Церковь находится рядом.

Because церковь is the subject of the sentence: it is the thing being described as being somewhere.

In Церковь находится рядом, the structure is basically:

• церковь = the church
• находится = is located / is situated
• рядом = nearby / close by

So церковь stays in the nominative singular.

A useful detail: церковь is a feminine noun, even though it ends in a soft sign -ь. Not all nouns ending in -ь are feminine, but церковь is.

Yes. Находится means is located, is situated, or literally finds itself in a place. It is more natural than using быть when talking about location.

So:

• Церковь находится рядом = The church is nearby / The church is located nearby

In present-tense Russian, the verb быть (to be) is usually omitted:

• Церковь рядом = The church is nearby

That means both of these are possible:

• Церковь рядом
• Церковь находится рядом

The version with находится sounds a bit more explicit or formal, because it emphasizes location.

Yes, absolutely.

Russian often leaves out is/are in the present tense. So:

• Церковь рядом = perfectly natural
• Церковь находится рядом = also natural, but slightly more formal or descriptive

Compare:

• Дом рядом = The house is nearby
• Дом находится рядом = The house is located nearby

In everyday conversation, the shorter version is very common.

Рядом means nearby, close, or next to, depending on context.

It can be used in two main ways:

1. By itself, meaning nearby:

   • Церковь находится рядом = The church is nearby

2. With с

   • instrumental, meaning next to / beside something:
   • Церковь рядом с парком = The church is next to the park
   • Рядом с домом = next to the house

So in your sentence, рядом means simply nearby, with no specific reference point stated.

Because рядом can work as an adverb on its own.

When it means just nearby, no preposition is needed:

• Магазин рядом = The store is nearby
• Школа находится рядом = The school is nearby

But if you want to say next to something, then you need:

• рядом с
  • instrumental case

For example:

• Церковь рядом с музеем = The church is next to the museum

So:

• рядом = nearby
• рядом с чем-то = next to something

The stress is:

• це́рковь
• нахо́дится
• ря́дом

So the whole sentence is pronounced roughly:

ЦЕрковь наХОдится РЯдом

This is useful because Russian stress is unpredictable and must often be learned word by word.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible.

The neutral, straightforward order is:

• Церковь находится рядом

But other orders are possible depending on emphasis:

• Рядом находится церковь = Nearby, there is a church / The church is nearby
• Находится рядом церковь = possible, but less neutral and more stylistically marked

Russian uses word order more for focus and emphasis than English does. For a basic textbook sentence, Церковь находится рядом is the most neutral order.

Находится is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• from the verb находиться

It agrees with церковь, which is singular:

• церковь находится = the church is located
• дома находятся = the houses are located

A few examples:

• Музей находится в центре = The museum is located in the center
• Аптека находится напротив = The pharmacy is located opposite/across from

Yes, находиться is a reflexive verb, marked by -ся.

In many cases, Russian reflexive verbs do not translate as literally reflexive in English. Here, находиться does not mean something like to locate oneself in normal English. Instead, it simply means:

• to be located
• to be situated

So:

• церковь находится рядом = the church is located nearby

This is a very common Russian pattern where the reflexive form has developed its own standard meaning.

Russian has no articles, so there is no word for the or a/an in the sentence.

Whether церковь means:

• a church
• the church

depends on context.

So Церковь находится рядом could mean either:

• The church is nearby
• A church is nearby

In actual use, context usually makes this clear.