Single Parent Families
June 24, 2008
This may surprise you: There are now more single parent families (30%) in the US than two parent family households (24%). Yet, most churches continue to give a backseat to single parent families as the traditional nuclear family remains the primary ministry focus. This remains true even in NJ where single parent families (families run by single parents) have increased more than four times as fast as married-couple families since 2000.
According to our extensive online survey on singles and church attendance, the above facts leaves many single parents feeling like “second class citizens” and a large majority end up avoiding church all together. How sad!
Oasis Church and Single Parent Families Ministry
At newly forming Oasis Church, one of our primary ministry goals will be to minister equally to singles, single parent families and married couples. Therefore, if you are a single parent looking for a good church or support group in the Central NJ area, we want you to know that there is a place for you and your children at the OC in NJ.
We want to warmly invite you to join us in one of our Connect Groups for support, spiritual encouragement and friendship. You could also contact us about our single parenting seminars that will be taking place in different areas of Middlesex, Somerset and Union Counties like Edison, Woodbridge, South Brunswick, Somerset, Franklin, Green Brook, Dunellen, Piscataway, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, North Brunswick and many other locales.
Have kids between the ages of 4 and 5th grade, and want to spend some precious time with them learning about God together at home? Feel free to check out our online, interactive Oasis Kids Club Blog where you and your kids can have fun learning about God and enjoy interactive crafts, games and activities.
Overall, we realize single parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world. That’s why our purpose at Oasis Church is to equip and encourage single parent families to thrive spiritually and emotionally as they do life together.
More on Oasis Church in New Jersey:
East Brunswick Churches-Find a Good Church in East Brunswick
June 21, 2008
Looking for a good church in East Brunswick, NJ? Fact is there are a number of good East Brunswick churches, or at least churches in the East Brunswick area that you may like better than the OC. That’s cool! So if you’re looking to find a good East Brunswick church in NJ, may we help you?
Since the body of Jesus in East Brunswick and all of Middlesex County, NJ, is a wonderfully beautiful tapestry of many different churches and Christian denominations*, our goal at Oasis Church is to list the 5 churches or so from each town in Central NJ to help folks find a church that’s right for them. while some churches in the East Brunswick area may think we’re a little nuts to share info about other churches on our website, we consider it a ministry.
East Brunswick Church-The Top 5 Churches
Ok, so this is church a subjective list. If you you would like us to list another East Brunswick church, just give us a holler and we will do so.
East Brunswick Church: East Brunswick Baptist Church
Contact: http://www.ebbaptist.org/
East Brunswick Church: Old Bridge Baptist Church
Contact: (732) 257-7959
East Brunswick Church: Our Saviour Lutheran Church
Contact: http://oursaviorslutheraneastb.com/
East Brunswick Church: Light House Christian Fellowship
Contact: (732) 422-7065
East Brunswick Church: Nativity Evangelical Lutheran Church
Contact: http://www.nativity-lutheran.com/
Add your East Brunswick church, East Brunswick church singles groups or youth group to our Central New Jersey church search by commenting below!
Some East Brunswick (EB) Church Denominations
Baptist
Charismatic
Methodist
Calvary Chapel
Reformed
Free Methodist
Pentecostal
Assemblies of God
Lutheran
Orthodox
Southern Baptist
Nazerene
Non-Denominational
CMA-Christian Missionary Alliance
American Baptist
African Methodist
Holiness
Church of Christ
NJ Contemporary Church-Oasis Church Home
Church Search Tips for Finding Good NJ Churches
June 9, 2008
This week’s post on church search tips on how to search for good NJ churches is really an addendum to last week’s find a church guide. Many people are on a church search in NJ for a variety of reasons. Here are the top reasons we feel people are presently searching for a church in the NJ or NY Metropolitan Area:
Top 4 Reasons for a NJ Church Search
- The church search is taking place because of an impending or recent move to good old New Jersey (are they crazy or just masochists?) For many, part of the stress involved in all that involves moving is searching for a new church family.
- Perhaps the folks are on a spiritual journey looking to find more meaning in this thing we call life, and figure a church search is a way to accomplish this.
- A church search is taking place because the person has had a re-awakening and is now looking to connect with other Christians after avoiding church for years.
- The person involved in a new church search is a church hopper who got ticked off at the pastor, elders, people, music, color of the baptismal robes or all of the above at the last NJ church attended, and are looking for greener pastures elsewhere.
May I speak the truth in love for moment? If you are on a church search on account of one or more of the first 3 reasons given above, why gosh darn, we’d love to have y’all! However, if you fall under ‘church search reason #4′, why don’t we both save ourselves some time and stress and have us help you search for a good Bible believing, Spirit-filled church elsewhere other than Oasis?
Why do I say the above? Well you see, our vision at Oasis is all about compassionately introducing Jesus and His love to tens of thousands of hungry and hurting people here in NJ and all around the world, and chances are you’ll sooner or later end up getting pissed off at at us too for the way we go about fulfilling the Great Commission. So why not part as friends before we end up up giving each other agida, okay? No hard feelings? Great.
How to Search for a New Church
What you can do to help your church search:
- Pray for the Lord’s guidance and wisdom (Prov. 3:5,6; James 1:5) as you Church search
- Google “church search websites and directories” and see what comes up
- Church search by demographic location starting with the towns in your local area.*
- Ask other trusted believers where they go, or what church they would recommend
- Read our previous post on how to find a good NJ church
Over all, if you recently were on a church search in NJ, and have any other tips you would like to offer on how to find a local church, you can help others by sharing them here.
