Working Faith into Your Life

Welcome to Pittsburgh! The region is a vibrant location to start a new job, buy your first house, or just settle down. Whatever your reason, there are many places to explore, opportunities to pursue and people to meet. While moving to a new location is exciting, it can take you away from many of the comforts you are used to.

One “constant” people can find in life is their faith. Fortunately for you, the Pittsburgh region has a vast diversity in different faiths. From the number of beautiful old churches peppered throughout the local communities, to synagogues, to temples or even simple places of worship there is no lacking of places and ways people young and old can serve and pray.

Below are some tips on how to integrate your faith into your life. Even as you move to a new location, try to navigate new people, places and things, finding and maintaining your faith can be easy.

How to integrate your faith into your busy life:

• Create a regular time in your day to read, reflect and journal.
• Subscribe to a couple of weekly spiritually based pod-casts and listen to them while driving or working out.
• Find a place to volunteer and give back to the community.

Finding a new church that best suits your needs:

• Perform a search on the Internet for a local religious organization that is in your region. Most of these organizations have detailed information that can be easily viewed on the web.
• See if anyone in your personal network can refer you to a good place to start.
• Just try one out. If it does not fit your needs ask the pastor or other religious leader to refer you to another similar organization.
• Keep your eyes out for advertising in newspapers, on the radio, door hangers, etc.

Integrating yourself into a new church:

• Request a meeting with a local pastor or church leader. Most pastors enjoy meeting with people from the community and would be a great place to start for basic information about the organization.
• Join a small group or mid-week class. This is a great way to get further connected in a local community as well as a healthy way to exercise your mind with something other than job responsibilities every week.
• Join in and find a place to serve within your local church.

So, while you are exploring the many new things Pittsburgh has to offer, take comfort in knowing you always have a place to pray, worship and share your faith with others.

Editorial content is provided by North Way Oakland Christian Community. North Way Oakland is a growing, faith-based community located in the heart of Oakland and serves the needs of many young professionals from around the city.