Church Without Walls Berkeley is a great place church for those looking for the intersection of…read moreJesus and Justice, intergenerational discipleship and true Christ Centered community building.

I've been a part of Church Without Walls since 2002…read more What drew me in was the smaller, family feel of the church and the church's heavy involvement with the Berkeley community: volunteering at Rosa Parks, serving Berkeley youth.... It definitely felt like a place I could be accepted for all of who I am, brokenness included.

I was a part of this fellowship for a long time, a long time ago, and they are the same now as they…read moreused to be. They prey on young impressionable college kids, love bomb them, and try to get them to join them for life. You will end up spending all your free time at their events, giving them your money, only doing things that they want you to do (give free labor to the church). Please stay away from this high control group and tell all your friends to stay away too. Please for the love of God don't go to the seven week intensive "training" they have this summer for $1000 in Chicago.

While this group is fun as Conrad pointed out, this group is really huge so it can be difficult for…read morea newcomer to feel like they can grow and learn about religion on their own. I was part of this group but felt that it was pressuring and bureaucratic. I guess that comes with joining a huge club/organization. But the sad part is it's cliquey; they only favor your if they see your commitment potential, otherwise, they don't bother talking to you. From my experience, they were only nice to new members simply because they were potential additions to hierarchy. It's a fun group with weekly bible studies, and there's lots of outings and bonding, but the moral of the story is to join only if you're ready do commit your whole life and lose your life, family and friends to this. Otherwise they drop you like you're hot and all of the friends you made here will become strangers and you are left alone. A lot of people got hurt from this group, while those who really felt a connection (basically those who were already Christian in the first place) fit right in. Just so people know, I'm not religious. I choose not to be affiliated with religion because people will assume I'm a fake, like many seem to be. Also, I was invited to Conrad (below) and Sarah's wedding back when I was a member but when I left the group, I was no longer invited to their weddings. Apparently in this group, membership precedes friendships. Read the one and two-starred reviews of Gracepoint Berkeley. They know what I'm talking about.

GOD was watching over me as usual. During a concert on Thursday I was harassed and threatened by…read morethe parking attendant who stated if I didn't move out of a handicap parking spot I was legally parked in, that he would pull me out of church and tow my truck. He said if I gave him $10 , I would be able to stay. He allowed people who were not disabled to park just because they were a part of the program being performed.

I love this church! This place of worship welcomes the full participation of every sexual…read moreorientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, nationality, ability, and age in worship. This community loves Jesus, but is also open to those who are spiritually curious or questioning their faith. They are also deeply involved in the community and social justice efforts (anti-racism work, hunger programs, environmental justice, etc.) Service is at 10 am (in-person and live-streamed), and they have communion on the first Sunday of the month (open to all). I can't recommend this church enough!

Wonderful place . Old hippies singing social justice songs. Nice open mic first Friday of the month.read more

This small congregation has been my spiritual home for the past six years. It has a proud history…read moreof promoting spirituality and social justice in the heart of Berkeley since 1957. We offer great music, a welcoming diverse congregation and great variety in its worship services. This is where you can join with others in working to improve our community and our world. A place where you can bring your whole self and feel at home!

Evidently the door-to-door folks at this church can't read. I have signs on my door asking for…read morereligious literature not to be left at my residence, but they did so anyway.

I was a member here, and its church plant, for over 10 years from my senior year in college to…read moreseveral years afterward, from 2005-2016. What immediately strikes you is the seriousness of the attitudes of the members here -- they are not here to play and they take the Bible very seriously. Within this church body a strong view of Lordship salvation -- which is church-speak for honoring Jesus as your Lord and Master, not just your "homeboy" or Savior, or genie in a bottle -- quite refreshing. I think the outcomes of this church are a mix of the individual, the church teaching, and the culture and influence of members of this church. My current view is that salvation (justification, sanctification, and future glorification) is completely the work of God, and not of man. I have seen Christians of all shapes and sizes come through this ministry and become essentially more of what they were, previously. e.g. Big-hearted Christians became even bigger-hearted; immature Christians became slightly less immature individuals with their problems masked by changed behaviors, but unchanged hearts. Pros: - Biblical teaching, expositional preaching, good doctrine, high view of God's word, conservative views - "Truth"-heavy - A lot of equipping. An inside joke, when the church was still called "Eastbay Baptist/Bible Church of Berkeley," was "The Eastbay Seminary." The Sunday school and equipping classes I've taken: Evangelism Training 1, Evangelism Training 2 (Apologetics), Biblical Hermeneutics, Old Testament Survey Cons: - More could be done to help build up well-rounded Christians. - Culture is too "inward" focused -- members tend to neglect relationships with family, non-Christian friends, coworkers, etc. - Can be "hyper-fundamental" at times. Things that are not explicitly sins in the Bible are viewed and treated as if they were actual sins. - Where is the grace? Tendency to be big-headed, small-hearted. - Lack of cultural diversity - Lack of age diversity - Tendency to produce behavior change (through peer pressure), rather than heart change (only possible by work of Holy Spirit) On the positive side, most of the members of this church body have a genuine desire to pursue holiness and Christ-likeness -- "Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). However, because of the overall youthfulness and immaturity of certain individuals, and the proclivity for group-think, there is a tendency of a version of stoicism and monasticism (denying oneself of worldly pleasures) to be erroneously praised as a virtue among its members in their good-intentioned pursuit of holiness--which is still missing the mark. I would encourage all to be Bereans and study Scripture for themselves. I received a lot of great teaching from this church and learned the tools to help study the Bible for myself. However, there were certain experiences that I went through during my time here that were also heart-wrenching. While I have been encouraged greatly and grew tremendously as a Christian during my time here, I also experienced a lot of deeply painful experiences that are still with me today, and on some days, those painful memories are more vivid than the positive ones. I think Revelation 2:1-7 is a very good, spot-on description of this church when I was a member there: "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'" In a culture where the prevailing attitude is anti-God and overwhelmingly secular, this church is a God-send and refuge from the storm. For conservative believers, it feels like the members of this body are the "7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:18). However, I would exhort this church to excel still more, and to try and find ways to have a refreshing and positive impact to its surrounding and greater community. Remember the two greatest commandments: 1. Love the LORD your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself. (No, not just your fellow church member.)