* For example NJ churches in my local area include those towns from Middlesex and Somerset Counties:
Middlesex County
- Carteret
- Cranbury
- Dunellen
- East Brunswick
- Edison
- Highland Park
- Jamesburg
- Metuchen
- Middlesex
- Milltown
- Monroe
- New Brunswick
- North Brunswick
- Old Bridge
- Perth Amboy
- Piscataway
- Plainsboro
- Sayreville
- South Amboy
- South Brunswick
- South Plainfield
- South River
- Spotswood
- Woodbridge
Somerset County, NJ
| Basking Ridge Bedminster Belle Mead Bernardsville Blackwells Mills Blawenburg Bloomingdale Bound Brook Bound Brook Junction Bradley Gardens Branchburg Park Bridgepoint Burnt Mills Chimney Rock Clyde Coontown East Millstone Fairview Far Hills Finderne Flagtown | Frankfort Gladstone Greater Cross Roads Green Knoll Griggstown Hamilton Harlingen Higginsville Hillsborough Kingston Lamington Liberty Corner Lyons Madisonville Manville Martinsville Mettler Middlebush Millstone Milltown | Mine Brook Montgomery Mount Bethel Mount Horeb Neshanic Neshanic Station North Branch North Branch Depot North Plainfield Peapack Pill Hill Plainville Pleasantview Pluckemin Pottersville Raritan Rock Mill Rocky Hill Round Top Royce Valley | Sixmile Run Skillman Smalleytown Somerset Somersetin Somerville South Bound Brook South Branch Springdale Sunset Hill Garden Ukrainian Village Van Dorans Mills Vliettown Voorhees Watchung Weston Woodfern Woods Tavern Zarephath Zion |
More About this NJ Church:
Find a Church Guide
June 1, 2008
Wanna find a church in NJ that’s just perfect? Before sharing some “find a church tips” that may help you in your search for a good , new church in NJ, I want to make some disclaimers.
First of all, you won’t find a church that’s perfect if you ever do check out the Oasis Church in NJ church plant. Why? Well quite frankly we’re mostly a bunch of losers and misfits (by worldly standards), and a little bit rough around the edges. Hey it’s all good with me and the TEAM though because the last time we checked our Bibles these were the same types of folk Jesus recruited to build His church and turn the whole world upside down.
We’ll Help You Find a Good NJ Church Elsewhere
Secondly, I realize the OC in NJ may not be for all Christians looking to find a church. In our quest to fulfill our vision of compassionately introducing Jesus and His love to tens of thousands of hungry and hurting people in NJ and all around the world, there may be those who will misinterpret some of the stuff we do and changes we make, and end up leaving.
That’s all cool with us too. In fact, on this site we’re going to have listings of other NJ churches others may wish to attend if they don’t like ours. After all, our vision and mission is not about keeping sheep to ourselves by building a wall around them. Rather, taking Jesus’ example in Matthew 16, we intend to bust down the gates of hell, find lost sheep, empower them and release them back into the world so they can do the same thing all over again.
If you are looking to find a church like this, can deal with our Core Values and put up with the mistakes we’re bound to make as we reach out, you may want to check us out more closely.
Find a Church Guidelines
Ok, now that we got the above out of the way, here are some things to consider when looking to find church that’s just right for you.
Know What Kind Of Church It Is You’re Looking To Find
Duh! That sounds like common sense, but with so many different denominations to choose from, it could get a little mind boggling finding a church that’s just right for you. For example we have churches in central NJ that are Methodist, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, Lutheran, Christian Missionary Alliance, Nazerene, Presbyterian, Catholic, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Churches of Christ…blah, blah, blah, I think you get the point. Perhaps you may feel a non-denominational church like Oasis is the way to go as long the messages are Bible based and relevant.
Momma Said You Better Shop Around
Choosing aNJ church home is one of the most imporatant decisions in your Christian life, so take your time. We recommend you visit a church at least 3 times before deciding on any one church, taking notes along the way to keep the churches straight in your mind. You could also narrow down your personal “find a church search” by asking yourself some questions about what kind you would feel more at home attending:
- Do you prefer informal, contemporary worship services or liturgical ones? Wailing electric guitars with Christian rock, pipe organs or a mixture? Suits or Jeans? (Note: It’ll be laid-back at Oasis so wear what you want)
- Does the church have specific ministries (ie: singles, kids programs, financial, parenting seminars) for you and the rest of your family, if any?
- Is there a process in place that makes it easy to connect with others and plug into the church? Is there a place for you to use your gifts?
- As far as you can tell, is Jesus actually transforming lives there? Do they reach out in love to the surrounding community, or are they keeping it all to themselves?
Make Sure You Know and Understand What They Believe
Praise the Lord and pass the Kool-Ade! But seriously, it’s very important that when you find a church it clearly lists what they believe and how they intend to live out those beliefs. The bottom line is that there are a lot of wacky churches (read: cults) out there with aspiring Jim Joneses, and you’ll save yourself a ton of disappointment and potentially dangerous situations by checking their beliefs with a fine tooth comb.
Do the church beliefs mesh with the traditional orthodox beliefs of Christianity down through the ages? Do they believe the Bible is the Word of God? A smart church will have a website with all that stuff posted, and will also be offering classes to guests like yourself in order to clue you in on what’s happening there. Sound good?
Check Them Out Online
65% of churches have a website, so if the one you are considering has one (and if they don’t they’re probably not ready for the 21st Century) you frequently can get a good understanding of what the church is all about by reading their posts and listening to their podcasts. For example, maybe you just found Oasis Church in NJ by Googling “find a church”, and have decided that we are a little too crazy for you! 
Overall, in your bid to find a Spirit-filled, Bible believing church, or whatever else you want to name it, remember it’s not the denomination or a church building that makes a church. As my good new friend Dan Sardinas says, a church IS the people themselves. Amen.
Have a comment about how to find a church?
