As someone who has seen a lot of different kind of churches and some people get hurt from churches, it's inspiring to see how Eden Church has succeeded in being a community where people can feel freely accepted regardless of where they are at spiritually, which gives them the space to move forward in the spiritual journey of following Jesus Christ. And I've seen how they have helped people, both spiritually and physically.
This church is so diverse with people from different countries, different ethnic backgrounds, different ages, and different spiritual backgrounds, yet everyone comes together on a Sunday morning and can relate to each other beyond these socially constructed categories. I can hear from so many different perspectives and learn about the world from talking to people here on Sundays and in their groups that meet during the week.
Despite this diversity and the fact that a lot of people coming here would not necessarily identify as Christian at this moment, probably the one thing that everyone coming here has in common is that they all have found something in the Christian church that they can't easily find elsewhere, and Eden Church has done an effective job making that happen.
Pastor Daniel and his wife are definitely two of the most friendly, considerate, loving people I've met, and I believe their attitude has played a significant part of shaping the culture of Eden Church. They passionately care about Jesus Christ and giving everyone the chance to truly hear the gospel. And their integrity is inspiring, at least from how I've seen them act when they're not on stage.
With all that said, this church is still a very young church with a lot of ways it could grow, and it is not the church for everyone. If someone cares about regularly participating in Christian rituals such as the Eucharist, they would be disappointed by Eden Church, since it seems to be done very irregularly here, somewhat rarely. Also at the point that I am writing this, I haven't really seen the church's community do much together outside of their Sunday morning service or their weekly groups. I've had little success in developing relationships deeper than interacting during only church events, but that could be because I haven't tried hard enough. And finally, in the volunteering to set up and tear down for the church, while this definitely plays a role in building the community of the church, it takes a lot of time, and I believe it can easily burn someone out if he/she is not careful.
Despite those criticisms, I still give the church 5 stars because all the issues I mentioned make perfect sense when you remember it's still a young church, and I see everything moving in a positive direction. read more