A few months ago, my friend Billy told me he couldn't find a church in Nashville like the one he loved in Birmingham. He had googled, "Find a church" but the results didn't help.
Most church directory sites only offer info such as phone number, website, etc. The ones that list more usually charge churches money so you end up getting descriptions like "Our church is awesome. Come see its awesomeness." People that go there never get to tell you the inside story and say things like, "Our worship leader is great and is a huge metrosexual with a goatee. You will dig him." No one gets to be honest and say, "Come early, because traffic can suck." No one ever gets to answer the greatest question of all, "Can I wear jeans?"
Until now. This is a free site. I won't charge churches for advertising or allow fake descriptions. All you will find is real people telling you what they really feel about their church. And hopefully, that will make you really want to go.
If you go to a church you want to tell folks about, please click on the location from the list of posts on the right and add your comments. I will then create a page for your city. I honestly believe that the people that read Stuff Christians Like can write some beautiful, authentic church descriptions. If you are in an area where you can't find a church, post a comment that you need some help getting plugged in.
P.S. - This site is brand spankin' new and will grow as folks continue to add their churches. And eventually it will be shiny and fancy and have better design/organization etc. If I need to add your country, please let me know.
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61 comments:
Awesome idea, Jon.
I hope to see this blog at the top of google/other searches.
I just checked GoDaddy and saw you own the domain www.CanIWearJeans.com
That is awesome. Pure awesomeness.
I do some webdesign and it would be cool to tie the directory to a Google Map system. Maybe a "Rate Your Church" section. :P
Ratings could cover
- Coffee quality
- Number of programs
- How metrosexual the worship leader is
- Seat comfort
- Air conditioning/heating quality
Just some ideas.
We are looking for a church right now and it is tricky. All the cool ones with cool websites are so far away.
I look forward to seeing what gets posted. =)
Do you think you could add Austria? :) I am currently an intern at a church there and I LOVE it.
I just found this site from your profile and was singing the old "Fifty Nifty" song we used to sing in our Celebrate America program at church and noticed you left out Connecticut!!!
Name of church
City Mason Ohio
Website www.ccmason.org
What's the worship music like? (Contemporary, hymns, long, fast, loud etc?) 3 services Contemporary - loud, blended -sometimes loud, and tradional - not loud
What's the speaking like? (Old school Bible, culturally relevant, by video etc?) Culturally relevant. Listen online before you go
What's the childcare like? Divided by age. Many kids, seem happy
What's your favorite thing?Teen Program, Missions and Bible study
What would you change?Can't think of anything
Can I wear jeans?Sure, happy to see you
Did I post this right?lol.
Norn Iron so it be!! That's Northern Ireland... it'd be nice to see it on the list. :)
This is a magnificent idea! (In case churches ever tire of using the words "awesome" and "great", "magnificent" might get some play...and I like to be ahead of the game.)
This is a really great idea!
yo! where is the district of columbia? we have some awesome churches up here. or at least one anyway. ;)
Great idea, Jon. If I ever move I will definitely be checking out this site!!
Jon, great idea. I just posted my comments under TEXAS and I added a couple of categories that you may wish to add across the board: size of the church, and additional comments. I'm sure there are plenty of other categories that could be added as well, like do they have small groups or Sunday School, etc. BTW, that may be a new topic for SCL: is it just me or is Sunday School dying a slow death?
great idea... i really love it. so often it is so hard to find a good church near where you live. me and my fam. moved a year and a half ago and we are still driving 45 mins. away to go to church because we cant find a good one near us. this site will help for sure.
I don't see anything for Africa countries yet. Healing Place Church has two campuses in the continent of Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique. Also, there are some other awesome churches in Africa that we are connected too.
Hi Jon,
Can you please add the country of Egypt, and then the city of Cairo, and I'll post about how the worship leader (me) wears jeans at our church.
I'm looking for a good church in Colorado Springs! Any help????
this is a great idea!! my husband and i are relocating in the next few months so we will definitely be using this site once we know where we're going! thanks so much for doing this!
