Church Shopping

Coming from Mormonism, church shopping is a tough concept to understand. In Mormonism, you attend the church house/ward that is in your boundaries. Your bishop is assigned to you (or called by God) and you have very little say in choosing your leaders, time of attendance or which location you want. 

Since leaving the LDS church in 2018, I stepped foot in Faith Community Bible Church as a brand new believer, with zero experience in what a christian church looked like. When FCBC grew from 300 members to over 1000 in 2020, we knew it was time to move on with the intention of finding a smaller, community bible church. 

We tried Cole Valley Community Church but they were still trying to get a children’s ministry off the ground. Then we attended the Pursuit for about a year. While the pastor was an amazing teacher, and would have really been a great fit for us, we couldn’t get past the lack of fellowship, community and overall lack of leadership. Over the year we were there, we never made a friend. My children enjoyed the children’s ministry but it felt like it was more fun child care and less Bible which was a red flag for me. 

A few weeks prior, I was playing early morning pickleball with my sister when I met a man named Vinnie. We talked about different stuff but eventually the conversation moved to church. He talked about VLCC and their children’s program KREW, and I told him I would check it out. He failed to tell me he was the actual Pastor. I had to learn from the website. There were a couple of others, who I know from Pickleball, who attend and my tattoo guy is a worship leader there. My sister Jessica, and her husband visited VLCC awhile back and also suggested we check it out. 

As soon as we completed our obligations over Christmas-time at the Pursuit, we attended Valley Life Community Church. Immediately, we were greeted and welcomed people. They didn't have a children's ministry that day so the kids were with us but they loved it too. We went the 2nd week, and again, were welcomed sincerely. After church, Matt and I both had people seek us out to meet us. The kids went to Sunday School and made friends. Both couldn't wait to tell us about what they learned. 

On week 3, we stayed after to attend the Membership Class. Pastor Vinnie gave us a run-through about the history of Valley Life Community Church. He handed out the Membership Covenant then walked us through each item. It was opened for questions afterwards. Fortunately the two other families had tough questions such as the church's stance on woke-ism, end times, covid, etc. Matt and I felt like we didn't have much to ask so we just soaked it all in. As soon as it ended, we got in the car to discuss as we took a trip to Costco. 

I wanted to follow Matt's lead in this decision. He was happy with the church services and the meeting. We found ourselves, an hour later, with a trunk full of groceries and an invite to join a Life Group at pastor Vinnie's house. It was great! Everyone was friendly and communicative in the discussions about the sermon. It was truly great! 

When we left, I told Matt that I think we found our home. The people, which is what makes the church, have been genuinely so kind, and inviting. They are who I want to do life with and I'm so thankful that my husband and children feel the same way.