Moving somewhere new is hard, and with all the new people you meet, all the events that come up, and all the new things to try, faith can often take a backseat. Trying to find a new church that fits with your beliefs and allows you to connect is hard. In this article, I will go over a few things that can help you to connect with your faith as you enter a new environment.
Oftentimes the first thing someone does when trying to connect in a new faith environment is to find the church that is right for them. There are a number of ways to go about this and not all of them work for everyone. To give a few examples, I call on some stories from people within the Grebel community.
One Grebelite currently attends a church called “The Meeting House,” which he has been attending regularly since last October. One Sunday, as he left for church in the morning, he was wanting to go to a church in St. Jacobs. When he got on the bus in the morning, however, he found that—contrary to what Google said—the bus to St. Jacobs does not run on Sundays. He happened to stumble upon “The Meeting House” and has found that to be the right church for him.
Another person currently attends Waterloo MB. Here is their story, from their point of view:
“In my first year, I “shopped around” at a bunch of different churches, being pulled into various places like Creekside, West Heights, The Meeting House, Glencairn, and Elevation—all of which are excellent churches. I spent the most time at Glencairn because I got roped into a doing a book study with a small group there... which just so happened to be life-changing!
In my 2A term, another student and I decided to be really intentional about discipleship. We knew that we needed to find a church where we would be fed spiritually and where there was a leader we could follow. So, we developed an elaborate plan to systematically evaluate the fit of every church in the area, initially filtering them by browsing church websites. The first church we decided to check out was Waterloo Mennonite Brethren (WMB). We went and met with Darren DeMelo (the young adults’ pastor there) and quickly became caught up in discussion about how to get involved. I don't know whether or not our plan worked, but we never left WMB.”
My third and final story is about someone who attends Elevation:
“Coming to Waterloo, I didn’t know which church to go to. I grew up in the Christian reformed church, but was looking for a church that I felt at home at and enjoyed regardless of denomination. In my first term, I decided to go church hopping to see what gems Waterloo contained. I went to Mennonite, non-denominational, Christian reformed, and Baptist churches looking for ones which I felt I could contribute to, and which challenged me in my faith. Sometimes, I went with friends who grew up in the area and they showed me their home churches. I also went with friends who were in the same boat as me, seeking a church that inspired them to live a life for Jesus.
One church in particular stuck with me; they did something that I had never heard of before. After the service, they had focused discussion groups on the sermon’s message and relating topics. It caused people to dig deeper into what the message meant and how it could be applied to our lives, while allowing us to get to know people in the church community better. I really appreciated both of these aspects, and when winter term rolled around, I consistently went to Elevation. The discussion groups were always interesting and they had tasty after-service snacks. It helped me build community with the people there while also allowing me get to know my fellow Grebelites who attended Elevation. All in all, my church-hopping gave me a broader understanding of the variety in churches while still reinforcing the good news of Jesus preached in them all.”
I hope these examples of how some current Grebelites found their churches can help you find yours. But the church you choose to attend isn’t everything. Many people want to go deeper into and to spend more time in their faith than the Sunday morning experience. There are a variety of options available to you. Firstly, you can get connected at your church. Many places have programming for young adults, and this is a great way to meet new people and to connect to the greater Waterloo community. Grebel also has chapel services on Wednesdays, hymns sings on Sundays, prayer most mornings, communion on Mondays and worship on Tuesday nights and Sunday nights. Personally, I feel as though one of the best ways to connect with fellow Grebelites on your faith is through a Bible study.
There are many options for Bible studies, as a number of Grebelites lead one each term. There are some girls-only ones that offer a great bonding experience and Bible study time for the women of Grebel. There are contextual bible studies that examine the Bible in a very specific way and try to find meaning through that. There are also ones that are rather free-form and are more like focused discussion groups that allow people to dive into their questions about the Bible and to see if they can find some answers or if they just end up with more questions than they started with.
So whether it be a Bible study, a new church, what is offered here at Grebel or just late night discussions with whoever happens to be around, there are many options out there to help you adjust to the new faith community you enter as you start University. I wish you luck in finding the right fit for you, and I hope that you find ways to challenge your faith.
This has been your column on behalf of the Chapel Committee and stay tuned for next month’s column. Stay righteous and may the word of the Lord be with you at all times.