Don’t Skip Church in College: 12 Ways to Find the Right One

For many young adults, leaving home for the first time and settling into college life is daunting enough. While new locations, classes, and friends can be exhilarating, they can also be overwhelming. For the Christian student, finding a new church may feel like just one challenge too many.

For some, it may even seem unnecessary. After all, there may be a vibrant campus ministry to attend. And sleeping in on Sunday morning can feel far more appealing than expending the effort to visit an unfamiliar church.

Yet the college years are some of the most significant in a person’s spiritual formation. The habits, relationships, and convictions developed during these years often establish the trajectory of your faith for the rest of your life. That’s why learning how to find a church—and getting involved once you do—is one of the most important steps you can take as a new student.

Do you need to find a local church?

Many people assume that a private faith—one lived apart from a local church—is an acceptable or even preferable way to live. “Jesus and me” is a comfortable mantra. Many people claim, “I love God. I don’t like church.”

But is this attitude acceptable and pleasing to God? What do we learn in God’s Word about the importance of fellowship with other believers?

The Greek word for church, ἐκκλησία (ekklesia), means “congregation” or “assembly.” The same word was widely used in both religious and nonreligious settings for public gatherings. When Christ proclaimed that he would build his church (Matt 16:18), this use of ἐκκλησία referred to the new idea of a community of Jesus followers. While the universal church includes the whole body of believers, the emphasis on gathering together in a local church remains fundamental to those who identify with Christ.

Gathering together is a clear command in Scripture. Hebrews says believers need to stir one another up to love and good deeds by “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:24–25).¹ Fellowship with those bonded together by Christ is for everyone’s good. We need the exhortation and instruction that only the body of Christ can provide. While instruction can be received by listening to a pastor online, edification is far more effective in community—through relationships that are formed in person.

Throughout the New Testament, the church is depicted as the body of Christ, in which all believers are joined to one another under Christ, the Head, so that together they might grow, serve, and bring him glory (1 Cor 12:12–31; Rom 12:3–8; Eph 4:15–16; Col 1:24). Before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed for unity among believers (John 17:11). So in Acts 2:42, Luke records that the early Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (NIV). Meeting together in community was a vital component of new life in Christ for these earliest Christians.

Meeting together in person ought to be the heart’s desire and diligent pursuit of everyone who identifies as a Christian. To neglect participation in Christ’s body is to miss the very heart of Christ himself, forgetting both the blessing of receiving from his people and the joy of serving them in return.

To neglect participation in Christ’s body is to miss the very heart of Christ himself.

Research shows that emerging adulthood is a pivotal season in which many young people either deepen their commitment to Christ or disengage from Christianity altogether. While a variety of factors are always at play, active participation in a local church consistently emerges as one of the most important indicators of lasting spiritual growth.²

How to get involved in a local church

Understanding the importance of being part of a body of believers is one thing. Finding a new one as a young adult is another.

Here are twelve tips to guide you as you search for a church home and settle into life there.

1. Begin with prayer

Before researching, visiting, and comparing churches, seek the Lord’s wisdom and guidance. Prayer should be your first response and continual practice as you entrust this decision—and every area of your life—to him.

God delights to answer prayers like these. Being in consistent fellowship with other believers is obedience to his call, and he will surely guide you as you submit the search to him.

2. Get wise counsel

Your home church’s pastor or members may know of churches in your college town. If not, your denomination may have a church finder. You can also ask the chaplain’s office or a campus ministry for recommendations based on where students in the area attend church.

Some online church finders include:

• 9Marks church search
• Founders Ministries church search
• The Gospel Coalition church finder
• Going Farther church search³

3. Look for doctrinal soundness

Every church holds convictions on a variety of theological issues. While Christians disagree on some secondary matters, the primary doctrines of the faith are nonnegotiable. A church’s website and statement of faith are good places to start.

Of first importance is a church’s teaching about the person and work of Jesus Christ—his full deity and humanity, his atoning death and bodily resurrection, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone. Just as important is whether the church holds Scripture as its highest authority and preaches faithfully from it.

4. Look for faithful leadership

As far as you can tell, is the church led by humble, joyful pastors?

When Jesus’s disciples argued about who was the greatest, he told them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Does the pastor model the servant leadership that Christ demands?

