As our family settles into a new community, new school, and new church after moving, I am intentionally thinking about how to get connected this fall and begin building relationships.

We’re starting over in many ways, which has reminded me that growth doesn’t ‘just’ happen. It happens as we intentionally place ourselves where God has promised to work through his Word and his church.

If you’re looking for a place to begin, here are three simple ways to get connected this fall.

1. Find a Church Home

Throughout the New Testament, believers are gathered into local churches where they worship together, hear God’s Word preached, care for one another, and grow together in Christ. Relationships are an important part of the Christian life.

Maybe you’ve recently moved like me. Maybe you’ve been visiting churches but haven’t committed. Maybe life has become busy, and church attendance gets worked in when the calendar opens up.

This fall, I challenge you to make finding a church home a priority.

Gospel community is a gift from God. I love this quote we include in the Foundations: Gospel Living workbook:

“The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes discouraged…The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure…This clarifies the goal of all Christian community: to meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Here are some of the things I’ve been committing myself to…

Visit consistently. Summer may have disrupted your Sunday rhythms and you may need to intentionally commit your calendar to prioritize church attendance.

Ask questions. Meet pastors and ministry leaders. Many churches have welcome or newcomer meetings or membership classes. Sign up and begin learning about the church culture and what they value.

Then commit. Real community isn’t built by attending occasionally. It’s built by faithfully belonging.

Here is blog that might help you find a church. This book has helped shape what I look for in a new church.

2. Join a Bible Study

Sunday mornings are essential, but they shouldn’t be the only time you’re opening God’s Word with other believers.

August is usually when churches will announce their fall Bible study options. These environments are places where you commit to 8-12 weeks of weekly attendance of a class that consists of fellowship, small group discussion, and teaching.

Get on the church email list. Follow them on social media. Ask around to find out when registration for fall Bible studies open. Ask about whether childcare is available if you need it. Then make the decision before your calendar fills up.

One way I prioritize God’s Word is to build my schedule around it instead of trying to fit it into whatever time is left. This is one of the first questions I am asking as I attend a new church. In my old church, I knew when Bible studies were held and I created plans in August to make room in the schedule. It would be the night we would DoorDash dinner or plan a crockpot meal. I would organize carpools and pick up less desirable dates like a Friday night to ensure coverage on a Bible study night if there was a conflict.

In Forever for Our Good, a study of the book of Deuteronomy, Katie J. McCoy says “Studying God’s word is a worthy choice that God is going to honor and use in your life in deep and mighty ways”.

It can be challenging to fit in, especially if you have a large family like mine with a lot of activities! But it is worth committing to a study and do everything you can to work around it.

3. Join a Small Group

If Bible study helps us know God’s Word, small groups help us live it out together.

August is often the time when small groups (or often called community groups) open again.

These are places where strangers become friends and friends become family. While I have been meeting a lot of new faces, I am craving deep connections. A small group is a place where someone notices when you’ve been absent, where you can share some of the weekly celebrations and burdens you are walking through, and you are known and loved.

Since moving I’ve been challenged to find meaningful community. It grows through consistent presence week after week, conversation after conversation, meal after meal.

If your church offers small groups, this is an excellent way to begin making connections.

Church Family Matters

It’s tempting to think that spiritual growth depends primary on finding the right Bible reading plan, reading the right book on growth, or becoming more disciplined.

Those things certainly matter.

But throughout Scripture, God repeatedly grows His people in the context of relationships. Relationships are an important part of the Christian life. The Bible has a lot to say about how we are to create one another, especially fellow believers within the church. Together, the people int he church make up the family of God. We’re brothers and sisters because God, our Father, has adopted us. We’re co-heirs with Christ, and Weill one day inherit the Kingdom of God (Romans 8:14-17). 

Jesus saved us into community. We have a corporate identity (Ephesians 2:11-3:21). 

We live out the one another passages of Scripture like encouraging one another and bearing one another’s burdens. 

We remind one another of the gospel when we are prone to forget.

A healthy family of Christ draws others in. 

Your Next Step

You don’t have to do everything overnight. Simply choose one of these next steps this fall.

Find a church home.

Join a Bible study.

Connect with a small group.

A season from now, you’ll likely be grateful you began today.

Anne Marie