Central Presbyterian Church

Absolutely beautiful place. I attended the Grouper show held here during Chaos In Tejas and it was the perfect venue for it. The sanctuary is calm and inviting, all done in warm woods and hand-​hewn stone. The sound is really good, considering how cavernous the room is.
My one complaint is that the restrooms are located down two flights of stairs and a hallway. For anyone who really has to go or who has a disability of some sort this is kind of an inconvenience!

I started church shopping my first weekend living in Austin. The closest Presby church to my apartment was CPC. My church shopping never continued to a second church.
The congregation is always friendly and welcoming. CPC has created an environment where the rest of the congregation feels like a family. Their slogan is «Deliberately diverse and fully inclusive» and this can be seen in the pews and in conversations on a weekly basis. When I first visited, several congregants were sure to point out the new refugee family and over time, I was able to see the congregation embrace members of the LGBT community. As I met members and families, I was able to see some drive from Dripping Springs, Cedar Park, Kyle and Buda… There’s definitely a reason that CPC draws people from so many paths!
I, for one, love their Children and Youth programs available. (I might be biased because I help out with some.) I am in awe that the kids really learn and understand the scripture each month (They typically focus on a different story each month). The kids are also embraced in the church service with a Children’s Sermon. The Youth Group meets three times a month, and does a variety of things: service projects, fund-​raising efforts, games, planning the Youth Service (which occurs once a year), or finds something fun that’s going on around Austin. They have also started going on Mission Trips (2012), to learn about other communities, learn about themselves and each other, and to offer their service to others.
Outside of Sunday service, CPC is a meeting place for ESL classes, the homeless, and they even open their doors for other churches to hold service! CPC is an awesome venue for SXSW and hold other concerts throughout the year. (They have weekly music during the lunch hour on Thursdays too.) In a city that loves music, CPC has great acoustics and is a hospitable location to listen to some local and national bands!

When we first visited Central Presbyterian, I was struck by the friendliness of everyone. Not an insincere friendliness, but a real desire to welcome me. I was even more surprised when people remembered me by name the next time I came back!
CPC lives by its slogan «Deliberately Diverse & Fully Inclusive». We’ve got members who fled to the U.S. from different continents, we’ve got people who aren’t sure where they are on their spiritual journey, we’ve got GLBT couples, and we’ve got suburban families like ours. All are welcomed no matter what and are made to feel just as valued as the next person.
Oh yeah, and CPC also does things like host rock concerts (see the other reviews about SXSW), house homeless women on freeze nights, sponsor an ESL program for refugees, and have lots of potlucks.
I visited two ½ years ago, joined as a member, and I haven’t left yet.

My family joined CPC just a few months ago and we were immediately impressed by how welcomed we felt.
We have a 3 and a 5 year old, so a good children’s program as well as childcare are extremely important to us. We have yet to encounter an event where childcare was not offered, even if our kids were the only ones there. This has been essential to our ability to participate in church activities. The children’s Sunday school program is fantastic and all the childcare staff is so caring and nurturing. The children are even encourage to participate in the service and get to listen to their own children’s sermon every Sunday.
Some of the things that really drew me to this church were their interest in social justice issues, helping those less fortunate in the community, and their inclusion and acceptance of ALL people. They absolute follow their motto, «Deliberately Diverse and Fully Inclusive», and I think that’s fabulous!
The two co-​pastors, Greg and Joseph, are amazing. They both inject their sermons with passion and wit. I leave church feeling refreshed and inspired and always with lots to think about. The minister at the church I went to as a kid never spoke to me and probably didn’t know my name. Greg and Joseph call me by name every time I see them and have since the 2^nd time we visited!
The music program is also fantastic. My husband and I both love to sing and as soon as they told us that they’d arrange for someone to watch our kids on rehearsal night, we were sold! I love the variety of music that we sing and I enjoy being a part of the service. There’s even a hand bell choir that performs a couple of times a year which is super cool.
Some people think we’re crazy for driving from Kyle all the way to downtown Austin to go to CPC, but it’s totally worth it! I would highly recommend a visit — I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Like the other Unilocalers who have reviewed this place, I’ve never been to a service here but I have been to a concert. The BF and I saw Laura Marling here this past weekend and I cannot think of a better place to have seen her since her music is divine. The space is calm and intimate, the stage lighting warm without being glaring, and the acoustics are sublime. We sat in the second row, mere feet from Ms. Marling, and got to see and hear everything with perfect clarity. I could see how this space could get claustrophobic if it was filled to capacity since it has pew seating, but for this event it was truly perfect. I would definitely see another concert here.

BOOOOO CPC!!! What happened this year at sxsw? I went here with a wristband to a show that was advertised as badges only. Ok, this should be a warning for me not to come, but I did anyway just to see if they would hold true to this.
When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to see nobody in line at all… so we literally started a line with another small wristband-​clad group. Over the course of about 2 hours we watched the line grow from a measly 10 (in our two groups) to the massive swell of… are you ready? 50 people!!! OH NO!!! How will you ever fit them all in your church that fits 500? I know, how about turn them away after you pander cookies and charity causes to them! Perfect!
Eventually, my small group of rockers got antsy and gave up after being told that they were absolutely not taking any wristbands. The kicker is that someone in my group randomly ran into someone in the other group who apparently got in after getting in some sort of altercation with the people running the event and according to them, there were a bunch of open seats for Band of Horses! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!
BOOO!!!
Listen, I understand that you think that because a bunch of badge people RSVP’d to your event that it means that they are totally going to be coming. Turns out that people RSVP to EVERYTHING during SXSW just in the off chance that they stumble by your event after a 4 hour binge on free tea flavored vodka and free coozie covered PBRs… it means nothing!
Please someone from your group, go watch how Stubbs, Antone’s or Mohawk works during SXSW before you try to hold another event.

So I never have been to a service here. Wondering why I’m giving it five stars? Any church/​religion that allows it to be one of the venues for SXSW is consider to be beyond awesome in my book. C’mon now!

FTR!
This is one badass church when it comes to music venues. Music, you say? That’s right. For SXSW ’09, Central Presbyterian Church became a music venue and the performers took full advantage of its crisp, full acoustics. The pews formed a great seating area, fitting a few hundred comfortably. No squatting in the aisle though. That’s a fire hazard. I had the privilege of seeing Lisa Hannigan and Laura Marling perform there. At the end of Laura’s set, she stepped far away from the microphone and sang out into the rafters. I haven’t heard such a pure sound since I came out of my mother’s womb. I’m not sure if the church will hold music performances in the future but if they do, be there. The acoustics will blow your mind.