No Direction Home: Thoughts On Finding A Home Church

(Photo found at Your Sacred Purpose)

As you may have noticed, for the past year or so I've been thinking a lot about the Church, specifically the local, home church. I don't mean having church at your house (although I do find house churches interesting). I mean having a church to call your own, that one specific church that you can say to people, "This is where I worship."

Basically what I've been thinking is, "How do you know you've found it?"

I've been to a number of different churches throughout the years: megachurches, Presbyterian churches, Lutheran churches, the infamous First Church of the Holy Rollers, etc. I currently attend a Lutheran church that's part of the Missouri Synod. I love the church, yet I still wonder if it's really my "home" church.

My doubts mainly come from slight theological differences. The LCMS does not ordain women, and does not affirm LGBT people. That doesn't make the LCMS a bad denomination. It's just that since I disagree with the LCMS on these two issues, should I join an ELCA church instead?

And yet I've gotten really close to a lot of the people at my church. I've always felt comfortable talking to my pastor about my anxiety/depression issues. The church makes me feel like I'm in a safe and sacred place, which are two major things I look for in a church.

So now I'm tossing it over to you.

What do you look for in a home church? Do you agree with everything your church teaches? Or is a safe and sacred place your main objective?