go. I found Starbucks, Half-Price Books, and Aldi's. My RAs are excellent, and I did the math and discovered that I have had conversations with at least 50 of my 140 residents.

What's really weird is that after three weeks of rolling with the punches, meeting new people, exploring the area, and being cheerful, "it" is starting to creep in. I can hear the homesickness scratching at my door. In retrospect, setting a glamour-shot of downtown Pittsburgh as my desktop background may have been a bad idea.

My sister called me from Rome yesterday. Her semester abroad is coming to an end in a few weeks and she called to say she misses home. Apparently she is experiencing culture shock and it's making her shockingly tired - her subconscious is finally fighting back against the tide of constant new-ness in her surroundings and forcing her to rest and recover. I had a moment where I wondered if my current exhaustion has anything to do with culture shock but... I'm pretty sure it's because I'm stressed from carrying the On Call phone all week. Possibly also related to the incident where a student locked himself out at 4:30 in the morning and called me instead of security.

The bottom line is that I'm stuck in this in-between place of "settling in" where I don't technically have problems - my job is great, I'm building relationships with people on campus, I'm getting a lot of extracurricular reading done, etc - but every now and again I realize how much is still missing. No one to make pancakes and watch The Walking Dead with, no nieces and nephew to visit, no church family, no local coffee shop where everyone knows my name... and no matter how content I am in my current position, it's an uphill battle to find a life outside of work.

As much as I appreciate their concern, somehow I don't think the people asking me how I'm doing are really going to be able to help that much.