Portland, Tennessee Blog

I am sorry that I didn't list my church sooner. I just now came on this site and seen that you were looking for a church. I attend First Freewill Baptist Church. We are located on hwy 52. We have baptist in our name, but we are mostly non-denominational. We wear whatever we want. Respectable attire, of course. But, nowhere does it say that we have to wear suits and dresses on Sunday morning. We are a small church. We have quite a bit to offer. Come check us out, what do you have to lose?

I know how it is looking for a church home. It took me a very long time to find a church that I was comfortable in. I found Antioch Baptist a little over a year ago. We are a small congregation, but growing. We are very casual and the youth group is a very tight knit group that does lots of activities together. We have a few "little ones" that enjoy their Christ Kids classes during service on Sunday mornings (11:00 a.m. - Bible Study begins at 10:00) We are having a fellowship dinner after service this Sunday (we do like to eat!) so come on by and check us out!

SC,
there are many fine churches in our area and I am sure you will find one to meet you and your families needs.
Some like big crowds while others enjoy smaller groups; but you need a place to feel at home at.

Tips for finding a church home:
1. Should be in your local community - to be the most effective where you live. Christian life is about service.
2. Visit a church for at least 1 month before deciding whether or not it is for you - unless you discern the doctrine is in error
3. Is it a place that challenges you to grow and to serve - if not, that is doing you a dis-service
4. Ask the pastor some questions about the churches goals and plans for the future and about its beliefs.
5. Is the church active in outreach - an inward focused church is not productive
6. Remember most of all, people are imperfect and therefore congregations are imperfect - just look a for sweet spirit that welcomes all people.

Having said all that, I invite you to Liberty Free Will Baptist Church Of Portland.
You can contact me at 325-4504
pastormike@libertyfwb.org
www.libertyfwb.org

May God bless you in your search.
I can also help direct you to a church home that best fits your needs if you would like some help or have questions.

P.S.
It has only been a couple days on the post, give people a chance to respond, many do not read over the weekend.

Thanks Jessica and Debra. I'll look into those. I guess no one else is interested in sharing what their church is like LOL Maybe that says something ;) There just seems to be so many churches listed on Portland's webpage, I figured I could get a diverse opinion on a quite a few of them.

There is a church in Hendersonville that might be what you are looking for. You can check out their website at: www.GodWhy.com.

The dress is casual with lots of activities for kids and adults.

This was the question and first answer that promted the start of this thread. I hope no one is offended that I took the liberty to copy and paste it here.

The question:

I was wondering if a blog author could start a topic for me? My husband and I are looking for a church to go to and with there being so many here in Portland we need some input LOL

I'd like to hear from different people about their churches and what they are like. Kind of a "Why should I choose your church" sort of discussion. I know many people on this blog have a problem with religious discussions but I'm not looking for a debate, i'm looking for a church to attend.I just want some ideas on what kinds of different churches are out there and what they are about. Things like, Is it a casual place? Is it a rigid service? Does it have lots of families? Does it have activities outside the church? Is it a friendly place? Is it a big congregation or a small intimate one?

We are looking mainly non-denominational...maybe baptist. We are christians, but don't want a really formal, strict church experience (We attended one church last year that had people speaking in tongues and lots of shouting...that was just not for us, no offense to anyone though!) We want something casual that has families or couples like ourselves that just want a comfortable place to worship.

Thank you!!

Posted by: SC at September 7, 2007 08:57 AM

The First Answer:

SC,
I am excited to hear a fellow Christian wanting to attend church here in our town! Congrats on your decision to find a church home for your family, it is an exciting mission :) May I invite you to attend my church,First Baptist. My family and I joined in April and it has been wonderful to feel welcomed at this church. We visited many others, and just felt as if we were strangers, one pastor actually said in his Wednesday night sermon "For all of you new people, don't expect me to remember your names or your faces, It will takes month before I know who you are" Needless to say not really the welcoming message I was looking for! Hehe. Our Pastor, Greg McCoy is very warm, and welcoming. He is a down to earth kind of guy and is a soft spoken preacher. He preaches to us, not AT us, if you know what I mean. We also have an amazing choir and lots of family activities going on constantly, we have great children's ministry programs and offer a "Mom and Me" day every month. We have a gym where we have Aerobics classes along with Upward basketball for the children. I personally invite you to join us this Sunday at either of our services, the 1st is at 8:30am, Sunday School classes are at 9:45am and our 2nd service is at 11am. We will be attending services in the gym this week due to some remodeling projects,so just park in the back near the playground to enter :) I hope to see you there!!!

Posted by: Jessica Escue at September 7, 2007 10:48 AM