On September 25th, I helped lead worship in my church for the last time. Our family is part of a core team being sent out to plant a new church just north of our city. When our planting pastors asked me how I felt about this endeavor, I’m sure they were shocked to hear me say, “It’s heartbreaking.”

Church has never just been “church” to me. My deepest and most valuable relationships exist in my church. In Tess Abraham’s article, “Why I Stopped Church Hopping,” she writes, “I’ve tasted what it means for believers to be the hands and feet of Christ, and as others have served me, they’ve provided opportunities for me to serve, encourage, and walk alongside them as well.” Like Tess, I have a desire to know others and to be known, and in the context of my local church God fulfills both.

Paul felt this way about his friends at the church in Thessalonica. He writes, “So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thes. 2:8). For the past 13 years, I’ve experienced what Paul describes. My church family is dear to me. So, leaving to start something new—no matter how good and right it is to plant a church—just hurts.

Press into relationships at your church. God has designed us to thrive in a local body of believers. As Tess Abraham mentions in the closing of her article, once you’ve experienced this kind of genuine, life-giving, Christ-centered community, you just can’t live without it. Thank God we don’t have to.