Woodlands Church — Attraction in The Woodlands

My family of four visited twice after moving to Houston from Arkansas. We’ve never been to a mega church before and will never go to one again. First of all, we noticed immediately that there is a coffee bar and gift shop. A place of worship is not a place for marketing. There shouldn’t be anything to take away from the spiritual guidance and worship. It is in my opinion very inappropriate. Then we had our first sermon which happened to be talking about tithing. This is not a new concept to us, however it was approached in an extremely greedy manner. We were told we are robbing God if we do not give the full 10%, they talked about their budget, how we need to gift more than the 10% and they included many ways to give. During this speech there was a QR code plastered onto the screen to encourage people to give right then. Any previous church we’ve been a part of mentioned giving, and how the money was used to benefit Gods word and our community. Today we saw what the 10% goes towards for Woodlands Church. This was the Christmas sermon and they had multiple singers, instruments, cameras, special effects. It was extremely flashy and the crowd of people reflected that. The guests wore short dresses, pajamas, hats, low back dresses and low cut tops. I did not feel they were being respectful. People pulled their phones out to record the performance. This was all so new and bizarre to me. We’ve only ever seen sermons recorded for people who wouldn’t be able to attend live, not because it was an event to entertain them. As far as I know there is no Bible study, but they interrupted the concert to give brief interment sermons. Now onto my biggest issue. We trusted this church with our two sons, 28 months and 6 months old. Our oldest son when we went to pick him up had been locked into a stroller (not ours, as we did not bring one) and sat in front of a television. When we asked how he behaved they said he threw toys and didn’t play with the other kids well. The other kids were around 18 months and the young ladies watching seemed to be around 17 years old. No one was watching these young women! No one seems to check on them. I do not believe they have proper knowledge or qualifications to work with young children with limited communication skills without supervision. I am disgusted that they used physical restraint on my young son and sat him in front of a tv without a care. My husband and I provided both our numbers and emails. No one thought to ask us to retrieve him if he was misbehaving, instead took it upon themselves to treat him lesser than for his behavior. Our 6 month old was left with an older woman who didn’t seem to understand the rules. We were told not to provide any food or diapers but she requested both. Our son’s class asked us to come in the room to retrieve him, while the older woman asked me to back away when I approached the door. I would highly recommend NOT using the children’s rooms if you choose to visit. There is definitely a lack of communication somewhere. I feel awful that I left my son with young girls who had no idea what they were doing. His behavior could have been due to being hungry or tired, missing mom and dad. If he was acting out we should have been alerted so we could take over. Those young girls clearly had no business punishing him. We still don’t know how long he sat there like that! I hope this review helps other families find a place of worship that is right for them. It does not feel good to write negative comments on a place we hoped would be...

MISTREATED, DISRESPECTFUL, CONFUSING. WAS THIS AT THE LOCAL BAR. NOPE, FELLOWSHIP OF THE WOODLANDS. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS. WE got to the very last Christmas Eve service and asked the usher where would you like us to sit. The usher said anywhere is fine. OK sounds good.

We found 5 seats together 6 rows back from the stage. We had sit there for 5 to 10 minutes when a person from Pastor Kerry Shooks staff said we would have to move. At first I did not hear what the person was saying. I asked them to PLEASE REPEAT WHAT THEY WHERE SAYING. The person informed us that one of our children was below the age of 11 and we would have to move PER THE PASTORS INSTRUCTIONS. They where very rude. SO RUDE THAT ONE OF THE REGULAR CONGREGATION CAME OVER TO US AND APOLOGIZED TO US FOR THEIR CHURCHES RUDE BEHAVIOR. THERE OWN CONGREGATION WAS DISAPPOINTED AT THE STAFFS BEHAVIOR.

NEXT THEY HAD A PASTOR COME OVER TO SPEAK WITH US. WE DID NOT ASK FOR THIS. HE NOTIFIED US THAT THEY DID NOT WANT CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN 11 IN THEIR TV SHOTS IN THIS SECTION. THEN ANOTHER GUEST ASKED THEM WHY DON'T YOU POST A SIGN THAT SAYS WHAT YOU WANT OR EXPECT PEOPLE TO DO?? SEEMS LOGICAL TO ME. THE PROBLEM WAS THERE WHERE CHILDREN SITTING IN THIS SECTION YOUNGER THAN MINE. Hmmmm WHY HAVE US MOVE?? WAS IT THAT I HAD JUST HAD AN OUTPATIENT PROCEDURE DONE TO MY FACE THAT MADE ME LOOK REALLY BAD. I GUESS THIS DOES NOT LOOK GOOD ON TV. WHATEVER THE REASON IT WAS IN VERY, VERY POOR TASTE.

OUR CHILDREN WHERE EMBARRASSED BY THE STAFFS BEHAVIOR. MY OLDEST SON TURNED TO ME AND SAID DAD IT'S OK THEY CAN SIT US ANYWHERE. AT LEAST MY CHILDREN ACTED IN A CHRIST LIKE MANNER. IT TOOK A WHILE FOR ALL THIS TO REGISTER IN MY BRAIN. MAYBE THIS CHURCH WAS TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL THE HUMILIATION CHRIST FELT. GOOD JOB AFTER AFTER A POSSIBLE CANCER REMOVED FROM MY FACE. WOW!!!

WOW, HOW UNLIKE CHRIST. HOW NOT TO BE ON CHRISTMAS EVE. THE BIBLE SAYS YOU WILL KNOW US BY OUR ACTIONS!!! BIG CHURCH! BIG PROBLEMS.

WHY MAKE SMALL CHILDREN FEEL UNWANTED AND EMBARRASSED!!! I AM PROUD OF MY FAMILY. My family DID NOT SAY A WORD TO THE CHURCH STAFF. OTHER PEOPLE AT THE CHURCH DEFENDED THEM.

I PRAY THEY WILL WORRY LESS ABOUT THEIR TV PRODUCTION AND MORE ABOUT WALKING THE TALK. AND HERE IS WHAT IS STRANGE CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN MINE WHERE SITTING IN THE SAME AREA. MAKES NO SENSE. PLEASE PRAY FOR FELLOWSHIP OF THE WOODLANDS ( WOODLANDS CHURCH ) There where some CHRIST LIKE PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE AND THEY ATTEMPTED TO DEFEND US. SOUND LIKE A NICE CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE??? MAYBE IF THEY WHERE TRYING TO PUT ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST USING MY FAMILY AS THE CAST. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. FOR WOODLANDS CHURCH ( FELLOWSHIP OF...

We've been here 3 times and i suffer from panic disorder and many anxiety disorders. I finally felt comfortable at this location. First we came for the Christmas lights last year, then this year the fall Festival. Last Saturday was the first time we actually went to service and while the music was overwhelming to me, it was well worth me waiting to get in for the sermon. I was sad that it happened to be prerecorded but I'm hoping that when we go tomorrow, pastor Kerry will actually be there in person. Note, that it didn't affect the quality of the message he preached, I only yearned more to actually see him afterwards.

My kids also had the BEST time and have been begging to go back to church! They look forward to it and my heart is so full. I'm thankful to have found, at the time of this review, a church that is teaching biblically. Doctrine is very important to me and it's something I haven't been able to find in a local church that I can feel comfortable enough to get into without having a panic attack. If you're overwhelmed by the music and worship in the beginning, there was a room I saw that you could go in and still attend service without the overwhelming sound of you're sensitive. I believe it was a "family room" of sorts. My background is catholic and it's been difficult to find a church I can feel comfortable in and trust. I feel like this might...