I love the idea! All the rating ideas presented so far are great, but most involve "comfort" on Sunday mornings. While I look for all those myself, I find myself wanting to find more in church. I am currently looking for a new church home and I have boiled down my three main points to this:
How do you connect me with God? (Bible study, worship)
How do you connect me with fellow believers? (SS, small group communities)
How do you connect me with the community? (service, responsibility, reaching and serving the community we are in)
If a church can do those three things, sign me up. I need more than a nice service on Sunday morning, or a social gathering during the week. I need God's Word challenging me and a group of believers to change the world He has placed us in.
we need this... churchless for about 3 months now...
But ultimately you'll need to organize it better. Keep up the good work.
This is a fantastic idea, Jon. You seem to be full of them, to be sure, but I hope this one really takes off, having (relatively) recently gone through the "church hunt" with my little family.
Jay -
I completely agree. But as I have made roughly zero dollars from anything I have done with Stuff Christians Like or the other blogs, there's just no cash for doing it the best way yet. I will at some point. My goal, with all of my sites, is to have sick content and then get the design right. So many sites have beautiful Interaction Design, Visual Design etc. but are hollow. I'm trying to make these sites the opposite of that
Jon
I feel for your friend trying to find a church in Nashvegas. We call that a "Steeple Chase". Get it? ha ha...yeah, I didn't try very hard for that one.
LOVE IT. I might even venture to say it is one of the top five best ideas in the history of the world. Ok, that might be pushing it, but I am at a point in my life where I am spread out between about four locations (home, college, summer job location, overseas mission next year) and being a 20-something I rely heavily on the internet to look for churches when I travel and have had minimal success because of lack of quality web sites. Awesome idea.
Oh boy, this is great. Just this morning my husband and I were praying for the right church and I stumble on this. I mean, c'mon. I am an avid fan of Stuff Christians Like, and now I know that I should be looking for a church with a cool bulletin and great frisbee players. A well-thought-out VBS theme is also a plus. Anyway...if anyone can recommend something in Reisterstown, MD, we would be grateful. In the meantime, allow me to plug Allegheny Center Alliance Church in Pittsburgh, PA. Not only do they have a bunch of metrosexuals, but it is very urban and very diverse, so that is cool. Also, the pastor's name is Rock. You can't beat that. www.acac.net
What's your position on doing this anonymously? I would like to be able to post both positives and negatives about my church, but I'm worried other members might take offense.
Or am I just being to cowardly?
Anon @10:51
Thanks for the question. I am completely cool with anonymous postings. Ultimately, once I create posts and pages for each comment, people won't need to look at the comments to get the info so anon is cool with me.
I should probably address this, but my hope is that people will be able to find churches and that churches will be able to find honesty. I want to say away from personal comments (this minister sucks, that youth leader is mean etc) but if there's a comment that can help a church grow, change and reach more people, I would hope that people would feel comfortable being honest. When I do my description of North Point I am going to be honest about my one issue with how they do things.
Jon
I love you PJ. I just love you to death.
I love your site. Now I love it more! BRILLIANT!!
Barbara
(personal assistant to senior & founding pastor of The Gathering Franklin in Nashville)
How about adding Guam?
Several military families move to Guam often and finding a good church can be challenging. I'd love to post about the church we started going to.
This site is going to be such a great resource. Thanks!
Hey Jon, I noticed that Vietnam is not on the list. This is probably because it is a Communitst country that persecutes Christians. However, when my family was there last year adopting our daughter, we found an AWESOME church called Hanoi International Fellowship. It is only for foreign passport holders, sadly. Still, there were about 200 people who met in a hotel conference room and the worship was what I imagine heaven to be like.
Granger Community Church, Granger Indiana
add nairobi, kenya!
Name of church: Mountain Lake Church
City: Two locations in Cumming, GA - North Forsyth (near Browns Bridge Rd.) and West Forsyth (meets at the West Forsyth High School).
Website: www.mountainlakechurch.org - great website with lots of information
What's the worship music like? Contemporary -Hillsong, Tomlin, Crowder, Passion, Fee, etc.
What's the speaking like? Relevant. The messages makes sense. Both campuses intentionally have identical services - same worship songs, same messages.
