Westover Hills Church — Attraction in San Antonio

This has nothing to do with the Church Services/Mass. The following is in relation to the Easter Event we attended Saturday, April 1, 2023. The event itself was worth going, but had some coordination issues and a couple other items. 1) we chose a slot per the website thinking only those with that slot will be in attendance. Turns out this was false. There were 100s in attendance so even if you arrived at the earliest you weren't kicked out till the end. So realistically speaking there was no real point in time slots. 2) there was a separation of Easter Egg hunt sections. One for age 0 to 3 and the other were for the bigger kids. The first time we went (0 to 3 year old) they allowed A LOT of kids and parents in the squared area to "hunt" for eggs to the point we only got about 4 or 5 before leaving the area as everyone was right next to each other almost shoulder to shoulder. Another issue was within the eggs there were surprises. Those surprises consisted of non age appropriate candy such as twizzlers, skittles, jolly ranchers and other candies (picture attached). When we went a second time it was a lot better experience but it was towards the end. Our child was able to take their time collecting eggs and even inspecting them (opening and closing them) without being trampled or hurried. 3) The bouncy houses weren't coordinated enough to satisfy the kiddos. 1 of them timed it at under 2 minutes and forced the kids to the slide and out. We went in line a couple times before the line became very long. Another bouncy castle had an extremely long line so we tried going towards the end, but was told they were closing it up already (close to 12pm end of event). Another one we tried which was a smaller bouncy house had no coordination whatsoever until we spoke up. The line itself was so close to the entrance that the volunteers themselves didn't have room to move much less breathe or follow who is next etc. No one timed the kids at that castle and the whole situation was chaotic. Some kids were horseplaying, others kept sliding out and heading right back in instead of forming the line allowing another child to go in. Heck some were laying down while others jumped around them making it dangerous overall. We spoke up and asked the rules. After doing so they allowed less kids inside and gave the groups between 3 and 5 minutes before telling them to head to the slide (lots of time). There was also more attention to kids attempting to cut the line or go back in after sliding out.

Overall free and great event minus some coordination issues and other items of discussion. Thus remaining of 5 stars as I fully understand its free and volunteers so we appreciate the whole event as it tired our child out as much as possible.

As noted above any event like an egg hunt parents just be careful of...

I will never return to Field of Lights or recommend it until it becomes a safer venue from a medical and physical safety standpoint.

Medical alert: if you have epilepsy, migraine headaches, a sensory processing issue, ADHD, are Autistic or have any other medical or neuro difference, or are out of shape in general (see the next warning) think twice about attending Field of Lights. Never have I been to any large scale party (rodeo, concerts, etc) that had loudspeakers injected into your ears every 50 or 100 feet at the same time that hundreds of LED candy canes and snowmen flashed rapidly before your eyes while the messages and accelerated Christmas music on the loudspeakers overlapped and drowned out the nativity story (narrated by video game voice, yes-the nativity scenes were pixelated and had Yoshi with baby Jesus at the manger 🤯). The volume of these speakers were GENUINELY exaggerated and everyone around me in the line was saying so. I cannot believe that leaders involved in planning this did not pause to review the execution of the event from a medical or even comfort perspective. I mean, @ a minimum, consent the crowd, put up alerts, and offer a sensory day.

The group I went with had ADHD and Autistic teens, who were looking forward to this event but left overwhelmed and rightfully decided to never go back because they experienced it horribly.

Side note: One group member, aged 12, had the spiritual maturity to question the irreverence of needing to have the story of our Saviors birth depicted in video-game in order to be “relateable” to the times.

And, lastly from a public safety perspective, while I did see two security guards (didn’t see any SAPD, which could have been hired) at the church’s entrance w parked and lit cars, navigating the parking lot to make it to the handicapped parking area was a video game in itself of cars trying to pass through uncontrolled crowds with volunteers shrugging their shoulders when they couldn’t control the crossing crowd and properly guide traffic.

And lastly, this event is held in the church’s sports fielded which is a DEEP basin, surrounded by two sides of fast traffic, one side of residential homes (God bless them for having to endure the loud speakers), and the fourth side being a steep hill with very steep “handicap” access. No amount of security measures would be able to run 3k+ people up that hill at once in the case of any type of emergency where the entire crowd needed to be rushed out.

This is the next day, and I am nursing a migraine headache from the hour we were there.

I pray my review is taken in earnest and changes are made. Only leaving it as a review and not as a direct complaint to the church because it is regarding safety and the public should...

Well, I have been going off and on to this church since I was a teenager, and at first I really loved it, and I felt the Holy Spirit's presence constantly. However, over the years I have met and come across some people that went, and found out; that they were fake. I know every church has their fake crowd, so I just didn't pay attention to them anymore, trying to keep my focus on the Lord. I go every so often, and a few yrs back I went with my special needs daughter who was about 4yrs old at the time. They have a room called the wiggle giggle room for parents to be able to sit with their young kids and infants during the sermon. Well, since there aren't any special needs classes or trained staff for out situation, I tried to go in this room. I was blocked immediately by this rude latin lady and was told my daughter needed to go where she belonged. I explained her situation to her and told her she will not be calm in a room with strangers and that she isn't verbal that much and needs to be with my husband and I. She still did not allow us at all to enter the wiggle giggle room. So we went to church that morning only to spend the entire time out in the lobby to hear the sermon. After that, we tried again a few weeks later and was given the same rude treatment by that lady and an usher. So, trying to keep my cool in the "house of God" I went upstairs to speak to a pastor. I spoke to pastor Molina and pastor Ryan. We explained our situation to them and they were very nice, and told us to always tell them who won't let us in that room, we have an automatic pass, since our daughter has autism. I appreciated their compassion for your little one, but ever since that happened it just reminded me of all the fake people I have come across in that church from the past. Once in a blue moon we will go, but my oldest daughter doesn't like the junior high youth group, she states all they talk about is boys, partying, and typical gossip amongst the kids in this group. She also says that they hardly participate in their bible study there, and that the pastor or leader in charge of the youth group is not really involved as they should be with them. She feels it is nothing but a big social scene. Plus, my oldest was struggling with spiritual warfare regarding spirits she was constantly seeing, she explained it to the youth pastor, and all he did was pretend he cared and we wanted to see if he could come and pray in our house to help my kid feel better, he said he would be never called us like he said nor check up on my daughter when we went next time. He really let my kid and the family down, and just made us feel like he thought she was crazy, by the sarcastic look on his face in the...