Every community of believers creates a culture when they are together. Some Churches are small, and you feel like you are in someone’s home and with family. Others are large, with an emphasis on high-quality production. In some Churches, the staff does all the pastoral work, and the people do little as volunteers. Others are driven primarily by volunteers and have very few staff.

There is no right or wrong way to do Church, and each community is free to create its own culture.

At the Church I lead, I am working continually to build a community that seeks to reach unbelievers with the message of Jesus. The goal is to create a safe place for people with little to no religious background to come. I strive to welcome people who have not been in Church for a decade or more. I desire to see people come to know Jesus for the first time or for the first time in a long time.

Building that kind of culture requires many small, intentional decisions. It means greeters who are genuinely warm and a welcome team that goes out of its way to make people feel seen. It means background checks on workers, so every family feels safe. It means explaining things from the stage that regular churchgoers take for granted, because there’s always someone in the room hearing it for the first time. It means sermons that don’t assume Biblical fluency. And it means covering all of it in prayer, trusting the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do.

At the core, our culture is driven by one desire: to see lost people become found. Prodigals coming home. Sinners saved. People who feel far from God experiencing grace up close.

I haven’t arrived. But that’s what I’m building toward. A place where everyone is welcome, and Jesus is exalted. If that sounds like your kind of Church, we’d love to have you.