What's the childcare like? Fun while still teaching. Small group based. Uses Northpoint curriculum, but it is modified to fit this church. We visited Northpoint for a while after moving to Alpharetta. A friend (Worship Leader at previous church) mentioned Mountain Lake. After our first week attending, our eight year old son asked if we could keep going there. He now wants to stay for more than one service every week. He doesn't want to leave! Also has great middle school and high school programs.
What's your favorite thing? I have a bunch of favorites. Everyone seems so caring and open to "outsiders." The church leadership believes in church planting - the church offers and funds a church planting residency for future planters. Mountain Lake is small group based. The church is designed so that it doesn't rely on one pastor. It relies on the team. The pastor who spoke last week may not be the pastor speaking this week. I've never been to a church that "did church" like this, but it is great. Mountain Lake Church strives to "change the way you think about church."
Jeans are the norm.
How about Indonesia?
love the idea...
I am wondering if there is anyway within the state to list the cities to click on. I can see lots of postings and hours to comb through them to find the city you are interested in finding a church.
wow. such a great idea.
I already found my church on here, Bent Tree Bible in Dallas, and totally agree with the comments given. I don't want to be redundant and add it again with more comments, but is there a way to perhaps "second" the information that was given?
What a great new website!! I'm currently transitioning churches and this is a huge blessing!
Destiny Church
Buford, GA
http://www.4yourdestiny.org
The worship music is contemporary and very excellent.
The speaking is culturally relevant and for the most part good. The speaking duties are shared between the Senior Pastor and Associate Pastor.
The childcare itself is excellent. The childcare facilities are honestly subpar but we're working on that. (I think...I hope...I'm told).
My favorite thing about the church is that most of the members seem to be authentic.
The one thing I would change is our approach to media and our churches overall brand. I think it desperately needs some unification.
Yes, you can wear jeans. In fact, you likely won't see anyone dressed fancy at all. I think one guy still wears a tie. He's old. No offense Doug.
Frontline Church
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.frontlinechurch.org
Loud!
Culturally relevant Bible
Kids Zone for birth through grade 5 (fun!)
The church is committed to serving the city.
More people!
Jeans, yes. Short, yes. Ties, probably not.
Come as you are. Really.
If your church doesn't allow jeans, just wear them! START A REVOLUTION!
I want to add Houston's First Baptist Church in Houston tx. I know what people think about Baptist Churches " they are all the same" - but this one is different. The pastor, staff, people who go there, are all very real, normal, people.
If your in Houston check it out, or visit the website and download the podcast!
need thailand on the list as well
Name of church: Oasis Worship
City: Nashville, TN
Website: http://www.oasisworship.com/
What's the worship music like? contemporary
What's the speaking like?
bible based, everyday living applicable
What's the childcare like?
don't see any in service so i presume it's pretty good (don't have one myself)
What's your favorite thing?
the music is so good i feel like i should have bought a ticket for my seat from ticketmaster
What would you change?
absolutely nothing love love love it
Can I wear jeans?
yep
Great resource! I agree with what chadjordan said - a little more information on what the church actually DOES would be helpful. Also, something about demographics. And finally, with childcare, I know lots of parents who want to know "am I going to be pressured into leaving my young child in their child care?" Some people want their kids with them in church. So it would be good to add that side to the childcare question (how *mandatory* is it, especially for younger kids)
Seriously, tell your friend to try The Village Chapel in Nash. Talk about honesty...there is nothing showy about this church. It is chapter by chapter study of the bible, the worship team is actually seated so the focus is on the worship and not the leaders, and there are many opportunities to get involved without the pressure of how involved you should be to be a good christian. The congregation does contain many from the music industry which can be intimidating, but I think that is just the nature of the city and doesn't speak directly to the nature of the church itself. I have heard the pastor specifically say from the pulpit that this isn't the kind of church where you should bring your demo to pass around. There are also plenty of those who are into other things. Size wise, it is definitely not a mega church, but it is big enough to have several relevant ministries. I would give you a number, but I am horrible at estimating. The only negatives are that it can be easy to fade into the background if you don't make an effort to meet people and the pastor does tell cheesy jokes sometimes. I actually find it endearing, but maybe that's because I know him. Anyway, we love it! www.thevillagechapel.com
Living Word Family Church
Raleigh, NC
www.lwfc.org
Contemporary rock
Teaching is a healthy balance of Word Based, culturally relevant, and Spirit Led. Very relevant and actionable.
exciting interactive childcare
Teaching is
Yes, you can wear jeans.