This church started out as a ministry in Oakland, CA…read more Pastor John came up as a guest speaker in the winter of 97, moved the ministry to Berkeley in 2002, where it resides to this date. I have been in this ministry since the very beginning, even before Pastor John came up to the Bay Area, from SoCal. For 17 years, I have been under this man's tootilage and teaching, even knowing how he had treated members and warning him to stop his madness. It came to a crashing end in November of 2014, when through several meetings that occurred in October of 2014, Pastor John revealed that the leadership actually planned a conspiracy against me, and brought false allegations to remove me from where I was serving in, although none of the emails that lead up to our meeting on October 15th indicated any of this was occurring. Moreso, he lied regarding the allegations and gave several versions of it to the church, some of, but were not limited to: He is stepping down. He is taking a break. He needs spiritual counseling. My final straw, after attempting to reconcile with him, that first I needed to be stripped of my character, and built back up to serve correctly, for Evangel. That's funny, because he has known me for over 16 years prior, and didn't have prior issues. It felt like a cult, and then I realized, that PJ might be trying to brainwash me. Prior to this, he had told me to remove my belongings (sound equipment, since I serve as his AV director), and leave. He also had them reprogram my door card to no access. I was gone! But it didn't end there. The ministry's tone changed on me in the upcoming months, in going from sentimental to an outright plea to repent. It was apparent that the ministry had heard vague accounts of what happened between the pastor and myself. After having enough of the phone calls, voice mails, and emails, I finally wrote a letter to the members explaining why I left to begin with. The backlash? 31 members came after me, either through email, yahoo mail, gmail, facebook, texting, all avenues, basically telling me to give in and submit to PJ, or else I was going to face great punishment and be excommunicated........................ And this is what is wrong with the ministry. Anyone who has a voice to stick up with what is going on, is put under the microscope of needing biblical counseling. Anyone who addresses a concern at or towards the leadership as to how they are conducting themselves, it is gossip. Unfortunately, legalism and dogmatic theology have taken over this ministry, and the way the members treat anyone who disagrees. Moreover, reconciliation is deemed church discipline if it is against the pastor. If you are a guest, coming to visit, the church from a distance seems like a piece of cake to visit and learn from. And I will say this: you will learn a lot! As an outsider, you will be amazed and astonished by the truth and words that are preached. As a member, it will bring stress, heartache, emotional trauma, physical and spiritual abuse. And this clarifies when I refer to legalism. Your social media is even monitored as to whom you associate with: if a woman associates with a brother, she is often urged to stop and block the brother. Over the years, he has also developed low views on women, single people, and the homelessness. This is the tip of the iceberg: Even people who have written on yelp have had their reviews taken down, because the church has flagged and reported that, "the facts are not true", and then another member just writes a review, just to give it a high rating. The rating for Evangel would be much much lower, than the 4.5. But because of the blocks, the rating is higher. My biggest concern, and why I post this is, in still resolving the issue in 2014, in my 17 years in the ministry, there have been at least 60 members who have left, solely, due to PJ's treatment of them. The greatest flaw in the leadership structure is that the deacons and elders, whom he personally picks, all answer to him. The current elder was a reinstated elder, who stepped down several years prior, due to his heart issues in serving in the role, to begin with. Pastor John has no accountability, and the current staff isn't keeping him accountable. The men just do whatever he asks of them. Since there isn't really any accountability, everything being done is deemed correct. Moreso, since the original elders departed from this church as the elder board, there have been increases of paranormal activity at the church. For example, I have seen, along with my family, shadows running around and even came home with three distinct scratches either on my face, arms, chest or legs, on several occasions. Pastor John does need a lot of help, repentance, even to the point of stepping down. There are plenty of decent churches out there. You can visit, but proceed with caution.

