“If what you grew up with was working for you now, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

I hear a lot of my church-searching friends saying, “I want a traditional church because that’s what I grew up in. But I can’t find one I like.” Yep, not surprised. And then these same church searchers will talk about how too many churches are stuck in the past – and that they’re not relevant. Huh? Can you really have it both ways? Probably not. 

The real issue here may be that these unhappy traditionalists may be a little too stuck in their warm, cozy feelings from church long ago. They need to consider that they have grown, or have a yearning for growth that the old ways can’t satisfy. 

I grew up in a traditional mainline church. I have wonderful memories of warmth, acceptance, and a profound sense of God’s love. As the Sunday School song taught us, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That message was everything I needed to love God as a child.

But, like many of my peers, I became a disenfranchised youth. I spent a looong time not being involved in a church as a young adult. Then, I spent the first decade of family life in traditional churches because it’s what I remembered liking as a child. It seemed like a safe way to get back to church. But the familiar just didn’t connect me with God spiritually.

On the edge of disengaging again, I started experimenting with different worship styles and church types until I found a church that connects me with God in ways that feed my adult faith. I realized that, as much as these early experiences put a good foundation under my faith, I needed and wanted a new way of growing that was very different from my past connections with God.

If you’re stuck in your search, try something different than what you’ve always known. For many, the type of church you grew up with just isn’t working for you now. But you’re not stuck in the past and neither is your faith. The difference may be as simple as a church’s size, its style of worship, or even the type of music it presents.

It may be more complicated for you. But, whatever “it” is for you now, “it” isn’t what it was for you then

Remember what got you here, and then put it behind you and open yourself to new possibilities that will move you forward in your faith journey.