Ignore the review below and have your wedding at First Parish. I did not know Rev. Jones prior to…read morewedding planning, but now I feel like I have a life-long friend in him. He was a pleasure to work with and really took the time out to get to know us. It makes such a difference during the ceremony when the sermon it isn't a cookie cutter speech; I will remember his words forever. The rehearsal went smoothly even though there were about 50 people at the church lol My husband and I are different faiths and this was the first Christian wedding I was experiencing so I was a bit nervous. He made sure I was comfortable and everyone knew what they needed to do. The day of the wedding (May 27), everything was ready for our ceremony as planned and I got so many compliments on how engaging, fun, and personalized our ceremony was.

Kristen J is so wrong, and her post is full of misinformation. Also, why would you expect to have…read moreyour wedding at a church for free? Way to take advantage of a church Kristen. Richard is amazing, our wedding in 2001 was perfect and we gruels are lifelong friends with Richard now.

All Grace and Mercy comes through from God and his blessings!…read more As a human, we are the living beings that need guidance. We need to feel compassion, empathy, respect do this through your faith. Even when we are away from home can still search for the word . The "words" make us feel loved and appreciated. So much history in this city. The building that this congregation calls home is amazing. The architecture just speaks to an individual. It's epic truly. The followers can come here leave their negativity and anger. They can come inside and talk and sing . Let their love flow freely all together. Even though lots of history is here the building evokes love and peace . Remember you are always free to express yourself. Believe and accept the love you deserve. While one of my children was standing outside this beautiful church a local wandered up to us, nonjudgmental and was angry. After speaking to us on holy ground he left with a smile. That's the true power of love and kindness.

What a fabulous place to go and worship. We have only been attending church here for about 8 months…read moreand already feel like we have been members for life. The sermons are relevant and inspiring, the clergy are approachable and engaging and the parishioners welcoming and friendly.

"Not recommended, especially for those in our generation, --the Millennials"…read more My experience at this church ( Connect Community Church) was bewildering. My cousin and I attended the "new member class". During this meeting, we were told by the Pastor --that many of the young adults connect, with him and others, through Social Media (he encouraged us all, to do the same). The following day, we were surprised to find out (by a fellow, new member) that the Pastor decided to exclude us. The reason being that we were quiet and I guess people see us differently? We are slow to warm up, --as we are naturally, very demure and sort of soft-spoken. The situation was off putting but we took it in stride. We loved our new church home, so we just "shrugged" it off, I guess. To our horror and utter embarrassment, -- the Pastor, put in his sermon the following Sunday, that he didn't have to "include or add certain types to the church's/his social Media" and that it's a "privilege for those who choose to open up." Oh, my! We cried that day and never returned. I cannot recommend this place to anyone, especially if you're a Millennial. It just doesn't translate well to our generation. Thank you for reading this and God bless on this Sunday afternoon. - Daisy

Fantastic multi-site church! We've been attending for over 16 years and have thoroughly enjoyed…read moreall the church community has offered us. Caring staff, upbeat fresh messages, and wonderful music/worship experience. We've also really enjoyed the various small groups that we've been part of over the years from ballroom dance lessons and golf to bible studies. Also, there have been many areas to serve and make a difference!

Our family loves Zion Lutheran! We came the area over 10 yrs ago and left our other very large…read morechurch... we joined ZLC because of the small size, the neighborhood presence and the quality of the outreach and mission work. The members treated us as family from the beginning and we have many long lasting relationships with people we may never have met. Pastor Andrew Borden is a great leader with many good ideas and a progressive outlook. you'll love him!

Wonderful inclusive welcoming community. I miss my church having hard time finding one in Florida…read moreto take its place.

