Aletheia Church Cambridge — Attraction in Cambridge

Please be very careful. Most of my friends including myself have left this church after attending for many years and it was not just because of a career or business or education transition. All of my friends and I served here in many ways and were even leaders on different levels that gave ourselves over sacrificially in commitment, dedication and love and yet so many of us felt taken advantage despite all the feedback we gave. I don’t blame Aletheia or the pastors but I can see how so many people can become easily conditioned and led astray by their own fears, brokenness, pain and pride and knowledge including the pastors and elders themselves. The most tragic outcome is when I continue to see and meet former leaders and multiple individuals who have fallen so far away from the faith and become even more lost after attending this church to the point where they need to seek professional mental health therapy. I put two stars for my review because sometimes one star reviews may not be taken as reasonably “fair” sounding but in reality this is a one star review because this is about the possible endangerment of your individual autonomous empowerment to think and choose for yourself. This review is also not written out of offense or bitterness as I have gone through a very rigorous process of forgiveness and restoration but even after many years I still meet former members and leaders who’s lives have been dramatically altered negatively and who have lost faith in God, the word of God and the truth altogether. I am thankful that my faith was never based or dependent upon this church or it’s leaders so I still have my own secure relationship with The Lord but I cannot say that for so many others who felt subjected to an unhealthy toxic religious system. Do not be so easily swayed by the great worship and preaching / teaching or the need to find a community in order to resolve the need to belong or fill the void of loneliness. Please be careful and aware of what looks so inviting and welcoming on the outside. Do not be so easily and naively entertained or impressed and fooled by how orderly and systematically and professionally conducted everything is. The pastors / leaders / elders are very smart people but smart people don’t make or guarantee healthy people. Especially when it comes to psychological health.

I am sharing this with you because I am one of many who fell for it and bought into it and invested my life into it and also became a part of it so please be careful. Thank you for taking the time to read and process this review and hopefully you will make the right choices and take the right...

I hate to do this, but I don't want to mislead anyone. There's not enough love in this church. Some of the congregants are very carnal. There's a lot of backbiting, gossiping, insults and as true disciples of Jesus, we are to show the love of God towards each other. At first I thought this was a good church, but the more I began to participate in some of the ministries there, the more I noticed more hypocrisy there. Like the Bible states, "a little leaven, leaves the whole lump". I mistook their hypocrisy for love. Do not be deceived by the excellent music and sermons. Perhaps, this just isn't the church for me. No church is perfect, but if there's more hypocrisy than love in any church, then you may want to keep looking until you find a church that's filled with the love of God and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

By the way hurt people do not hurt people, unloving hurt people hurt people and loving, hurt people forgive people, heal from that hurt and move on. Jesus Christ was hurt the most and He didn't hurt people. He prayed for them and forgave them. Since we are Christians, we are to follow Christ's example not each other all the time. We are to be like Christ, not like the world.

I'm sorry, but there are not a lot of spiritually minded as well as spiritually mature Christians at this church. One too many of them behave more like Satan than like Christ, which is why I said don't be deceived because Satan is very deceptive too.

Unfortunately, I love them, but I don't think they love me. If they do love me, they sure don't show me the love of God.

I hope and pray that this particular church grows up in the love of God soon too.

May God continue to bless every reader of this review and all of the Body of Christ as a whole and the rest of the...

No church is perfect - hurt people hurt people. But I can clearly see that God is moving in this church. The sermons are biblically based & focused on "what does the Bible say" rather than "what do I want to hear the Bible say", all with the overarching love and humility in acknowledging that we all (including the preachers) are sinners saved by grace. And I really appreciate the discipleship focus with classes and other resources.

There's ethnic diversity in the attendees and staff that I feel comfortable inviting my friends and coworkers regardless of their skin color. It feels like I get a glimpse of what Heaven will be like with everyone from every nation coming together to worship Jesus. There's also been opportunities for non-Christians to have honest conversations about faith and beliefs, which is awesome that skeptics are invited and encouraged to check out the church & be seen and heard.

Given the location, there are many students that attend. But there are also many families and working professionals (especially at the 9am & 5pm services). The church isn't small & it might be easy to get lost in the crowd as a newcomer. So I'd recommend making sure to swing by the connection table to get plugged into a community group to find a smaller group to share life together.

After moving to Boston, hundreds of miles away from where I grew up, I'm thankful to have Aletheia to call home and the spiritual family to walk alongside to help each other be more like Jesus. I've already seen so much growth in the past 2 years, and I'm so excited to see where God takes this church in the...