My family and I visited here as first time "guests" for a Christmas service and were completely ignored and made to feel like we were interrupting their service by sitting in a regular's spot. We felt so uncomfortable I just wanted to leave after the only interaction we had was by a woman peeved that we had to scoot by her to get to a seat and that she didn't want us sitting there. I was hoping to share some Christmas spirit with others since we have no family out here but it just made me more homesick. No one welcomed us or told us about the service and so trying to do communion was awkward because we didn't know the routine and we we got smirks when we didn't know you put the bread in the juice. Churches like these will cease to exist with their insular, exclusive attitude and that is a good thing. read more

If I were moving anywhere near Clemson, this is the church I would be attending. Senior Minister Keith Ray is acting out our Wesleyan tradition of "doing no harm" by supporting programs that work to benefit the downtrodden, marginalized and excluded. He is a man of courage and commitment. He and his staff welcome all and literally are engaged in life-saving work. Thank God for Keith Ray and the staff at Clemson UMC. Open hearts, open minds, open doors really is lived at this church, but not many others! read more

Our experience visiting CUMC was GREAT!!! BTW, see for yourself at http://www.clemsonumc.org it will fill you in better than I can. The pastors, (there are three) The Rev. Dr. Keith Ray, Sr. Pastor, the Rev, Lane Glaze, Campus Minister (to all surrounding area college students), and Pastor Pat Kelly, lead a dynamic and inclusive congregation - assisted by Elizabeth Cheezem and Jad Taylor who lead the youth programs - another children's program, "Little Lights Learning Center" is for all area preschoolers. A unique worship service is Sunday evening , which is led by college students under the compassionate eye of Rev. Lane Glaze and, WOW, do they do a powerful job! It won't surprise you to learn - CUMC is what we now call our "Church Home," along with 300+/- and as for stars, we have a whole universe full of them - lovingly provided by God! ;-D To quote from His book, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 read more

Clemson United Methodist Church - Churches Near Me - Clemson, South Carolina

I'm sorry to read the other review about the family who was not welcomed to this church on Christmas. We have been regular attenders of CUMC in Clemson for about a year, and we really enjoy the people and the service. The Christmas service is especially crowded, and there are many people who attend that service who are not regular members, so people probably didn't know they were visitors unless they identified themselves as such. But no excuse for someone being rude about the seating- so sorry for that experience! We haven't ever had that happen though. Other churches we attended when moving here actually made us very uncomfortable with their "welcome new members" activities. We felt very conspicuous having to turn our "flashers" on the car if we were new, go through a huge introduction and "tour" of the church, being greeted by EVERYONE in church because of our "visitors" name tag. I know that is the right fit for some, but it wasn't for us. We really like the laid back yet familiar atmosphere at CUMC- I grew up attending a Methodist church, and the service here made me feel right at home. One thing you should be aware of is that the format is for children over age 7 to sit in church with their parents. Many other churches have 'Sunday school' during the adult service, but Methodist churches typically do not (and CUMC does not). They do have "children's church" after the first 15 minutes of service where all kids in K5 or younger go up to the front of the church for a short (2-3 min) lesson and then are excused with the teacher for the rest of the service. And there is a 1 hour Sunday School between the early and late church services, if you want to attend that. We also really like the Pastor at CUMC, he always has a very good message and is very down to earth. read more