Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple, Open the Doors, and Inspect all the People.

I'm assuming Brian won't understand where I got the title of my blog from, since he didn't know the lyrics to "Jesus Loves the Little Children."

So, this picture tutorial is for you Brian and I'll just explain once I get home:

And of course, I changed the last line from "See all the People" to "Inspect all the People," since I've been doing a little church scouting these days.

Yes. Today, I've spent a lot of time doing the impossible: Finding the perfect church.

"Your church is full of hypocrites."
-Random Anti-Church Person to Preacher

"Well, there's always room for one more!"
-Preacher to Random Anti-Church Person

(That little joke is courtesy of our pastor at Greystone).

While I enjoy going to church with my parents on the occasional Sunday, Greystone is over 30 minutes away from where Brian and I live in Raleigh. It's not very convenient, although the sermons are great!

Now that we are back from vacation and Brian has thankfully quit working his weekend job, I feel like it's time to start looking for a church here in Raleigh. I never imagined that this would be a challenge, but once I paused a moment to think about all the things I wanted in a church, I immediately became overwhelmed.

Problem #1: What denomination are we?!
Brian went to Catholic school growing up, so I always assumed he was Catholic. I had no problem with Catholicism, so I thought "Sign me up!"  But then he told me he wasn't Catholic, and that messed up my whole plan of us being Catholic.

I suppose we're both non-denominational Christians, which is cool.

I also consider myself to be a little bit Baptist, so I have to throw some fire and brimstone into the mix. I lean toward the conservative side. Brian doesn't really lean toward any side, but he likes guns, so I'm gonna go ahead and label him conservative too.

I've drawn an illustration:

So we'll need a fairly conservative church.

Problem #2: I am picky.
I've gone ahead and made a list of my church specifications. I think Brian is indifferent to almost all aspects of my church specifications, but I know for a fact that he won't be rolling out of bed prior to 10am on a Sunday morning. So I've made a list for Brian too.

After I compiled my list, I forgot to add one more.

16. Not too much arm raising, if you know what I mean.

Problem #3: Finding the Right Church
Obviously, no church is going to fit the bill. Some churches may hopefully come close.

Here's what I've done:
I've Googled almost all churches in the Raleigh area.
I've visited websites.
I've listened to audio sermons and videos.
I've looked at pictures, trying to get a feel of what exactly I can expect.

Who knew it would be this difficult?!

I thought I had come close to finding a good place to visit this Sunday, but then I saw mention of "Silent Prayer Circles and Meditation," so I immediately tossed it into the Hell No Pile that I have going.

We don't have many (or any?) friends in Raleigh who are church goers (heathens, all of them!), so I can't exactly find out much by word-of-mouth.

It's hard to find motivation to visit a lot of churches. It's tempting to just not go at all, but Brian and I both feel compelled to start going regularly each Sunday.

So begins our search.....

I'll let you know if we have any luck!