We have visited this church five Sundays. And frankly, we love it! The people are warm, friendly,…read moreinterested. The pastors are focused and excellent teachers. Great worship. Down to earth, authentic. Fun. We are joining a small group. This is a community of believers we want to be a part of.

Gospel centered. Culturally engaged. Biblically faithful. Killer music. Pastor is articulate and…read moreengaging and has some good application for how the gospel transforms everyday life. I'm down!

The amazing annual church bizarre is just a beautiful event must be seen. There are booze full of…read moregames for the kids to play with prizes to win, and there are foods from all over the place, but especially focusing on Japanese homemade foods. And the entertainment is amazing. Theo drums, singers dancers, and this place was packed with more people and I've ever seen before. Every year it gets better.

9:30am is Japanese pray who want talk Japanese or want pray in Japanese this is place you should…read morebe. From 11am there is English pray time. Anyone missed Japanese compassionated people will be here

8/31/2019: My first daughter held her wedding here. First, parking and walking on the grounds…read moreproved egregiously difficult for disabled folks plus, the Church was humid inside with no proper ventilation aside, portable fans which were not circulating air throughout the Church. Seriously, I was sweating bricks despite, wearing a very lightweight, Mother Of The Bride wedding outfit; still, I felt pity for the men who wore suits because it was unbearably humid while the wedding commenced. There were over one hundred guests attending the wedding which attributed to more heat enveloping the Church's already humid atmospheric conditions; in addition, the bathroom facilities were highly inadequate servicing one hundred guests. The caterers cut corners refraining serving cheese despite, the Mexican cuisine was supposed to have been paid in advance, serving tacos, burritos, and enchiladas! DOH~I won't be attending Church services here-EVER.

I was here for a wedding several years ago and remember how much I enjoyed this lovely venue. And…read morenow my daughter will be having her wedding here in the summer & I am just delighted. The grounds are beautiful and natural and offer gorgeous views of the bay. Linda, the venue caretaker is super friendly and accommodating.

Amazing church filled with the Holy Spirit. Beautiful and nice people. I like the preaching of the…read morePastor and and the community is filled with love.

Long-time member. There are no complaints on what all other positive reviews have said here and…read moreagree. A few areas to improve on though: the lead pastors have for years been ultra transparent about their church and personal lives on the pulpit. So we as their congregation have followed along and supported where we could in their times of need. However, in saying so, their times of need on funding the church and also their lifestyles have been fairly frequent and often. Then when things are going well, and they are sharing about traveling the world on mission or learning trips and going to exclusive sporting events or being invited to experiences that we as a congregation can only listen on and not experience ourselves... the church leadership can seem well, self-serving. Polish the weekly sermons to where only relevant messages of salvation and deliverance and direction are shared. The over share on their family finances, the houses they've lost and bought, the trips and travel and amenities they enjoy after asking their congregation to tithe deeply and frequently they should DEFINITELY edit out. As what comes through feels like we're funding a lifestyle and not a house of the Lord. This review's intention is built entirely on giving the truth in a loving manner to the pastors. Please fix this so you can continue to grow in a healthy way and not lose parishioners who are tired of the asking and the complaining from the front of the church.

El Cerrito is a friendly place for Brazilians: You can find Brazilian restaurants, a grocery/gift…read morestore, and Catholic mass services. In this church, there is a consistent group who meets on Sundays at 6:00 pm. Mass is vibrant with a live choir, images from a powerpoint slide projector, and a pianist. There are also prayer services on Monday and Friday in Portuguese. During those services, you may find some parishioners who speak Spanish. The church welcomes everyone!

Today was our first time to attend Mass at this location. We parked at the school lot next door…read more The church was relatively small, giving a more intimate vibe. Fr. Bart gave a great homily.

No childcare or kitchen staff today. How is that serving the community? The holidays are the most…read morestressful times of the year and the staff decides this is the appropriate time to take vacations. What is the message to parents and people who need to have a respite, who look forward to sitting down and eating together without family, housemates and work associates? Also, the staff and volunteers need to be educated on Hostile Work Environments, Food Handler Certification, Anti-Harassment policies, Data Privacy and the Beloved Conversations movement. Also, there needs to be a healthy rotation of responsibilities to timelines, so entrenchment doesn't continue.

I can not say enough good things about how the humans at UUCB took care of me. Of course my…read morehusband's funeral was a hard day for me but everyone did so my CV to make it easier! Helping through tough decisions and last minute changes, I recommend them for any large important event. Also, you literally can not beat the view from this church. For pictures or for chilling and talking, the back patio space of the church is beyond compare. You will not regret trusting uUCB with your event.

We no longer live nearby, but they were the friendliest and most supportive congregation we ever…read moreattended. They are a United Church of Christ church. That denomination goes way back in American history. Check them out.