Joy is also a vital hallmark of a true believer (Phil 4:4). Hebrews 13:17 urges church members to let their leaders serve “with joy and not with groaning,” since joyless leadership is “of no advantage” to the congregation. Eternal joy sustains believers through every aspect of life, including suffering (Rom 5:1–4). To minister well to people walking through hardship, a pastor must display the joy found in Christ.

5. Look for genuine worship

Worship is far more than the portion of a church service devoted to music. Every act of a believer is an opportunity to offer worship to the God who is worthy.

When you visit a church, is it evident that worshiping God is the highest priority behind all aspects of its services? Is the preaching worshipful? Is giving treated as an act of worship? Are ministry and missions opportunities presented as worship, too?⁴

6. Look for sincere love

Is the love of Christ manifest among the members? This is the basic litmus test for a true Christian: “whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). Jesus told his disciples, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Do you see and experience the love of Christ in the people you meet?

7. Look for discipleship opportunities

Is this a community that emphasizes and fosters spiritual growth, one where you’ll be challenged to grow in your knowledge of God, his Word, and your faithful practice of it?

Look carefully, too, at what ministries the church offers. Does it offer small groups for college students or young adults or ministries where you could serve?

8. Secure reliable transportation

Lack of transportation is often a significant hurdle for college students. Pray for God’s provision in all things, including something as practical as a ride if you don’t have one.

Ask if you can carpool with other churchgoers, or contact the church directly to ask whether it provides transportation for students (or if it can help coordinate one).

9. Join a student ministry

Get plugged into the church’s college or young adult ministry. Worshiping, studying God’s Word, and serving alongside other students anchor you in the life of the church and deepen your commitment to the body of Christ.

10. Seek intergenerational community

While connecting with people your own age is important, building relationships across generations is just as life-giving.

Seek wisdom from older believers—from those just starting families to the elderly—and learn from their example with a humble and teachable heart. Pour into those younger than you, as well, whether that means holding babies in the nursery or leading a high school small group.

11. Find a mentor

Being mentored by a mature believer is one of the most powerful ways to grow in your faith. This is when someone further along walks alongside you, offering you their wisdom, encouragement, and gracious accountability. Mentoring can be especially fruitful and anchoring during this new season of life.

Some churches offer formal mentoring or discipleship programs; other mentoring relationships develop naturally as friendships grow across generations. I encourage every Christian college student to seek a mentor and meet with them regularly. Pray that God would provide someone to invest in your life.

12. Commit to serve

Yes, the college years are challenging. Your schedule will be full. Yet service is essential to the Christian life and the flourishing of communities.

It’s tempting to think of college as a season only for receiving—learning, growing, and preparing for the future—but you have something to offer, as well. God has uniquely gifted every believer to build up the body of Christ (1 Pet 4:10; 1 Cor 12). Whether you serve in children’s ministry, on the hospitality team, with worship or technology, or simply spend time encouraging someone who is lonely, God will use your service to bless others. No matter how small your contribution may seem, it matters—to Christ and to the people in your community.

Conclusion

I pray for the Spirit’s guidance and wisdom as you pursue a new church family. The Lord, as your shepherd, will surely guide you in this important process! Trust that he will faithfully direct you to a church where you can worship him, grow in his grace, serve his people, and flourish in your walk.

Jeanette Pifer’s suggested reading

• Luther, Martin. The Annotated Luther. Vol. 3, Church and Sacraments. Edited by Paul W. Robinson. Fortress Press, 2016.

Related content

• Why Go to Church? What the Bible (Really) Says
• How to Stay Christian in College: 3 Key Principles
• Choosing a Church: 5 Wise Considerations
• When Going to Church Is Tough: 5 Tips
• Ecclesiology: What Do We Believe About the Church?

1. All Bible quotations are from the ESV unless otherwise stated.
2. David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock, Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon (Baker, 2019); Barna Group, The Connected Generation: How Christian Leaders Around the World Can Strengthen Faith and Well-Being Among 18–35-Year-Olds (Barna Group, 2019).
3. Editor’s note: The inclusion of a church on such directories is usually not an endorsement of that church. Churches often self-register and are not vetted by the organizations hosting the directories. Further, Logos does not have an official affiliation with these ministries and does not endorse any of the churches listed on their directories.
4. As John Piper has said, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.” John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions (Baker Academic, 1993), 11.