Finding a Church... Making Friends

For those of you who know us, you know that church is a very important part of our lives. We were so sad to leave our church back in Maryland. We had just begun attending Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, MD last May. This church was founded by Brian McLaren, a man who had written a number of books that have made a big impact on both Ethan and myself. We were of course, also missing our church friends, particularly those from Chesapeake, who undoubtedly left a large imprint on our lives.

So, it didn't take us long to begin our church search when we got to England. We visited 5 different churches during our first few months here. We focused our searches mostly on the more contemporary kinds of churches, and were pleased with what we found... modern worship, Biblical preaching, and wonderfully kind people. We know that we could have been happy and gained much from attending any of those churches, but we felt led to keep searching.

A few weeks ago, we tried out a new church called Mayfield Community Church. Again, we appreciated the worship, the preaching, and the friendliness of the people. But, it was what happened after the service that kind of "sealed the deal." We met and introduced ourselves to the pastor. Within one minute of the polite introductions, he asked us where we were from, and then proceeded to tell us how he had been to Maryland once to visit a church called Cedar Ridge Community Church to meet a man named Brian McLaren. We were stunned, to say the least. Within one minute of meeting the pastor, we found out that he had gone to our church back in MD. It certainly seemed like a sign.

We've been attending Mayfield for a few weeks now, and are starting to get to meet people, which is really nice. I was really beginning to feel "stuck" at home, and anxious to get to know people. The second week we were at Mayfield, I sat next to an American woman who told me about a women's Bible study that they do on base Thursday mornings. I've attended for the past two weeks now, and am so delighted to be making friends. God always knows what we need.