First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, a congregation promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity, rents its main sanctuary on Saturday afternoons to a Pentecostal church. When asked if this renting congregation is LGBTQ+ accepting (most fundamentalist/Pentecostalist groups are not), the Board of Trustees president did not know and said he would bring the issue to the Board of Trustees meeting. Received an e-mail back listing specious, easily refutable reasons why the Board did not want to directly ask the tenant Pentecostal church leadership about its LGBTQ stance. If this tenant church is in any way homophobic or anti-LGBTQ+, then First Unitarian of Los Angeles is in ethical disconnect by providing space for discrimination to happen on Unitarian-Universalist property. Seems to me, this UU church is not willing to look at the possible hypocrisy of this situation and/or is too concerned about losing rent money. read more

UULA is a lovely, welcoming, community. Their lay lead model means that sermons are given by community members with diverse perspectives and expertise. Moreover, their excellent programming gives people a chance to connect with the community and make a difference. read more

Minister is inspiring. Well worth a Sunday late morning to listen to the sermon here (in English and in Spanish). Welcoming Congregation. Lovely courtyard and they serve a light lunch after the 11 am service. I haven't yet decided to join this church, but it is a fantastic representation of my faith. Highly recommend. read more

This church has an impressive range of speakers from all over the Los Angeles area. The parking is next door to the building and there is a sign but as I am reading, many people miss the sign. There is a lot of space there for low cost rentals and the church has 3 stories to choose from. They have a catered lunch after the Sunday service. I have never been to a better church. The people are warm and very interesting to talk to. I love this church because I feel that I am a part of something. I feel lost and isolated in most churches. This is a wonderful place for self-expression. read more

We drove around, and around, and around the neighborhood looking for a parking space! It took us about 20 minutes until FINALLY, we found a spot. Of course, who were we kidding? This is Koreatown after all, where finding a parking space is almost nearly impossible. I'm not a Unitarian. But you know who was? Charles Darwin. Bet not many of you knew this! Anyhow... I wasn't here for church. I was here for a concert. My friend happened to win a pair of tickets through Twitter. And although I wasn't here for church, going to a concert is often times a spiritual experience for me. And spiritual it was. This is a functioning church, which is big on promoting social justice (awesome!) but the good folks of this establishment have also opened it up to be a music venue for a lot of indie concerts. It's a great place for that. The acoustics are amazing, the seating fairly comfortable, and I love the historic feel of this place. The courtyard is pretty cool at night, with a soothing water fountain (I think there was a water fountain, or at least I wanted to believe there was), purplish mood lighting, and a full bar! Though, I didn't get anything to drink that night. But, if I had, I would have taken my drink into the sanctuary, which is what a lot of people did. Perhaps it was the nature of the concert's audience, but the mood was very chill. Chill is good. Although, there was this couple sitting to the left of me, where the girl kept sniffling from crying. I felt bad for her and wanted to give her a hug because I assumed that her man-friend was being an asshole. They eventually left. All in all, a cool venue for concerts and spirituality! read more

What a rad place to hold a concert. Acoustics were actually really pretty awesome. Sitting in the church pews kinda made us concert goers a little mellow and well behaved not that the music of artist Patrick Watson is the most rowdy crowd inducing fare. It was pretty awesome when the band walked down the aisle and performed a song from their show for us in that tiny space. I was so stoked to have grabbed an aisle seat and was lucky enough to have the saw player stop and perform his craft right in front of me. Yes, folks the saw can be played as a musical instrument and it is one of my quirky favorites. The courtyard was a beautiful place to have the bar and I loved being able to take my glass of wine into the church and enjoy during the show. Having never partaken in communion during the masses I attended this made me feel like my own version of participation. Fellow concert goers and I loved the mission like architecture. It was also great to be able to bring canned goods in to donate to the church before the show. Made you feel like you were doing a little something good for the community before. Only downside of the venue was trying to find parking in the surrounding neighborhood streets. I got lucky but I can imagine people can easily get frustrated circling the area. read more

