Locate a Church Steps

1. Before you begin to physically locate a church, you should know for certain what you are looking for in a church. Reading these articles: Find a Church Guide and Church Search Tips will help you in this important first step.
2. After you have chosen what kind of denomination or non-denominational church you desire to locate in your area, we suggest an online Google, Yahoo or MSN search using keywords such as “locate a church directory”, or simply “NJ church directories”. Oasis-Church-Nj.com even has little church directory by NJ towns to get you started.

Have other “locate a church” tips you would like to offer others. Feel free to share it here!

Related to Locate a Church in NJ:

Old Bridge Churches
New Brunswick Churches
North Brunswick Churches
East Brunswick Churches
South Brunswick Churches

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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.

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