I knew when I walked in the doors that the presence of God resided in its congregation. Although…read moreit is growing larger every day, God has provided sound leadership to help us grow in the right direction Hope church doesnt only come alive on Sundays, it continues its missions into the community, and with fellowship groups all week long Hope may look too big at first but the congregation will welcome you and help you find your niche with small groups available.

I found this church from what only could have been a sign from God. I was struggling at the time…read moretrying to switch job fields to provide for my child as a single mother. One rainy morning, I was on the way to work, replaying my rusty job interview responses that did not result in a job offer. Suddenly, the car in front of me slammed on its brakes. To prevent from hydro planning, I swerved into a turn lane to avoid a collision. I had to turn into Hope's parking lot to reroute back onto Patterson to continue my morning commute to a dead end job. I strongly feel like in this moment, God was leading a lost soul back home. I attended that weekend, and the sermon was everything and more. It completely restructured where I placing my trust and faith with keeping a tight control on my life. I handed it over to him that day, and asked him to reveal his plan. Throughout that week, I heard several people repeat a line I had heard in the sermon the prior Sunday. Everything comes back in a fill circle, just like God's plan. This line kept coming back up in conversations with complete strangers. His plan will be revealed in his own time. It will come back in a full circle, but we will not know, while we are going through it. We just have to trust. One of these moments, occurred at my next job interview and I have been a member with Hope over the past 5 years. It has brought so many blessings since. Now I listen for him to guide me. In addition, they have a wonderful youth program for my son. I met my now spouse and we have a strong faith based relationship where God is the center. The music is amazing. The sermons are very scripture based and provide background context to explain why the bible is written in specific vernacular and the intentional meaning behind it. Things I never was taught growing up in my old church. I just love everything about Hope and agree, they meet you where you are. They are friendly, but not pushy. You can become as involved as you wish, and offer tons of classes and study groups. The pastors tend to rotate during each series. They do each have their own style of preaching and depth, but I recommend giving it 2-3 Sundays to feel it out if you are new, before judging a book by its cover. Not every sermon will hit you and be life changing, but they have a lot of very powerful sermons that have so much depth and leave you wanting more. The only thing is it is a pretty large congregation so it can be hard to get to know the pastors and new faces personally on busy Sundays. I recommend coming to a small group or class and get a chance to speak with them in a smaller setting where's its not as busy. Overall, I can't speak more highly of this home church. It's every thing I had been craving as a young and now older adult. I've grown so much in my faith and very thankful for Hope.

* I offer this review for any sincere spiritual seekers who are thinking of attending this…read moreinstitution, for all institutions will always try to sell themselves in the best possible light to you. Yet, how trustworthy is any institution's own advertising and self-promotion really? That said, I would advise you not to just wholeheartedly buy into my review either. It is always best to test the waters deeply for yourself. Review The unofficial nickname for this seminary by some of its students is "the cemetery" because it is where spirituality goes to die. However, even though those students label it with that realistic nickname, they still continue to attend in order to attain that institutionalized piece of paper (degree) that they feel makes them worthy in the eyes of the socially conditioned world and their various made-up denominations. However, Jesus was a de-centralized spiritual teacher with no institutional credentials who lived and moved according to "the call of the Spirit" in the margins of society; he did not conform to the world (Romans 12:2) nor did he play by the centralist rules of engagement. The way Jesus lived was a protest against many of the prescribed norms of the intellectual and religious elites of his time and place. Didn't Jesus proclaim, "Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering" (Luke 11:52). Aren't the seminary professors with PHD's the new "experts"? On the other hand, Jesus walked the dusty countryside and the dirty city streets without any barriers between him and the people; his wisdom came from lived experience and Divine Source, not the shelter of formal lecture halls with their academic norms and sophisticated rules of engagement. But this institution is not interested in being like Jesus. That's why they have spent over a hundred million dollars beautifying their small campus with lavish techno-savvy buildings for about only 150 privileged students and faculty members while within one square mile of their bling buildings scores of people lay homeless, hungry, and destitute in the streets. Nor is this self-spending going to stop soon, as this institution will soon spend roughly 10 million dollars to renovate another one of its buildings (that they let fall into decline). Yet, "The Way" cannot be paid for, granted by a degree, or learned from the intellectual bourgeois (who love to place all of their elite titles after their names---like Reverend Doctor) in comfortable, tech-savvy, air conditioned classrooms. A true seeker must leave those societal ego badges behind them. During my time at this seminary, students and professors would over-rationalize and debate the theological merits and historical accuracy of the Good Samaritan story while there were scores of homeless people within a square mile of the seminary that they could attend, accompany, and love. Also, the seminary held a Community Lunch on Wednesdays for ITS STUDENTS, FACULTY, and STAFF while the marginalized peoples out on the streets were never invited to the SEMINARY'S RESTRICTED TABLES. I stopped attending their COMMUNITY LUNCH and spent my time attending and accompanying my destitute brothers and sisters out on the streets beyond the comforts of "the cemetery". For WHO is GOD'S COMMUNITY? How can a seminary teach its students to be "the church in the world" (as Union Presbyterian Seminary claims as its slogan) when its pedagogic professors write from within the safety of their academic status, conduct research from lavish state-of-the-art libraries, and conform themselves to the time-honored ivory tower codes of professorial hierarchies, privileged tenure, pandering for grant money, and the "publish or perish" mentality? This obvious separation from the "street level" is why scholarly works on theology seem isolated and dispassionate to spirited seekers and why the public has little interest in them. We must also ask why only over-educated people with PHD's and advanced degrees from elitist institutions are the only ones who get to teach at mainline Protestant seminaries---though Jesus of Nazareth was a carpenter's son from a disrespected backwater town who recruited mostly uneducated blue-collar laborers to be his disciples and had marginalized women as supporters and followers. How can an academic degree like the Master of Divinity (is there a more egotistical title?) taught by academics within an institutional milieu prepare a seminary student to be a spiritual shepherd for a congregation seeking God? We should also question how a seminary student can earn a Master of Public Theology degree (Union Presbyterian Seminary offers this) by completing a series of modules by sitting in front of a computer screen within the comfort and safety of their own home? Thomas Merton wrote, "The Pharisees were actually the slaves of their own system but they didn't know it." Yup!

