Christ Church East Bay — Attraction in Berkeley

My husband and I, along with our children, just recently moved to Berkeley, and started regularly attending Christ Church. We have found the church to be welcoming and friendly, theologically and Biblically solid, worship filled and engaging in liturgy and music, as well as intellectually stimulating and yet practical in it's preaching. Our first Sunday at Christ Church, we were kindly greeted by someone at the door, and soon after we sat down, one of the pastor's introduced himself to us and welcomed us. Early in the service, there was a time of "passing of the peace" (greeting one another) and we again felt warmly welcomed by those we greeted. In fact, one of the couples we met during the "passing of the peace" approached us right after the service and invited us to eat out with them! Talk about a uniquely warm welcome!

Being new, and desiring to get to know people and feel more connected to the church, my husband and I decided to join a community group. Our weekly group, which consists of people in various stages of life, offers great discussion and genuine care for one another. In addition to joining a community group, our whole family took part in a church hike at Tilden park with about 30 others from the church. This proved another opportunity for us to get to know people, while enjoying the great outdoors! On Sunday mornings, our youngest child has participated in the children's program and the Children's pastor has done a fine job welcoming her into the fold and providing info about the ministry to us. We look forward to building more connections at Christ Church, and figuring out where we can best serve and help as a part of the church community.

Whether you have been a Christian for a while or if you are in the midst of spiritually searching and seeking, Christ Church is a great place to attend. Furthermore, Christ Church is a great place to experience a caring community. You just need to make an effort to...

I have been attending Christ Church with my family for the past 6 years, and it truly is HOME. We moved from NY and we were not looking forward to the process of finding a church--usually visiting multiple churches over several months and not quite loving any but setting for the best we could find. Well, this time it was an entirely different experience. We visited 2-3 churches, and when we landed at Christ Church, we stopped looking.

Top 3 things I love about this Church:

Solid teaching -- Bible based. Not conforming to the world or today's latest fads, but very well balanced and attuned with the cultural nuances of Bay area culture. Full of grace, humility, and open-mindedness.

Kids' ministry -- ah-mazing!! Jayne George who leads it all is just so special. They aim to instill "sticky faith" in the kids--that will serve them wherever life may take them in the future. My kids love sunday school. They provide childcare for all the main events at the church so that folks can attend. Sunday school is not just a time for crafts--they actually learn some solid Biblical themes.

The Pastors -- GOLD. REv. Jonathan St. Clair and Rev. Andrew Ong. haven't met such amazing pastors ever, truly. Biblical, super intellectual, but can meet you wherever you are in your journey. Humble, kind, and able to teach and walk with all people in society, no matter who are you. I have seen them interact with homeless people and with Cal professors--all with the same gentleness and kindness. Pastoring in Berkeley is not easy, but they do it SO WELL.

Programming: I know I said 3 things, but have to add this on. There is something for everyone in this church in terms of programming. Couples, singles, kids, community groups, volunteering, 6 week courses, book club, church retreat--I have really been blown away over the years with the number of events that the staff orchestrate.

If you're looking for a church, you HAVE to...

Christ Church has been a beautiful community and spiritual home for our family.

If you are Christian wondering if Christ Church is your "style": Christ Church belongs to the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) denomination, whose motto is: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." The sermons are thoughtful and intellectually challenging, the music is beautiful, and the church follows liturgical rhythms, practicing the sacrament of communion each week in non-COVID times. Worth noting that if you're someone who really values big multimedia productions, skits, flashy production value (lights, fog, etc) or "theme"-driven services (eg, sermons based on movies, etc) you're probably not going to find what you're longing for here (though I'd still encourage you to check it out and decide for yourself!).

If you are a Christian with doubts wondering if you'd feel comfortable here: I hope you'll give it a shot! This is, of course, highly subjective, but I've always appreciated all the space made in the service for wondering, wrestling with, and acknowledging doubt, confusion, or difficulty. Many in this community came to faith as adults or returned to faith at Christ Church. It's a great place to figure things out, especially if you have intellectual challenges with elements of the Christian story.

If you are not a Christian, but you are interested in exploring Christianity or what a Christian church service is like: The pastors and parishioners helping to lead a service make a lot of effort to explain what is going on, and printed materials help explain the flow of the service (so you're not left wondering if you should be sitting, standing, what the heck is going on). You are never pushed to participate in something that you're not comfortable with. I hope you'll find me and the other regulars to be welcoming and normal; I...