The Groves Church

Never felt more welcomed at a church before. Love the spirit of community here that is in Jesus, and the willingness and desire to know one another beyond the nice smiles and ‘hello how are yous.’ It seems to me that the believers here get involved at this church with a heart of serving one another in love. And they dive right in, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve only been there a few weeks. I’ve had the opportunity to share my story and hear other people’s story that God has written in their lives in just the short month I’ve been in Portland. So beautiful. It’s exciting to be on this journey together of growing deeper in the love of Jesus, and learning to live under His grace.

The first time I attended something about this place brought tears to my eyes. I felt at home. I felt healing. Like any church or group of humans it may have flaws, but the heart is sincere and true. If you are looking for a friend, family, or a community of people who love with all they are then please come.

I have been attending The Groves since mid-​Summer 2013. At first I kept returning because I thought «well, I’ve been once [twice, etc], so why not.» Then I started actually choosing to go, I started being there because I wanted to be there, and everytime I am with this passionate, creative, genuine group of people, I am happier.
Literally, not a day goes by that I do not talk to someone from The Groves. This is not just a church, this is a fantastic community of supportive individuals who will push you to consider other perspectives, who will challenge you to connect with God in new and different ways, who will be there both to celebrate and to be sad when appropriate.
Thumbs up, do recommend.

The Groves Church is not like other churches.
Good for:
Those who want a small, close knit group of urban friendly people that don’t feel churchy and think deeply about issues, God, and life.
Bad for:
Rigid fundamentalists, haters, meanies, large church programs.
1) It’s super casual. Jeans, tattoos, no problem with refreshments in the service or smartphones looking stuff up during the sermon. No one looks at you funny if you come late either. They’re just glad you’re there. Meets at a hotel.
2) It’s a true mix of both liberal and conservative people. Most places pander to one or the other, but here it is different. It’s more focused on Jesus and obeying him than hashing out politics. It does dwell on justice issues more than most churches though.
3) It avoids general churchiness, typical cliches, intellectual suicide, etc. Some city churches really are just a lot of suburbanites that drive in every week. The groves is truly urban in feel, thought, and demographic.
5) Worship music is modern in style, but old songs are not absent, and some are original pieces. It has the flavor of a band that might play at a coffee shop and eventually moves toward being contemplative. Here, feeling God during a song is more important than singing it and being done.
4) It excels at everything it does, from home roasted coffee, album quality music, bike tours that raise funds for human trafficking, etc. There is seriously a lot of artists, chiefs, and various talents among the group. There aren’t many structured programs though. It’s more organic in feel where its interests come from the bottom up, not the top down.
5) Its pastors know and use Biblical languages to prepare for their sermons, and Paul has a Masters from George Fox. Both men and women speak, and both are good. You can tell they really care about interpreting what the text is trying to say rather pontificating how it might be taken. Sermons are both humorous and thoughtful, and heckling from the crowd is a fun dynamic that adds to the close knit community feel. They also tend to preach through one book of the Bible at a time, rather than skipping around week to week.
6) The community is very close, especially in times of need. Everyone is well connected via Facebook, community groups, etc. There are lots of informal get togethers, trips, game nights, food contests, groups that meet for prayer, etc.
7) The majority of the people are younger, college students, young professionals. There are some kids and some from an older generation, but not many teenagers.
8) Rather than taking 30 seconds to greet people around you, in the middle of service they take like a 20 minute break to go get food and talk. You really get to know people this way and most are pretty friendly.
9) They don’t pass around a plate to ask for donations, nor do they pressure anyone to come forward to the front at the end of the service. There is a donation box in the back, and a table with some bread and crackers for those that want to take communion at will as the service winds down.
My 2 cents:
My wife and I starting going here regularly two years ago, and it has probably saved our marriage. Come check it out.

This church is living the concept of community, but is still very welcoming to newcomers. It meets in hotel meeting rooms near Portland State. Attending church in such a secular location helped me concentrate on the actual service, which was led by talented musicians and teachers who are strong in biblical scholarship and effective communication.
And the coffee is very, very good.

Great community. Great teaching. Artists, students, professionals, familes, young and old (er) all call the Groves home. Worship times are varied in style, and range from celebratory to contempletive, with a penchant for being open and spontaneous. The Groves is a great church home.
Also, if you are new to Portlland and want to see the best of what this great city has to offer, you won’t find a better group of «tour guides».
Come and say hello.

my life has been changed. literally. I am so thankful for the people in this community.

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Groves Church is a newer downtown church in the PSU University District. The mornings I’ve been there, I’ve experienced vibrant music, friendly folks, and a great cup of coffee that is usually home custom roasted.
Portland’s downtown and urban university culture is the main demographic here– multicultural, students, young professionals, new immigrants to the city from around the U.S. and the world, will all be very comfortable.
One thing I love is their commitment to teach the relevant «red letter» words that Jesus spoke. Right now when I visit, they’re go through Jesus’ biography in Matthew.
The other cool thing is to see most weeks a co-​teacher thing going on. Paul the teaching pastor is an excellent teacher and a student of original languages. The past two weeks he’s brought something new I’ve never heard (and that isn’t too easy to do). His wife Sunia, may open or close– she is a great speaker from a Korean-​American background.
What is best about The Groves are the people. They are passionate, serve multiple social causes– trafficking, hunger, poverty to name a few. Usually you’ll see a bunch of bikes in the room– Groves is a very bike friendly church.
Did I mention music? There is a growing group of musicians that really get a groove on!
Finally I know this church welcomes and loves everyone– You know, I think they are a great place for a recovering Evangelical to go and rediscover faith and community the way you wished you gut it the first time around!
This is a smaller congregation, Sunday morning right now you’ll see 30 – 70 in their meetings. Dress is generally campus casual.
On a typical Sunday morning–
Folks start gathering around the coffee and pastry about 10:15 AM. About 10:30 they’ll open with a prayer or passage read aloud from the Bible.
Following the opening, they utilize all of the gifted artists in a varying combination each week to provide about 20 – 30 minutes of awesome music and worship.
Wrapping up with a concluding prayer, the church spends «7 minutes» (usually 20) to grab a coffee, pastry and meet new people one-​on-​one. By 11:30 coffee cup in had, either Paul or Sunia open up with teaching directly from the passage in the Bible just following where they left off the week prior. There is individual Communion offered at the conclusion.