May 23, 2017 – Michelle Lesley

One of the great joys of this ministry is helping people find doctrinally sound churches to get plugged into. An awesome resource for finding good churches is my readers, especially my social media and blog followers, whose recommendations I continue to add on to the list below.

If you’re looking for a church in a certain area,
scroll down to the list.

Also, be sure to check out the
church search engines and other resources
at the Searching for a new church? tab
in the blue menu bar at the top of this page.

Please read ALL of the information in this section before recommending a church. Recommendations which do not meet these requirements will not be accepted.

If you’ve got a personal connection to a doctrinally sound church and would like to publicly recommend it, you can do so in the comments section of this article. Please include the website of the church you’re recommending. (Churches submitted without websites will not be considered for inclusion on the list.)

Due to doctrinal issues, at this time I am not accepting recommendations for:

United Methodist Churches
Calvary Chapel churches (continuationist)
Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) churches (continuationist, egalitarian, social justice)
Continuationist churches
Churches that consider Calvinism/Reformed theology to be false teaching
KJV Only churches (Churches which consider the King James Version to be the only acceptable and/or inspired translation of the Bible. Churches which merely prefer using the KJV are fine.)
Any church that uses music from Bethel, Jesus Culture, Hillsong, Elevation, anyone connected with these groups, Catholics, non-Christians, or any other contemporary musician who isn’t doctrinally sound.
Any church that uses or recommends books and materials from false teachers. (This now includes churches recommending or affiliated with The Gospel Coalition.)
Any church that violates Scripture’s teaching on the role of women in the church (1 Timothy 2:11-3:7). This includes, but is not necessarily limited to: churches with a female bearing the title of “pastor” (of anything) or “elder,” churches which allow women to function in pastoral roles without the title of pastor / elder (for example: female ministers of music or worship leaders; discipleship “facilitators” or “directors” who essentially function as elders / associate pastors, and so on), churches which allow women to preach to, hold unbiblical authority over, or instruct men or co-ed groups in the Scriptures (for example: teaching / co-teaching co-ed adult Sunday School / Bible study classes or home / small groups).
Any church that does not have a detailed statement of faith (“What we believe,” “Doctrinal statement,” etc.) or link to such,
Any church that does not have the pastor’s name (and staff / elders, if any) listed on its website.
Any church that does not have a website (a social media page alone is not enough).

Thank you for recommending your church!

See a church that shouldn’t be on the list?

Please keep in mind that this list has been in existence since 2017. Unfortunately, a few of the churches listed below may have taken an unbiblical turn since that time. If you see a church listed that you know for a fact isn’t doctrinally sound, please email me or post a comment to let me know, and provide specific evidence.

Examples of “isn’t doctrinally sound” include, but are not limited to: holding/practicing an unbiblical view of homosexuality, allowing women to serve as pastors, elders, or other positions of teaching/holding authority over men, a pattern of using Bible study materials authored by false teachers, a pattern of using music from heretical sources, New Apostolic Reformation, Critical Race Theory, social justice tendencies/teachings, significant and ongoing ungodly behavior by the pastor or church members, etc.

*A few of the churches on the list have deaconesses / female deacons. There is biblical support for this position (please click here for more information) in some cases, and this does not necessarily mean the church is doctrinally unsound or feminist. If you have questions or concerns, please contact the church directly to discuss this with the pastor.

DISCLAIMER: I cannot personally vouch for the theology of any of the churches recommended nor the people who recommended them. Please use this list only as a suggestion of churches to check out using biblical wisdom and discernment. (Concerns about deaconesses/female deacons? See * above.)

Churches outside the United States are toward the end of this list. Click on the name of the church for the church’s web site.