Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - Trying to find a good church in AUSTIN TX

Recovering · 07-18-2021, 06:48 PM

I have a little bit of experience of “trying to find a good church in Austin, TX”. I like @GraceAlone‘s list of criteria and followed something similar when my wife and I left. One thing in particular that was important in finding a new post-LC home was to find expositional teaching of the Word, where the teaching would go systematically through the Word in the way it is in the Bible, rather than selecting pieces of Scripture to support topical points, as has been the habit in the LSM publications and conferences since the Crystallization Studies began. (I remember ages ago in Austin we used to have expositional teaching, but I think that started to fade once we switched to conference-based HWMRs.) Another thing, and this was optional but ended up being a big help was we wanted to go someplace where we knew at least some people already. Thank God we had made friends “in Christianity” some years ago.

A big hurdle for me personally was to get past the idea that denominationalism was divisive and degrading. Not long before we left, I heard from a brother that I respect in the LC that meeting in a denomination would require you to sign pledges to this or that dividing doctrine. My experience since hearing that was that it was demonstrably wrong. I have spoken with leadership at at least two congregations and pressed them on questions of the oneness of the Body and found them to have an actual, practiced oneness with the believers in the city that outshines the claimed oneness of “the local ground” in the LR that is actually based on adherence to the printed and spoken works of “The Ministry” of WL and WN. This isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of people who treat their denomination like a tribe and grounds for despising other people. I just found that it aint’ necessarily so, and divisiveness is a matter of the heart that can be found (or not) in any place.

To provide some data points that actually answer the original question, here is a short list of places we visited:
Northwest Fellowship - a Bible-preaching non-denominational congregation; they are welcoming, have a diverse congregation, and adhere to a traditional and orthodox doctrine.
Austin Stone - another Bible-preaching congregational group with several campuses (not unlike the LC in Austin) around the city. I’m friends with a brother who was an elder for a time at one of the campuses. I think one of the campuses is struggling with some questions of progressivism, but on the whole, I believe they are very solid in their understanding and teaching of the Word. Their immersive, performance-like worship was a little too jarring a change for me (us) to really feel comfortable with.
Christ Church of Austin - This is an Anglican congregation. Some friends invited us to a service years ago, and we found it to be filled with the Spirit and the Word. We had actually been following along their exposition of the Gospel of Mark for several months before we left the LC and found their teaching to be solid and life-giving. (This is actually where we have landed, at least for now.) The biggest thing for me to get used to (because I had concepts; drop your concepts, brother!

) was the use of a liturgy in the service, but as I’ve gotten familiar with it - at least the way Christ Church does it-, in some ways it feels the most comfortable kind of service I’ve been in, providing a way for the congregation to participate that’s not actually that dissimilar from the practices of the LC, especially the Table Meetings. The saints who meet there certainly know how to enjoy the Lord, and we generally leave the services feeling fed and refreshed.

Another place we have not visited, at least not recently, but would like to and have heard from friends that it would have met our criteria is Hope Chapel. I’m acquainted with the associate pastor there and have a lot of respect for and trust in him. I would like to go “blending” there and see how it is.
I have friends whose spiritual discernment I respect very much who attend Redeemer Presbyterian. I’m guessing it’s a little more liturgical than most will like whose tastes were refined in the LCs.

I think that many of the congregations in Austin will have a lot of opportunities for community building, what we would previously have called “the building up”, in ways that involve more than just studies of the Bible or other spiritual books, although there is certainly that, too. There are opportunities for outward-facing service, for example to the homeless or at crisis pregnancy centers, or to find mutual support for different kinds of callings: business, the arts, etc.

I hope this has been helpful.

07-18-2021, 06:48 PM	#19
Recovering Member Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 41	Re: Trying to find a good church in AUSTIN TX I have a little bit of experience of “trying to find a good church in Austin, TX”. I like @GraceAlone‘s list of criteria and followed something similar when my wife and I left. One thing in particular that was important in finding a new post-LC home was to find expositional teaching of the Word, where the teaching would go systematically through the Word in the way it is in the Bible, rather than selecting pieces of Scripture to support topical points, as has been the habit in the LSM publications and conferences since the Crystallization Studies began. (I remember ages ago in Austin we used to have expositional teaching, but I think that started to fade once we switched to conference-based HWMRs.) Another thing, and this was optional but ended up being a big help was we wanted to go someplace where we knew at least some people already. Thank God we had made friends “in Christianity” some years ago. A big hurdle for me personally was to get past the idea that denominationalism was divisive and degrading. Not long before we left, I heard from a brother that I respect in the LC that meeting in a denomination would require you to sign pledges to this or that dividing doctrine. My experience since hearing that was that it was demonstrably wrong. I have spoken with leadership at at least two congregations and pressed them on questions of the oneness of the Body and found them to have an actual, practiced oneness with the believers in the city that outshines the claimed oneness of “the local ground” in the LR that is actually based on adherence to the printed and spoken works of “The Ministry” of WL and WN. This isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of people who treat their denomination like a tribe and grounds for despising other people. I just found that it aint’ necessarily so, and divisiveness is a matter of the heart that can be found (or not) in any place. To provide some data points that actually answer the original question, here is a short list of places we visited: Northwest Fellowship - a Bible-preaching non-denominational congregation; they are welcoming, have a diverse congregation, and adhere to a traditional and orthodox doctrine. Austin Stone - another Bible-preaching congregational group with several campuses (not unlike the LC in Austin) around the city. I’m friends with a brother who was an elder for a time at one of the campuses. I think one of the campuses is struggling with some questions of progressivism, but on the whole, I believe they are very solid in their understanding and teaching of the Word. Their immersive, performance-like worship was a little too jarring a change for me (us) to really feel comfortable with. Christ Church of Austin - This is an Anglican congregation. Some friends invited us to a service years ago, and we found it to be filled with the Spirit and the Word. We had actually been following along their exposition of the Gospel of Mark for several months before we left the LC and found their teaching to be solid and life-giving. (This is actually where we have landed, at least for now.) The biggest thing for me to get used to (because I had concepts; drop your concepts, brother! ) was the use of a liturgy in the service, but as I’ve gotten familiar with it - at least the way Christ Church does it-, in some ways it feels the most comfortable kind of service I’ve been in, providing a way for the congregation to participate that’s not actually that dissimilar from the practices of the LC, especially the Table Meetings. The saints who meet there certainly know how to enjoy the Lord, and we generally leave the services feeling fed and refreshed. Another place we have not visited, at least not recently, but would like to and have heard from friends that it would have met our criteria is Hope Chapel. I’m acquainted with the associate pastor there and have a lot of respect for and trust in him. I would like to go “blending” there and see how it is. I have friends whose spiritual discernment I respect very much who attend Redeemer Presbyterian. I’m guessing it’s a little more liturgical than most will like whose tastes were refined in the LCs. I think that many of the congregations in Austin will have a lot of opportunities for community building, what we would previously have called “the building up”, in ways that involve more than just studies of the Bible or other spiritual books, although there is certainly that, too. There are opportunities for outward-facing service, for example to the homeless or at crisis pregnancy centers, or to find mutual support for different kinds of callings: business, the arts, etc. I hope this has been helpful.