What It’s Really Like Walking into Church for the First Time

Speaking on The New Christian podcast, Chris reflected on those early steps of faith, including a moment many people can relate to: walking into church for the very first time as an adult.

Chris didn’t grow up in a practising Christian household. Faith, he said, was largely absent, aside from a simple principle passed down from his dad: treat others the way you’d like to be treated.

“I had one thing dad would always say… the golden rule,” Chris said.

Like many Australians, his early life was shaped more by a secular worldview. At university, studying science deepened that perspective.

“I lived in a very materialistic world… everything could be explained. But it didn’t satisfy anything. It ended up feeling very empty.”

That sense of emptiness became a turning point. Alongside Vanessa, Chris began exploring ideas beyond science, looking into philosophy, other belief systems and eventually the Bible itself.

Quiet steps toward something more

Interestingly, their journey toward faith didn’t begin together.

Both Chris and Vanessa had started listening to Christian content separately, unsure how open the other was.

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“We knew the other was interested… but we didn’t know how interested,” he said.

That changed with a simple, tentative question one evening.

“Vanessa said, very sheepishly, ‘Would you mind if maybe one Sunday you drive me to church?’”

Chris’s response surprised even himself.

“I was like, OK, let’s go.”

The first time walking into church

That first visit stayed with him, not because everything felt natural, but because it didn’t.

“We were nervous. Really, really nervous. Our hands were sweating,” Chris said.

The questions came quickly. What do we wear? Where do we sit? What do we say?

Even the language felt unfamiliar.

“I didn’t know how to read a Bible… it looked like some sort of code.”

Beyond the practical uncertainty, there was also something deeper, a feeling that they were entering a completely different culture.

“Why is everyone so nice?” Chris remembered wondering.

Coming from a world where relationships often felt transactional, the environment inside church felt disorienting.

“Outside, it’s like I do something for you, you do something for me. But church isn’t like that,” he said.

“People just want to serve.”

A different way of living

That contrast became one of the most striking early impressions of faith in action.

“It’s not just a different language. It’s a completely different culture,” Chris said.

And while those first steps were uncertain, they were also enough to keep going.

He describes becoming a Christian not as a single clear moment, but a gradual journey that is still unfolding.

“When you decide to become a Christian, life doesn’t just get easier,” he said.

“It’s worthwhile, but it’s not easy.”

Turning questions into a pathway for others

That experience has now shaped a new project, The New Christian podcast, designed for people asking the same questions Chris once had.

“This is the podcast I wished existed,” he said.

The first season walks through the basics, who God is, how to pray, how to read the Bible, and even how to navigate church, all with the honesty of someone who remembers what it feels like to not know.

At its heart, the podcast is about those first steps. The hesitation, the curiosity, the quiet courage it takes to walk through the door.

“It’s just to help someone take those first steps,” Chris said.

And for many listening, that first step might look very familiar: standing outside a church, unsure, curious… and just willing enough to walk in.

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

Feature image: Canva Pro