I am but the second reviewer for Union, and over the course of my degree programs, spent four years…read moreof study and engagement within and without the seminary as a student, and am now an alum. In the course of that study, I received not one but two degrees from this institution, and I would invite you to consider the thoughts of someone who successfully completed their course of study at this institution while discerning a path to seminary- including and especially this one. It is true that seminary is not for everyone, and that seminaries as a category of higher educational institution do suffer from some of the same boundaries and challenges as all other academic institutions: the word academic is right there in the name. Yet where Union TRULY excels is not in its ability to attract brilliant and accomplished faculty from diverse background, nationalities, and specialties (which it has!), nor in its ability to prepare students for the various challenges and joys of pastoral ministry or Christian education (which it does, not shying away from the parts which are not so pretty as the white vestments of Easter Sunday). Union boasts a strong financial aid program, ecumenical focus with a growing contingent of non-Presbyterian students, world-renowned scholars on faculty and brought to campus for special events. The seminary's various mentorship and spirituality programs encourage students to form community and engage deeply beyond the classroom with things which concern them and their faith. Classes are built not just around theory, but on the ways that theology becomes real and impacts the day to day life of believers. Supports exist for students beyond academic needs, aiming to make sure that outside of the classroom, mental and physical health is being supported. Where Union truly excels is in the way it directs student involvement and development beyond the bounds of the curriculum, including student-led initiatives to address diversity, equity, and inclusion on both the Richmond and Charlotte campuses; internships which allow students to embrace their creativity and calling outside of the campuses; and connections within the community to organizations doing work to support the cities where the seminary is planted. Most importantly, to discern a way to seminary is to follow God. For some that does in fact lead to the seminary itself, to learning the theology that supports the practice and the biblical witness that then leads beyond. Every community is different, and this one seeks to support the well-being and the needs of students and support them in their study, their work, and their calling- wherever that call leads.

Give this church a try! It has something for all ages. No church is perfect, but you will find…read morethis church to be Bible-based in the preaching!

I found this church to be surfacey. I went for several years--Sunday School too--and no one really…read morereached out to me or tried to be my friend. If you want to be told you are a part of a family while feeling unsupported and unknown, this may be the place for you. It is for 'clique' Christians who deny their own human side.

This school is a blessing to us! I can't praise enough the teachers, staff and the Christian based…read moreprogram. The classroom is small so the teacher can give a one-on-one feedback to the students. My Kids love going to school and we have peace of mind knowing that they are learning about God while having a great education.

From the owner: Pre-K to Grade 12 Private Christian Schoolread more

What a school! Warm, welcoming community, strong academics that challenge and inspire students,…read moreteachers that go above and beyond every day, and all on a gorgeous, unique 70 acre campus. The small size means that your child will be known, nurtured, and loved, and you'll be surprised by the volume of sports and activities the school has to engage children. You must check out this school! Highly recommend!

After years of searching we found our church home here. The rector and assistant rector are open,…read morerelaxed, friendly, caring, and the sermons are always deeply meaningful. I'd longed for a church that I could leave feeling inspired and renewed, and I have found it here. Their child watch for little ones is fantastic too, the staff is great, the room is clean and playful, and they have restaurant style beepers that buzz you during service if your child needs you!!!!

From the owner: Christ Church was founded on September 12, 1993, meeting first at Gayton Elementary School and then…read moreShort Pump Middle School. In 1995, Christ Church received a generous gift from an anonymous benefactor: the purchase of fourteen acres and a house located at the corner of Pouncey Tract and Shady Grove roads, which now serve as our beautiful and blessed campus. Through the grace of God Christ Church was able to embark on the creation of its first permanent worship home -- a multi-purpose worship facility -- as well as an education building that serves as our Preschool, a home for our Kids' Quest Ministry, and meeting space for church and community groups. The Christ Church community moved into this new home in June of 1999. In 2010 we completed an expansion of the worship space and in 2011 the 6,500 square foot "Garage at Christ Church", our youth and multi-purpose facility, was created. It has been an exciting journey as we experience God working in our community and beyond. Join us!

The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond is right on the VCU campus, there are a lot of…read moreparking spaces that are reserved for it and since we were there not on a weekend and not on a Sunday for service parking was easy to find The cathedrals architecture is beautiful.

Beautiful Christmas Eve Service. Be sure to arrive 45 mins early to get a seat! Additional seating…read morewith live screens too.