This church is highly polarizing. If you meet some of the people there, or read the reviews here, you'll hear all the glowing praises. The great music, good coffee, and welcoming people who are earnest and obedient. Many of whom quit their jobs, left their families and moved from the bible belt to plant this church. The church is very thoughtful about the experience it is trying to create especially for young impressionable newcomers. You'll be hard to find a more committed group of people who sacrifice a lot of their time and money. There's enough praise in these reviews that I'm going to offer a different view.
Before I do, it's important to keep in mind that churches are run by imperfect people, and often times, when bad experiences happen, its usually individuals with good intentions that say or do something wrong. You will never find a perfect church...ever. But there are some practices that are systemic in nature here that create the same set of issues happening over and over again that go beyond good intentions. And the church is pretty clear. If you don't like it, find another church. I outline what those are in a factual manner, and I have tried to remove my own feelings or interpretation. So if someone wants to refute these on a factual basis, they can. I reserve my own commentary in the final paragraph.
First, there is a very unique culture where conformity is key. There is a way you do pray by getting uncomfortably close to people and laying hands, praying by repeating the words that God puts in your head, and interpreting your dreams as signs or visions from God. For example, someone may say to you, "I have this voice that is God telling me that you should stop feeling guilty about your past..." Statements that are generally obvious yet vague enough to be true in some way that prompts some sort of response. And although the church seems contemporary and young, it is extremely conservative, and fundamentalist. They believe in literal interpretation of the Bible. There is a belief that there are those who have the gifts of healing and the gift of speaking in tongues. And what's most apparent is how unusually nice people are to newcomers, commonly described as lovebombing. Bombarding newcomers with attention, kindness and love with the sole purpose of conforming you to their mold. Having experienced it myself, I have to say it works pretty well, until you realize its not real and its not about you as a person.
The most notable aspects of the church, is it's authoritarian stance. Hebrews 13:17 is an oft cited verse. You are not encouraged to question your leaders and you must follow their direction in all aspects of your life. If you do not, you will be reprimanded, have your commitment to God questioned or asked to leave. Infractions include showing up late, not attending small group regularly (even if its due to work or family reasons), or not giving sufficiently to the church which is monitored and tracked. Leadership is purely autocratic, run through a head pastor, and enforced by a staff of young pastors with no formal theology training. Bylaws are not public, and elders are selected by the head pastor, so there is no system for accountability. Budget is also a private matter; to ask for it, is to question the authority of your leaders, and God. Only giving is shared relative to the monthly goals, which pressures members to give more, with zero insight on spending.
You can decide if this is the right church for you. I won't judge you either way. But if you've gone there and it didn't feel right, please don't judge other churches based on your experience here. I'm know this church has helped lots of people in their walk and my intent is not to demean this church, but this post is not for them. It's for those who experienced pain, questioned their faith and have decided to abandoned it because of their experience here. To let them know they're not alone, to help those trying to make an objective opinion of where they should go to church. Fortunately there are lots of great churches here like North Shore Baptist, Overlake, Eastlake, Eastridge and Timberlake where you can come to learn more about Christ, and grow in your faith.
God Bless. read more