# Commuting to church?



## Organgrinder (Dec 16, 2011)

How many of you in here commute to church? The OPC I want to attend is the same distance as my job (35 miles).

Could this be considered poor stewardship since my present church (SBC) is only three miles away? Should my convictions and desires to be in a Reformed fellowship matter that much? 

If you stopped commuting, why?

If you started commuting, why? 

How is a Reformed believer to function in a contemporary Arminian/Dispensational church that has no interest in reforming?

Thank you,

Mark


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## interalia (Dec 17, 2011)

I think 35 miles is a small price to pay for a Reformed fellowship. We commute, but probably 12 miles or so, passing several orthodox churches that preach the gospel, but our convictions demand the extra (albeit, minor in our eyes) effort. 
And no slight intended to my SBC brethren, but there is a significant theological difference between a typical SBC church and the OPC. And further to the contrary, I think "stewardship" in the typical American sense is a weak argument to prevent an additional 30 minutes to your drive for worship. The appearance of financial prudence and evening future financial security have become secret idols to American Christians.


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## Andres (Dec 17, 2011)

interalia said:


> I think 35 miles is a small price to pay for a Reformed fellowship. We commute, but probably 12 miles or so, passing several orthodox churches that preach the gospel, but our convictions demand the extra (albeit, minor in our eyes) effort.
> And no slight intended to my SBC brethren, but there is a significant theological difference between a typical SBC church and the OPC. And further to the contrary, I think "stewardship" in the typical American sense is a weak argument to prevent an additional 30 minutes to your drive for worship. The appearance of financial prudence and evening future financial security have become secret idols to American Christians.



Brother Michael pretty much summed up my thoughts. Rather than arguing from a stewardship perspective, I think a case should be made for obeying your conscience, which you state desires to be in a reformed fellowship. Also, if you're willing to make the drive for work, is not your spiritual well-being more important?


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## JoannaV (Dec 17, 2011)

Our family all attend the same church. For us it is 15 miles, for the parents-in-law it is 24 miles, and for the siblings-in-law it is 60 miles. I'm not sure at what distance it would become too far. Kind of impossible to think about as if we ever moved the distance to church would be a priority.

Perhaps there is a member of the OPC you could carpool some of the distance with?


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## interalia (Dec 17, 2011)

Andres said:


> interalia said:
> 
> 
> > I think 35 miles is a small price to pay for a Reformed fellowship. We commute, but probably 12 miles or so, passing several orthodox churches that preach the gospel, but our convictions demand the extra (albeit, minor in our eyes) effort.
> ...



This was a point I also intended to make - thanks, Andrew!


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## Edward (Dec 17, 2011)

The benefits of a neighborhood church should not be discounted, but between a standard modern evangelical baptist and an OPC, the decision should be easy. 

I drive a little over 18 miles to church. There are several good churches in my denomination which are geographically closer, but Sunday morning drives would not be any quicker. There is a new plant that would be much more convenient, but the strange website is off-putting. I don't think I'm in the target demographic. 

I've moved a couple of times since we started the church that I attend; it was the closest option at the time.

---------- Post added at 12:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 AM ----------

Looks like New Covenant might be about 3 miles closer to you, Lakewood a mile or two further (both PCA) New St. Peters and Park Cities would be an additional 4 or 5 miles. I don't know about the others, but Park Cities, at least, has members that drive about twice that far to attend.


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## Curt (Dec 17, 2011)

We take a tram, then a bus to get to church. There is a "confessional" church plant in walking distance. We tried that, but we are definitely not "hip" enough. Still looking, actually.


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## Tim (Dec 17, 2011)

I presently commute to church 38 miles on Wednesdays and Lord's Days, and have done the same routine in the past up to 55 miles. It is and was well worth it. I will encourage you to consider the church's schedule on the Lord's Day. You only want to make the trip once; it is an opportunity for the congregation to develop on hospitality if it is not presently set up so that you can spend the whole day with the Lord's people.


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## Jack K (Dec 17, 2011)

We picked what we believed to be the best church we could find in the town where we live. We might have expanded our options greatly by considering churches in a larger city an hour away, but felt it best to attach ourselves to a church in the town where we live and work. It seems like it'd be hard to be a full part of the church's life and mission and live an hour away.

I suppose we would have had to go further out if we'd failed to find a church locally that we consider to be a true church and one where we can live in submission. But we did find such a congregation.


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## Rich Koster (Dec 17, 2011)

I drive 15 miles each way to our meeting place. Some come as far as 40 miles. There are 21 "churches" listed locally. None of them are even 5 point. We have RC, Methodist, A few IFB, 3 Dispensational/Arminian SBC, Liberal Mainline Baptist (ABC), Pentecostals and NAR Charismatics and JW,SDA,LDS cults around a town of approximately 23,000 people. I gladly commute rather than expose my wife to any more false doctrine and friends that are shallow as a saucer. 

