How Do You Find a Good Church?

I had a friend recently ask me how to discern if a church is a good fit or has a healthy vibe. This is a great question too because if we’re honest, finding a good, Biblical church is hard today.

So, if you’re looking for a church or wondering if you're in a relatively healthy one, then this is for you.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

You might be asking: what qualifies me to know anything about the health of a church? I’ll be the first to say that I don’t know all the things and I don’t have all the answers. I have been in full-time ministry for seventeen years and throughout that time have either worked for a church or for a ministry that worked with churches. Although no ministry is perfect, I have worked for a church that had a healthy culture and I worked for one that had didn’t. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In addition, I’ve recently been where you might be now—looking for a good church to call home. My family and I have been trying all sorts of churches in Denver and have had a hard time finding a good fit. So, with this experience in my toolbelt, here are five things to look for when assessing if a church leans towards the healthier side.

How to Find a Church

1. Strong teaching.

The strength of the teaching is, in my opinion, the most important thing to look at.

Many churches are now in the habit of motivational pep talks rather than teaching the Word of God. Community is an important reason to go to church. Still, perhaps more important is whether you are learning the Bible or not. Sometimes that means talking about sin and the hard topics, yet so many preachers are afraid to “offend” that they shy away from anything that’s not uplifting. That’s someone not teaching the fullness of God’s Word. Jesus didn’t shy away from the tough topics and neither should we.

Now, there are two types of teaching styles within the Church today: expository and topical. You’ll find topical in most churches, meaning, the pastor picks a topic and talks about that subject with Bible verses sprinkled throughout the sermon. Expository preaching teaches the Bible verse by verse.

Personally, I would recommend a church that teaches verse by verse because then you are being taught the Word of God is a fuller sense. Nothing is left out because of preference by the pastor and you will always be learning new things.

Again, this is harder to find and there is nothing wrong with topical; however, if you can find a church that does and you like it there, I would go that route. Too often topical preachers lean towards a more motivational approach and you’re less likely to receive the Word of God in its context.

At the end of the day you must ask yourself this: am I learning something new about the Bible every week? If not, then that may not be the church for you.

* If you’re looking for excellent teaching to listen to throughout the week, I would highly recommend John Lindell at James River Church. In my opinion, he is the best Bible teacher of today and he is an expository teacher. You can find his messages here.

2. Fosters community.

As I mentioned, community is an essential part of why attending church is important. Some studies have shown a strong community can help us live longer and lend to a happier life. How do you know if a church is fostering community? Volunteers and small groups.

When you attend a church, do you notice a strong representation of volunteers? Meaning, are there lots of attendees eager to serve and on a regular basis? Are you seeing the same faces at the coffee stand or ushering the aisle you prefer to sit in?

Additionally, do they have a small group ministry? Small groups are a great way for people to build lasting connections and find people to do life with.

3. Does the staff jump in there or are they standoff-ish?

When you attend the church, do you see staff eager to serve and jump in there with people? If you see staff members who are passionate and quick to serve others, that will say something about the health of the church. In contrast, if you go to a church and you have a hard time identifying staff apart from the platform, that can show a staff more consumed with an image or afraid of operating in their strengths.

4. Community outreach.

A good church doesn’t isolate and stay within the four walls of their building. Too often churches can be so consumed with getting people in the doors that they forget to get outside those doors and go to where people are. I love it when I see a church offering to help clean up a local school, host outreach to their city, or assess the city with a local need.

5. Are they more about the flashy or the holy?

Flashy lights, a full worship band, and a meticulous campus don’t necessarily indicate a church after the flashy; however, oftentimes you will find those elements within a church after the flashy. Rather, it’s about the heart of the church. If that’s all the church has and lacks the strong teaching or authentic staff, then it may be more about the image for them.

It’s a little harder to define how you might distinguish between flashy and holy, but pay attention to the language of the pastor, the heart of the worship team, and the vibe of the culture. Ask God to give you discernment and listen closely. If you will look past the facade—the flashy—you’ll be able to see if there is a desire for holiness there. And I mean a true desire.

What Really Matters

I’ll leave you with this: too many churches today care too much for their image or for the numbers they can report. It’s about making people feel good and being known as a pastor worth noticing. For instance, a well-known pastor had this to say about his role as a pastor: “I want to be loud and dumb. That’s my goal. If we aren’t making people laugh, what are we doing? What is the point?”⁣

For the record, the pastor’s job is not to make you laugh or be loud and dumb. As a shepherd, a person leads with wisdom. They think before they speak. They are more concerned with people learning the Bible under their teaching rather than laughing. They sit with you in pain and minister in the mess. The point is this—people coming to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and people growing in their relationship with God in a way that they want to love God and love others more each day.

At the end of the day, what you want in a church is to be somewhere that you’re learning the Bible, building community, and are invited into holy work.