You have found a church online and you are wondering what the first ten minutes will be like. Which door do you use? Do people dress up? How long does the service run? A church page might answer all of that, some of it, or none of it. If you have never been, it is hard to tell which lines you can lean on.
FaithHaven is a free website and iPhone app. Under each fact on a church page, it prints a short line saying where that fact came from. Here is what each line means, so you know how much weight to give it.
Five source lines you may see
"The church told us"
The church gave us this itself. It is the church's own answer, so it is a direct source. It is still worth a quick check if a detail decides your morning, such as a service time, because churches change their schedules.
"FaithHaven checked this with the church"
Our team confirmed this fact with the church. It is a second route to a church's own answer, and it is labeled separately so you can see the difference.
"Their website says so (checked March 2026)"
We read this from the church's public website. The label shows the month and year we checked, not an exact day, so "checked March 2026" is the example you would see. If that month is a while back, the church may have changed its site since, so confirm anything you are planning around.
"An older listing says so; not confirmed"
This fact comes from an older listing, and nobody has confirmed it. Treat it as a lead, not an answer, and ask the church.
"Not confirmed yet"
This is a blank, and we think blanks should be visible. We do not have a reliable answer. We would rather show you "Not confirmed yet" than fill the gap with a guess. A blank also tells you something: it tells you what to ask.
What about the first visit itself?
Where a church has written its first-visit guide, you will see what happens, how long the service is, what to wear and which door to use. Where it has not, the page says the church has not written its first-visit guide yet, instead of filling the space with filler text. Both pages are honest. The labels show you which kind you are reading.
A quick way to use this
- Start with the lines marked "The church told us" or "FaithHaven checked this with the church." They are closest to the source.
- Look at the month on website lines. Recent is better. Older means verify.
- Treat an older listing as a lead. Ask before you rely on it.
- Treat every "Not confirmed yet" as a question. Call or email the church, or ask a friendly person at the door.
You will still have some unknowns on your first Sunday. That is normal. The goal is a short, clearly marked list of them, so you arrive with a few specific questions instead of a general dread.
Try it
Mark one thing as a must-have and see how many nearby churches get left out. The list tells you the number.
https://www.faithhaven.app