Pleased to be celebrating my 900th Yelp Review with this historic and treasured First Unitarian Church and the Iron & Wine Performance I witnessed there within. The church is storied with a reverand who stood up to McCarthyism and a more recent history as a concert venue. The acoustics may depend on the sponsor renting the space out. The night I was there KCRW was the sponsor and I assume they provided the speakers and stage lighting. I'm yielding this space to my friend who accompanied me to the concert and frequently covers concerts on his blog Nothing to Write Home About ( http://bit.ly/1a9Cc3f ). Here's the full text of his coverage of this concert - Read on, especially if you like Iron & Wine! When I went to SXSW earlier this year, I got to see an acoustic set by Samuel Beam, aka Iron & Wine, where he played a few songs from his upcoming album and took requests from his fans. I had wanted to check him out but I was only a casual fan before that show. It was a highlight of the festival for me. A few nights later at SXSW, we went to a show at a local church featuring several artists, closing with Mr. Beam. However, this time we had to make a tough choice and opted to skip a second performance by him and go to see Vampire Weekend. There was a little bit of regret in that decision given the venue and how much I had liked his performance. So when I saw that Iron & Wine was playing in LA at a church, I had my second chance and we grabbed tickets. The venue was the First Unitarian Church in Koreatown. We got there just as the opening act, Bonzie, was playing a Radiohead cover, when we walked into the darkened auditorium, a suitable mood setter. It was a true auditorium with seating, not church pews, and the most obvious sign this was a church were the stained glass windows on one wall and the old-time chandeliers on the high ceilings. After a short break, Sam took the stage sporting a beard even bigger than he had at SXSW. And he was joined by a brass section, string section and three back up singers, in addition to a drummer and bassist. His newest album has some more complex arrangements than previous albums and he was definitely intent on recreating that with this live show. The first part of the show focused mostly on his new album, though he did play one of my favorite songs on the third song, Tree By The River. Sam played up to the enthusiastic crowd and he played up to the venue when he announced he and God had come to an agreement to let him play Monkeys Uptown, which contains a few f-bombs. His three brass players (who also swapped out horns for flutes and clarinets at various points) were their own sight to see, swaying in unison when they weren't playing with the fervor of old Motown. Beam then did a set without the band, and like at SXSW, he took in the shouted requests and opened up his back catalog freely to his fan. My favorite of this set was his cover of Love Vigilantes by New Order. I didn't realize he had recorded a cover, but I absolutely love that song and his cover is a great substitute for the original. As he played to the rapt audience, his shadow played on the huge wall on the side of the room around three rotating circles of light, a nice visual accompaniment to his music. He eventually had his band rejoin him for a few numbers including an epic instrumental freakout (blanking on which song but thinking it was something from the new album) that would have made Explosions In The Sky blush. By the time he had come out for an encore and played one last song, he had played almost 2 hours and everyone left happy. read more

My Mom went to be a volunteer for the food drive and the person in charge of coordinating hurried her to do the stuff right when they know my mom is hurt and cant be doing stuff quickly put he kept hurrying them the person who yelled at them was a Male and my mom told him not to yell at another woman and he told Rachel who is in charge of the food bank and without asking why Rachel told my mom and her friend to leave without reasoning and when she was leaving the guy told them that they were starving people that didnt have anything better to do read more

In MacArthur Park, there is no shortage of culture and community. But you're not likely to notice this gray and unassuming establishment, unless you have a prior affiliation. In a neighborhood with a higher density than parts of Manhattan, where kids play on concrete steps and in cardboard boxes because there are no yards and little resources for splurging, you might be struck by how much joyous laughter you hear. This is a community of togetherness, and this church is one of its beacons. At this church, all are welcomed. The Unitarians are known for their openness to all, perhaps most especially to the gay community. At this particular church, while the services are small, the sense of community is large. Sunday services are offered in English and translated into Spanish, and, during the week, the church sponsors programs as varied as Aprendamos, a weekday program tutoring grades 1 through 3 students from nearby Hoover elementary school , a Food Bank, and upkeep of a Community Garden. On Thursdays, while the long-standing choir rehearses in the upstairs, J.U.i.C.E., a hip hop program for young people which I founded six years ago, overtakes the main floor. Breakdancers of all ages stretch, leap, and spin in the main hall, while deejays spin records on the stage. Emcees congregate in an upstairs office, and graffiti artists converge to spray paint elaborate murals in the patio area. But what else would you expect from an establishment that proclaims, "The Doctrine Of This Church Is Love"? read more