I started going to this church several months ago. I have to say that I am pretty hard on churches…read more I have found it to be a progressive spiritual congregation that embraces you as you are. The pastor is wise and kind and crafts sermons that make you think or perhaps re-think what you thought you knew about the bible. She also makes its message relevant to the present. It is an open and affirming church which means that all folks are welcome and the scripture readings are completed in English and Spanish. Child care is offered but children are also welcome to stay and part of the service is specifically for little ones. It shares the physical building with the Lutheran Church that owns it, which I happen to think is great . ( I am a planner.) Efficient use of buildings is green and a good thing. Most importantly, it frees up more money to DO something that the church finds important, like the group they sponsored in the spring to go and work in New Orleans, and to support food programs in Richmond and El Cerrito. Oh, and the music is truly amazing. Soulful and rich. It has lifted me out of my everyday thoughts and centered me in my seat on more than one occasion. You can't be running through your to-do list in your head when Amy and Wendy and/or the Choir really turn it on. You got no choice but to listen, it is that good. It is a small but growing congregation and if you are church shopping and any of this sounds good, I suggest you add it to your list.

We had our December wedding at St. Jerome Church and it was just perfect! The reception hall was…read morealready booked on the day of our wedding so we had our reception at Albany Veteran Memorial Bldg (just few blocks away). It made things a lot more convenient for everyone. We had most of our pictures taken at the church courtyard steps. It's really pretty, very reminiscent of Mission churches we've visited before. Their reception hall actually faces the courtyard and it's also very spacious, well-lit and has a small stage and kitchen and other amenities. Inside the church, they have nice wood beams, stained glass windows, and chandeliers that gives it a warm, mission-like atmosphere. It's great for wedding because of its solemn and intimate ambiance. There's lots of parking and it's slightly up the hill so there's some view of the water from there. We couldn't have picked a perfect ceremony venue for our wedding. We had a Filipino wedding so most of our wedding songs are in tagalog. Their musical director, Michael Chio, did a marvelous job playing the piano and coordinating the whole ceremony songs line up. Our guests got teary and were really touched by the whole arrangement. They were also impressed by Fr. Dante Tamayo's sermon, which is very memorable and heart-warming.

Eric B. was so right…read more He did see us at Fat Apple's restaurant on Christmas Eve. Had he been around the neighborhood several hours later, he would have also seen us enter St. Jeromes Church on our way to Christmas Mass at MIdnight. This was a first for us. Neither of us had ever been inside of St. Jerome's. Not even to pop in to see "the alter (sic), pews, covenant, etc." mentioned by Brendan H. as a Yelp "First To Review". (Jeesh, Brendan.....honestly? An altar in a Catholic church? Pews?......how terribly observant you are!) But I mustn't get catty. Its not, well,.....forgiving...to be catty on Christmas eve. Its been at least a decade since I've been to a Catholic service and I was pleasantly surprised about how relevant it was for today's world. The music (which included a chamber ensemble and chorale) was excellent. Lively, cheerful, innovative and "right on the mark." In fact, it would not be an overstatement to say that it was as good as you might hear anywhere....you know..Davies Hall, Glide Memorial, The Mormon Tabernacle...anywhere. "Silent Night Around The World" featured soloists singing in German, Cantonese, Italian, Tagalog, French, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish.....all languages spoken within the assembled congregation. Father Dante gave a simple, heartfelt ecumenical sermon. We all hugged, shook hands and wished each other Merry Christmas. I wished the incoming El Cerrito Mayor a Merry Christmas and the most prosperous of New Years. He was in the pew in front of us. (Hopefully...prosperity will reach our little city-state this year. Ya gotta believe.) My sainted spouse did *not* make change from the offering plate, as he has so often joked about. (I was proud of his restraint. ) He did, however, wince as I gave him a twenty dollar bill to put into the plate. My logic? Twenty bucks for two people? A festive evening filled with cameraderie and good cheer? For twenty bucks? Where else can you get such a bargain? By 1:00 AM we were home. All was silent in the hills and valleys of El Cerrito. Truly magical. Thanks, St. Jerome. Oh, and as the patron saint of librarians, I also want to say...thanks once again, for getting me through that tumultuous library career. I know that sometimes it wasn't easy... Ya done Good.

We have really enjoyed being at Sycamore. Our son went through two years here, and loved it. The…read moreschool is well run. Clean. Organized. Playful yet managed. It is a great community. In case one is wondering, we are not a practicing religious family and we did not feel that the school was ever preaching too much to the children. It is kept fun and loving, never pressuring or too serious.

Both my wife and I are not Japanese. We decided to choose this school because we wanted my son to…read morelearn about Japanese culture. I could see a lot of changes on my son though out the school years. He has become more active, confident and more social while also picking up basic Japanese language skill at the same time. Teachers are extremely nice and friendly. There are lots of activities all years around. There is zero regret sending my son to this school. Highly recommended