You can find churches everywhere in America.
You will not find churches everywhere that are built on a Pauline foundation and Bible belief.
You might have to travel. Unfortunately, this immediately eliminates those who cannot. (I will describe other ways to engage in the future.) For those who can travel, how far can you afford to travel?
Instead of giving to a local church that compromises on important doctrines, use the money for gas to visit churches that teach right doctrine but are farther away. You say it takes hours to get there? If time is precious, go fewer times.
I remember driving 3 hours to find the closest mid-Acts Pauline assembly to me back when I was searching.
Most people in America commute to work in 30 minutes or less. Strangely, churchgoers will only tolerate half that time for a drive to church. (Most people drive to churches that are less than 15 minutes away.)
If you intend to vote with your feet (as I wrote a couple weeks ago) and only support sound doctrine with your presence, then you will need to extend your willing commute distance.
Perhaps we could make a safe assumption that if you are willing to “vote with your feet” then you care much more about the value of a properly established church than the “average churchgoer” (who also happens not to be saved to begin with).
From a purely practical approach, going to a church 1 hour away every other week is the same amount of driving as going to a church 30 minutes away every week.
Continuing this calculation, you could expend the same on your time traveling attending a church 1.5 hours away every 3 weeks, or a church 2 hours away every month. (Of course, the math changes if you increase your willingness to drive.)
Over the years, I have seen significant benefits to people who gather regularly with a likeminded church. You benefit spiritually, and there is benefit you provide to others by your presence in ministry. The benefits increase exponentially the more frequently you gather in person.
Those benefits also multiply if you are taking your family, because they will also benefit from learning to participate and value a church that teaches right doctrine.
There have been folks who travel 30 min to an hour to our ministry regularly for years who are tremendously valuable. We thank God for knowing their heart and growing with them face to face.
If it helps, consider driving as part of your ministry. When it results in spiritual encouragement and growth for yourself and others that you cannot obtain anywhere else, it becomes a worthy mission.
Next weekend, we leave for our nearly 20-hour roundtrip drive down to Birmingham (by way of Knoxville and Cincinnati) to host a mere three church meetings. We cannot afford to make that trip any other time this year, but we will be there to save you the driving time up to Indiana.
For your edification,
Justin “ministry drive” Johnson