St Therese of Carmel

Super fancy Catholic church for the upper class.
They have a golf cart to pick you up from the parking lot when it’s raining! WOW!
Church is gorgeous inside! Looks like a nice mansion with a view of the mountains.
Make sure you are making a good confession before you go into the confession booth as the priest will ask if you are truly sorry ha ha.

We came here for a rosary prayer service and mass for our late friend. The church is beautiful and there is also another chapel and a nice little grotto. Very modern with lots of seating and windows. Parking may be an issue as we had to park in the back lot when we came for a funeral service with almost 500 people. I cannot image during the holiday mass.
There is also a Catholic school — Norte Dame. Will look into this school and parish should we decided to send our future kids here.
We were pleased with the priest and the mass he provided. The sermon was very touching for our late friend.

St therese is a very warm welcoming church. I am a current parishioner and I love the services and social groups that are offered at the church. There is a prayer group, moms group, Guild, Knights and much more!

This is a beautiful church. The congregation is very friendly and welcoming, though the difference between a normal weekend mass versus the holidays is great. We last attended St. Therese for the beginning of Advent, and I would say the gathering was less than half full. Beware the massive crowds that turn out for Easter and Christmas. Despite the large size, on these occasions, they are forced to hold mass in additional spillover rooms. Visiting from out of town, each time I have found the presented homily to be very clear, approachable, and designed for all levels of faith. I would encourage anyone to try out St. Therese of Carmel.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my church family!
Whoever thinks Catholics are a bunch of sad, depressed, guilt-​ridden folks need to step foot into St. Therese. Can you say «Charismatic Catholics»? My views on Catholicism have completely changed — I went to a Catholic elementary school. ‘Nuff said.
There are 4 masses on the weekends. On Sunday at 5:30pm is the Teen Mass. You really have to be there to believe it. It’s the most beautiful mass, with so many young people on fire for God. Having come from a charismatic, non-​denominational church, both my son and I really appreciate the contemporary Christian songs sung by the teen choir. (You may even catch a few of us dancing in our pews).
If you are interested in becoming Catholic, the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is AMAZING. After much soul searching and prayer, I felt called to enter into the Catholic faith, and began my initiation process a year ago. LIFE CHANGING. A 7-​month, once-​a-​week program, I learned so much about the faith, questions were answered, toured the most sacred parts of the church, met the Bishop (rest his soul) and made lifelong friends.
My son is currently in the Faith Formation (CCD) program. I remember my friends telling me horror stories of their experiences when they were children. It’s not like that here. They play fun games, the curriculum is easy to understand, and the teachers really care about our children, as their own children in the classes as well.
Needless to say, my Pinoy and I got married at St. Therese a month ago. Jean and Joan, the church’s coordinators were awesome at the rehearsal. They did an amazing job of calming our nerves and made sure we were comfortable with every aspect of the ceremony. The church, it’s structure and views, are so organically breathtaking, that it really didn’t need much décor — all we had were 2 big arrangements on either side of the altar, and every other pew had small arrangements hanging on them. That was more than enough. The marriage preparations could take up to nine months, but is pretty painless. Deacon John led that, we went to an Engagement Encounter Retreat at Mission San Luis Rey (loved it), and Father Nick wrapped it all up in the end. He had each of us write out a few intentions we had for each other, which he made part of the homily; and he had each of us write out a prayer to each other, which we read at the ceremony. He did an great job of helping my (Buddhist) family feel comfortable too — explaining different rituals and including them in the ceremony. There was a Thai ‘chord’ we used at our Thai ceremony months prior, Father Nick suggested using it at the Catholic ceremony as well. Genius and so thoughtful! And everyone loved his voice and accent — one guest mentioned that he would want Father Nick to narrate his video biography. Hilarious! I can’t wait to see the pictures and video!
I could keep writing, but all I have to say is, in case you haven’t figured it out:
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my church.

Talk about a church with a view! This church was the closest Catholic church to our hotel so we headed over to attend the 9am mass. The church is simply beautiful! Not too big and very welcoming. My SO was impressed that they had young children playing the violin — we hardly see that anywhere.
Facing the alter, you can see a beautiful view of a small mountain, but as mass begins, a light screen comes down. The homily was nicely delivered and after mass (as with most churches) there were donuts and coffee. (Remember to slip a few dollars into the donation box to help cover the costs of donuts/​coffee). After donuts and coffee, we snapped a few pictures of the outside of this church and we were on our way.

This is the most ecologically looking Catholic church I have ever seen.
Located in Carmel Valley area, it is very beautiful, modern, spacious and luminous with xeroscape kind of landscaping. I was invited for the first time in my life in San Diego to the baptism of a baby. In this case was the baptism of Bella, the daughter of my friends Rob&Erika. I was so excited that I wanted to dress for the occasion and to match with the building (ladies, my advice is to use light lavender for a baptism, it is very pretty for all hair colors and you will look awesome. Of course the baby is the king or queen that day:).
Inside it is very good looking as well as offering very nice views. Looking forward someone getting married and inviting me there!

This is one of the best parishes I have ever been a part of. Fr. Nick and Fr. Paddy, who is visiting from Northern Ireland, provide top notch spiritual guidance and education. The people were very welcoming and helpful.

St Therese of Carmel is a gorgeous, friendly church with beautiful views and natural lighting. I photographed a wedding there recently (
). The staff was wonderfully helpful and the large sanctuary windows made for beautiful lighting during the ceremony. I really appreciated the coordinators thorough instructions and the father’s flexibility so that I was able to get the best shots possible to capture the intimacy of couple’s wedding ceremony.

My friend’s son was baptized here. Beautiful church and very modern. Ran into Kobe Bryant and his wife in the parking lot as we were waiting for mass to finish and the baptism to start. Next day, it was in the Times that Kobe was being investigated for a run in at church with a fan taking a picture of him. No wonder they left early.

St. Therese of Carmel is a beautiful, warm, and inviting Catholic church located in Carmel Valley where «all are welcome!» Father Nick and Deacon John are the good shepherds for the parish family of St. Therese and the Carmel Valley community.