I really like the concept of this site. However, I think a blog is fundametally the wrong format to do it in. A blog is for when one person has something to say, and people respond to it. IMHO, a wiki would be a much better tool for a project such as this.
For one, wikis can be organized and reorganized more easily than blogs can. People could create, for instance, a subcategory of "churches near Upland, IN" which would be useful for Taylor University students such as myself, so we didn't have to look for names of all the nearby cities under the "Indiana" post.
For another, a wiki would allow the entry for a church to be more easily changed as needed. For example, about all I know about my church's childcare program is that it exists. If someone else has more experience with it, it would be helpful for them to be able to go in and edit it. Likewise, if something about the church changes in the future after I graduate and move to another part of the country, other people could update the entry.
One issue you would have to worry about if you did that would be hosting. I don't know if there are any places that host free wikis or if they are any good. Nothing with a good reputation like Blogger has for blogs comes to mind. You'd probably have to pay for a decent web host that could host a wiki. I would suggest something based on MediaWiki, so that anyone who knows how to edit Wikipedia can use the same syntax.
The other issue is moderation. A lot of lower traffic wikis get inundated with spam if there is no mechanism to control who can post. Some people do something like require an account that has been active for at least four days or something in order to post. You could also require administrator approval when people sign up for accounts.
Anyway, this is just some constructive criticism to think about. Great work on the blogs!
what about adding relative church size? some people are looking for something small and family-like while others really thrive in a bigger church.
you know this is a great idea for people going on vacation, too. my husband and I love to go to church wherever we go on vacation - helps connect with the people who live there. you should market this site from that angle too. :)
Interesting idea. No mention of Nigeria. There's a church on literally every corner but you need to know where to go.
Name of church: Franklin Fellowship Church
City: Nashville, TN
Website: http://franklinfellowship.com/
What's the worship music like? (Contemporary, hymns, long, fast, loud etc?) Contemporary with a few hymns, not really long, loud but not rockin'
What's the speaking like? (Old school Bible, culturally relevant, by video etc?) Old school Bible but not fire and brimstone, incorporates technology like powerpoint, occasional video, but mostly just use the Bible to do expository teaching
What's the childcare like? Great
What's your favorite thing? Fellowship (strong sense of community) and unapologetic, exegetical biblical teaching
What would you change? Number of young people
Can I wear jeans? Yep!
Your friend thats looking for a church in Nashville, ask him to try Crosspoint. I hear that its youth and adult group are pretty large. They have a campus in Dickson, which I am going to go to today. I've also seen some of the Pastors teaching online and I really enjoy him. A friend of mine that goes to the Nashville one says its very casual. Lots of people wear jeans.
Brilliant.
This is such a great idea! Thanks for creating this website! I just moved to Stamford, CT and I'm trying to find a church that's as chill and down to earth as the ones I went to in Michigan and Texas, (yes there are cool churches in Texas ;), I'm strugglin' to find a good one here or in the city, any ideas?
Can you add China?
That is a great idea! I started compiling a list of good churches in my country (Dominican Republic) but I had never thought of adding details such as those which would be good for people to know.
My church directory for the Dominican Republic(just in case anyone's interested): http://newhumanlife.blogspot.com/2005/06/reformed-baptist-churches-in-dominican.html
Great blog... rocking ..thanx for sharing..
Pashto Music
Love it! Keep it up. Great, much needed idea to develop real live explanations of what to expect, etc. Jan M.
i like this blog please check out mine the crazy circus its brand new and i would love if you guys would take a look at it
thank you
Interesting article as for me. I'd like to read something more about this topic. Thanks for posting that material.
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What an awesome blog! Thanks for the info! If only all church websites answered that question......:)
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