First Baptist Church

A welcoming, extremely warm place that is surprising in that it’s not like the typical Baptist church that springs to mind when you think «Baptist.» The church is beautiful — it has been around for fifty years in the location that it is in. The pastor gives thoughtful, progressive sermons that shows he is a Bible scholar — meaning that he considers things in the context in which they were written, and understands that much of it is metaphor. In my opinion, the message is liberal and caring. There are many different types of people in this church — many gay people, old people and young people, people of all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and many folks (like myself) who are just exploring the whole idea of faith — trying to get the head around the whole God thing, not to mention the rest of it. There are no hard and fast «rules» here — no boxes that you have to check. They call themselves a «journey» church not an «answer» church.
I used to attend a Southern Baptist church as a child. It was pretty holy roller, and there was a huge fire and brimstone emphasis on The Rules and How You Are Getting It Wrong. Boy, this church is the exact opposite. First of all, it’s not a Southern Baptist church and it’s not a conservative church. In a way, it has all of the things about church that I loved as a kid — especially the music — and none of the hateful, frightening messages I remember. They have this message: «Not what you expect, buy maybe what you’re looking for.» That is exactly my experience here. It’s the least «Jeasily» church I have been to in a long time.
Finally, there is an active youth group that is based on service, children’s programs and all kinds of things that allow you to be as connected to the church — or as distant as you want. At first, I just wanted to sit in the sanctuary for an hour, hear a the minister, and then go home. Which was perfectly fine with folks here. Now, as I’ve felt more comfortable, I find that there are many opportunities to serve the community, from marching in the Gay Pride Parade, to gathering food and clothing for the poor, to helping cook food for people at the Ronald McDonald house.
If you are looking for a fit for you and your family, its certainly worth a try. Church starts at 11. Oh, and the church ladies make really good coffee and cake for afterward. You can’t beat that.