1 st UU of Worcester is one of the larger UU churches in the area. It's size may play into feel…read morethe visitor experience. First of all the role of greeting visitors appears to be assigned to the greeters and pastor. Expect polite nods from everyone else. The music was professional and soothing. The readings helped me put the experiences of my week in perspective. The sermon was both intellectually and emotionally engaging for me, providing a mix of philosophical underpinnings and illustrative real-life stories. This is not typical of a UU sermon so this might not be a regular feature of sermons at this church. Afterwards at coffee hour, people gathered in lively conversation. My I-am-sort-of-lost-here look did not work to get me into any of these circles. However, most of the little exchanges were polite and friendly. Finally, I found the welcome table. Had a great conversation and was introduced to other people. Overall, I enjoyed my visit. I like to me able to observe before meeting people, so this formal approach to visitors worked for me. I plan to return to enjoy a few of the many activities offered to adults.

They didn't shut down during coronavirus putting their elderly followers at extreme risk. The…read moremajority of the people who go to this church are elderly. I called multiple times asking to speak to someone to talk about what precautions they're taking and no one called me back. They clearly don't care about the heath and well being of their people..

This church has always been very clean,the sisterhood takes turns to disinfect the church at the…read moreend or service, I have also witnessed deacon cleaning after church service. The church was closed during lockdown I personally had to drive one hour to find church service in a parking lot outside during Pascha Easter night that was held in Westwood ,they also have a very clean safe social distance system. that was during the spring. Livestream was alway in place for anyone . If any members had concern for a elderly parent ,then they could have option of livestream church service. At this time for many years not so many parisheners attend only during major holiday yet they like to visit once a year and then complain. They do not see how faithful the priest and his clergy work hard to make it possible for members to come and pray especially during this time . There is such a small group that shows up. Perfect for distance. 5 stars is not enough for Father Victor & Matushka they derserve a million star rating! Thank God they made it possible for the handful of members to attend safely .I have been so grateful and blessed to attend and listen to the holy gospel that has been preached now for two thousand years. My name is Stavroula and God is my witness that this church is safe holy and perfect!

A place where faith, community, hospitality and outreach come together in a loving way.read more

I am rating solely on the venue that the church rents out and NOT on the church. We rented the…read morespace for an event that fell on a holiday weekend. When I originally toured the venue I asked the woman from the church, Megan, specifically if we would need police detail and was told that we didn't unless there were over 250 people, which we did not have. After the deposit was put down and contract was signed we were then told that we needed police detail afterall. Communication is very poor and management is beyond unorganized! The woman in charge did not know whether or not the stove worked and could not address my questions/concerns accordingly. The day of the event; maybe an hour or two in, another woman (older woman) from the church came in while we were having the event and was inspecting the kitchen. We were questioned about whether or not the cutting board we had used was ours. Mind you, we brought our own pots, pans, utensils as we were given an "I don't know" when asked if we would have access to pots, pans, ect. First of all, we don't need to steal a cutting board and secondly, if we're forking over $2000+ for a venue I'm more then certain we could afford our own. Smh! If it's so concerning, my suggestion would be to keep an inventory of items or write the church name on it. Problem solved! We were told by this older woman that the venue needed to be cleaned that night when the other woman we had been working with had sent an email stating we had 2 hrs to clean the following day. This older women was adamant about clearing plates as soon as the guests were done eating and that the place had to be cleaned that evening regardless of what the email said! How rude is it to be cleaning off the tables while guests are trying to enjoy themselves?! Absurd! There was also a playground that we thought would've been nice for the kids to play on while we had the event and after the situation with this older woman about the kitchen, we asked if we could use the playground and was told "NO, it's only used for church services." We took all these things into account before renting this venue and was then told otherwise! Had we known, and if we weren't so pressed for time, we would've rented another place quick, fast and in a hurry! This older woman we dealt with was extremely rude and unprofessional! To top things off, I called for the refund check to be mailed. There was no mention of any issues, but when I received the check it was only half the amount with a letter indicating supplies were missing, there was broken glass, vomit, etc. Are you serious? If you can help it, GO ELSEWHERE! Though the place is spacious, we would save ourselves the headache next time!!