I used to believe that it was important to be part of a local congregation. However, that notion became undermined when I saw how the people helped and cared for each other in a spiritually apathetic way. We have more spiritual support and encouragement now, than from near-by neighbors. People who are committed to the well being of the brethren will overcome the distance barrier. When we move out of NJ, we plan on visiting several congregations before we decide where to move. I find it more important to find a solid Reformed congregation, than buying a house or getting a job. This is from a man who has lived in the same house for over 25 years and has been laid off from several jobs and changed careers 3X.

Also: for the ride, we listen to Podcasts from various ministries to make use of the time. We do this for work, also. We are currently going through a SS series from Albert Martin/Trinity Baptist.


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## Theoretical (Dec 17, 2011)

Organgrinder said:


> How many of you in here commute to church? The OPC I want to attend is the same distance as my job (35 miles).
> 
> Could this be considered poor stewardship since my present church (SBC) is only three miles away? Should my convictions and desires to be in a Reformed fellowship matter that much?
> 
> ...



If it's Faith OPC in Garland, I'm a member there. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. We have a family from Terrell and at least one from Forney that come.

I have about a 25 minute commute and it's pretty reasonable. Though my goal is to move to more of a 10-15 minute max commute in the future so I'm more in my church's community. 35 miles on Sunday is a MUCH less painful drive in DFW than it is during the week, and I speak as one who hates driving and lives in a clogged part of Dallas. In terms of time and stress, think of it more like a 15-20 mile drive than a 35 mile daily grind.

What I have found matters a lot more than the commute to the church is where the membership lives, especially in terms of being able to fellowship with them. For example, at a previous church I was a 15 minute max commute from the church going east, but virtually all of the membership lived 15-20 minutes east or north of the church in something of a cone-like pattern. So practically, it was a much more out of the way distance, and one that was a lot harder on weekdays with snarled traffic. 

With my current church I'm currently outside the "cone" but I'm equidistant from almost everyone and I can easily access the most concentrated group of members, so it's mitigated somewhat.

If your convictions have shifted from SBC to OPC-like, then you'd find a good NAPARC church to be a significant boost to your soul over time.


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## Parker234 (Dec 17, 2011)

I drive 60 miles to church. It's two hours of commuting each Sunday, but it is also the nearest Reformed church out here in Methodist-land (Kansas). It's worth every penny of fuel and every second of our day, in my opinion.


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## fishingpipe (Dec 18, 2011)

We used to commute just over an hour for the sound preaching of the gospel in a reformed (OPC) church (for about 2.5 years). Our present church (also OPC) started as a mission work about 17-months ago and we only have to drive 32 minutes give or take now! It's worth every minute.

Particularly enjoyable is the time spent with my wife and three children in the car before and after services. We discuss the sermon, catechize, memorize scripture, etc. The drive always flies by and we seem to get to church much faster than the actual time that passes.

We love our church and find it worth every mile. Why, some 14-hours hours from now I expect - Lord willing - to be at the home of one of our provisional deacons smoking a pipe with Dr. Tony Curto (Associate Professor - Practical Theology in Missions and Apologetics at Greenville Theological Seminary, missionary evangelist to Ethiopia & preaching for us tomorrow) and enjoying the fellowship of three other families that we love dearly. The commute seems so small for such a blessed Sabbath each week.


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## Scott1 (Dec 18, 2011)

Sound biblical teaching, fellowship and accountability is worth a very high price.

Think of how far we will commute to buy something we want, to go to work, to seek vacation, to visit people, etc.


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## crimsonleaf (Dec 19, 2011)

Reading some of the posts here I feel blessed. I attend a Reformed Baptist church just 3 miles from home, a 10 minute car journey. We run 2 services every Sunday, and Sunday and mid-week Bible study. One of these studies every month takes place in a house group about half a mile from my home. I too pass a number of churches on the way, but the next nearest church professing the Reformed faith is a United Reformed Church 13 miles away, which I've tried, but as they're a massively ecumenical chursh I found the message had been somewhat sanitised to eliminate offence to the other churches in the circuit.


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## JML (Dec 19, 2011)

Parker234 said:


> I drive 60 miles to church. It's two hours of commuting each Sunday, but it is also the nearest Reformed church out here in Methodist-land (Kansas). It's worth every penny of fuel and every second of our day, in my opinion.



There is an RPCNA church in Sterling, KS less than 40 miles away. You may already be established where you are but just throwing it out there in case you were not aware the church was there.


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