This is the most beautiful church! Got married here and Father John and everyone here were amazing…read morefor our special day.

This church means a lot to me! In 2004 I started my RCIA journey as my son went to Their school,…read moreyes there use to be a school and my heart broke as many hearts did when they closed it. I also met my husband in 2006 and he commenced RCIA almost immediately after we met because he wanted to marry me and yes in the church! I was a cradle catholic baptized as infant only but he was a total conversion and we were married here by Fr. Stephan on 12/12/2007 hallelujah!! We then moved to Richmond and still attended mass here however we felt we needed to stay in our community. Anyhow here we are i visited today because I was told they have the partial Tridentine Mass. Oh my word!! What a beautiful experience as I've always read and heard stories of the pre Vatican II days. Today I knelt for communion for the first time and accepted the body of Christ in the most solemn way. My husband will be back no doubt!!! Major kudos also to this parish for having a wonderful greeter who hands you the church missal and the option of the church bulletin. Inside the church the pews are completely bare and free of hymnals, papers, etc. The missal made my heart warm as all the readings, hymns, and to top it off, the lovely instruction for receiving the Holy Eucharist was clearly written out. I am not sure why churches everywhere don't do this as many Catholics don't even know they are not supposed to receive communion if they are in the state of any grave sin. I learned years ago that not going to church on Sundays was a grave sin, not to mention a few others. This also helps non-Catholics who are visiting.... Again, thank you STJW the Lord is gleaming I am sure, I know I am! By the way, Father Luhan who is a priest at St. Mary of Magdalene have the most beautiful homily. Just a special day for me with our Lord, thank you STJW! God bless

When I was younger I came here as a child and into my teenage years as I was raised catholic. (I…read morehave then since converted to Judaism). Overall this church is really nice, large and well kept up, both inside and out. The priests at the time were all really nice and always very caring (they have now since change priests). As the years went on, things started to change within the church and there were certain people that left. They were too many rules and people felt that they were being control. It was also rumored that there had been some funny business within the priests group which of course is disturbing in any religious setting for anyone to hear of. Which is why my family stopped coming here and they started attending another church around our area. The church does have a large hall for parties or weddings, complete with a stage, kitchen, bathrooms, tables & chairs and large sitting/dance area. There is a parking lot across the street from the church that can be used but other than that parking can be found on the street. Such a shame that such a beautiful place doesn't get as much attention after what happened.

I have attended Sunday and weekday morning church services at St. Ambrose Church. I am pleased to…read moresay that this church pretty much still has the same exteriors and interiors that I had remembered (barely) as a child. Which is more than I can say for some of the churches here in the SF Bay Area. What I do wish there was space for the statue of the founder of the Salesian order, St. John Bosco. This parish is run by the Salesian order, headed by two Salesian priests from India and one in residence. They are very nice and very friendly priests. The Mother likes how one of them delivers his homilies: he starts by telling you what he is going to tell you; he tells you what he is going to tell you and then he summarizes what he has just told you. I have to agree, I quite like his homily style--works for me very much. What has changed is the congregation. I am used to quiet before and after the service so I can pray. It was a bit of a shock to come in and the church is a social hall. Okay, so much for quiet prayer and reflection. I am very used to going to church as if I was on my way to the library. The congregation is very spirited and very friendly. On one of my very first visits, one of the members was way too inappropriately friendly: this person practically accosted me while I was looking at the stained glass windows of the apostles and saints. I do not want to go into the gorey details about what happened. This person was way too friendly (in such an inappropriate way) for my tastes which is one of the reasons why I will stay an occasional visitor to St. Ambrose. I had the pleasure of travelling with one of the priests at this church on a pilgrimage to France/Italy last summer in celebrating his 25 years as a Salesian priest. This priest is one of the main reasons why I will still visit St. Ambrose when I can. (I just have to be prepared to avoid a certain member of the congregation or two by running the other way as fast as I can.)

All Souls church is a very special and truly inclusive community, where everyone is welcomed and…read morevalued. Since I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, I have received great spiritual support and, above all, emotional support. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a church in the Bay Area.

All Souls is a special church community that is inclusive to all. All people are Chosen and All…read moreland is Holy. I have been a part of this church since moving to the Bay Area.

This is a beautiful community of believers, loving, worshipful, Holy Spirit inspired, in the Word…read more The facility is transformed into a modern setting and services feature videos, contemporary music and fervent prayers. Pastor Ginger's preaching is anointed. God has given her a conversational style. All are welcome here to seek God and God's healing power and the fellowship of others also seeking and praising the One True Loving Source of all Love and Goodness. This is a community smaller in number in-person and growing on-line. Website hosts archive of previous services, so you can always catch what you missed live.

I have been going to the Bridge Berkeley since I was in elementary school. Love the people and…read moreeverything we stand for. Just started live worship again and I am excited to be the one leading it! Hope to see you guys there in person, or for our online service. Just search us up on google to find our website, and come join our family