I was raised by two beautiful and loving parents who loved me more than anything in the world. They raised me up in a church that saw approximately fifty-eight faces each Sunday morning, including the little faces that tended to hide under the pews that were older than the church itself. Sunday evening services were unheard of and Wednesday night services were basically only held so that fellowship (a.k.a dinner) could be held and an abbreviated Bible study would be discussed before the sun even set. Everyone knew everyone as if we were all some sort of family. When my family went on vacation, you better believe that another family from church would accompany us. When we made plans for Sunday evening pool parties in the scorching heat of summer, you better believe the entire congregation would be in attendance. Everything was solid. We were the body of Christ, shining out lights as a unit, letting the city know that First Christian Church of Adamsville could not be shaken.

Until, of course, we were shaken. Life changed for the members of our family-like church when there was a split in 2006. This is when I first learned a major lesson about religion: some people who claim Christ don’t put their faith before their worldly desires. That is precisely what brought First Christian Church of Adamsville to its near demise. This is the first time that I realized that even those who claim Christ sometimes put other things before Him, and in that moment, I knew that even the strongest of Christians had stumbling blocks placed in their way on their path to righteousness. When the church split, my family and I left, completely lost as to where we would go next. We spent the next few years jumping around from church to church, and I learned quite a bit about faith and what it meant to truly take it to the next level.

Here is a little background for those who do not know. The First Christian Church is formed on a non-denominational basis that uses John 17:21 to build the foundation of devotion to the unity of all followers of Jesus. We believe the Gospel as well as the entirety of the Bible is God breathed and is a form of training guide to righteousness. We take communion each and every Sunday in honor to break the bread and drink the blood of Christ in order to wipe us clean of our worldly ways. We firmly and wholly believe that the greatest evidence of salvation is living out a life full of love, as read in 1 John 4:7-21.

After leaving my little, homey church, we made our way to one very similar. It was a quaint church; about seventy people sat on wooden pews each Sunday morning and listened as the elderly of the congregation lead worship. It was a Southern Baptist church, and there was something so lovely about it that just about anyone would want to stay. However, my family and I felt that it was not quite where the Lord wanted us to be, so we sat out to find another home. They say that the church is the body of Christ, and at this point, we did not know our head from our tail apparently.

When we left the small Southern Baptist church, we soon came across a larger, more flourishing church. It was a Baptist church as well, but it was immensely different from the Southern Baptist church. With at least three hundred faces in each of the morning services (there were two), you never quite got the feeling of family. As a middle school female, entering a youth group full of people you have never met is quite awkward. A majority of the people in the youth group grew up together, and taking someone new in was practically unheard of. Though a couple of people attempted to scoop me up into their arms and welcome me in, I never quite felt comfortable, so I tended to stay with my parents most of the time. As things started to progress, we started to feel a far too familiar sensation of tension in the sanctuary each Sunday morning; a tension that was all too familiar. That is when we learned that this church was not quite for us either, and we sat out on the road again to find where God had planned for us to be. Soon we learned that the Baptist church that we had just left, had split; half had stayed there and the other half had formed their own, non-denominational church.

Once we fled from the issues of that church, I was near entering high school. One day, my best friend asked me to accompany her to her church. She felt certain that I would love it, so I did. It was a Southern Baptist church as well, so I was comfortable with the setting. It was much bigger, with approximately two hundred people in both of the morning services. This church was almost like a mixture of the first two I had visited, and through the youth group, it slowly started to feel like home. it was through this church that I handed my life over to Christ, it was through this church that I accepted the call to children’s ministry, and it was through this church that I felt I had it all figured out. God, however, had other plans for me. It was not that I fell out of love with the church I was at, but God put it on my heart that I needed to visit another church of a different denomination.

This church was non-denominational, but took hold of many Pentecostal values. Though there was no dress code, it was a complete culture shock for me. Youth group was held on Wednesday nights and I fell in love. The worship was surreal. This was where I first felt the Spirit amongst my fellow Christians and myself. It was the most beautiful feeling in the world and I absolutely could not get enough of it. Through the youth group, I furthered my calling, realizing that I was meant to go unto the nations making disciples, as told in Matthew 28:19. It was here that I realized that my heart not only lied with kids, but with the under privileged children. Whether it be in inner-city schools where children know nothing but the streets or in Kenya, Africa where they have never heard the sweetness of the name “Jesus,” “Abba Father,” and “Messiah,” I was called to make disciples of them all. Though my faith was taken to a new extreme at this church, my parents never felt comfortable with the practices they put to use, so my time with this church was unfortunately rather short.

After this, I left for college. My parents went back to attending the Baptist church at which I gave my life over to Christ, but the tension was real. They never wanted to become a member of the church because they knew that wasn’t where God wanted them to be, but they had no clue where else to go. I had still not found a home church in McKenzie either. It was a lukewarm state for the whole family, until one day, God brought light back to us. The split from our first church, the church which built our foundation, had ended. A new pastor had come in and it was back to the old ways. Our home was restored. We went back, anxious to see how much things had changed. As soon as we walked through the doors, we knew we were home. For the past two years and for many more to come, that is where we will stay. That is our family and where we belong in the body of Christ.

The point I wish to make as well as the lesson I learned from all of my church surfing is as follows: faith is faith. Whether you worship from a cushioned pew, with hands raised and shouts of acclimation, or if you speak in tongues, worship is worship. Faith is what you trust to lead you to your ultimate goal. In all situations, your ultimate goal, the main thing you strive for, should be salvation through Christ alone. Through all of my transfers, I learned to accept all the various forms of worship. Worship means striving and striving leads to achieving. No matter how you do it, you are getting to Christ. You are forming a firm, sturdy, unbreakable relationship with our Savior. What’s not to love? So there are different denominations and various ways of worshipping. Who are you to say that one ways is wrong? That one way will get you to heaven quicker? Strive for salvation, aim to lead others to salvation, and set your sights on things from above. Live like Christ and watch the world become the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, and the church that we were always supposed to be: not a collection of different churches with opposing views, but a church that worships together, holding one another accountable and holding ambition for that of greater things; heavenly things.