First Unitarian Church of Dallas — Attraction in University Park

I visited for the first time this past Sunday morning, Sept 17. I am from Amarillo (member at Amarillo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship) and was in Dallas visiting my sister. I thouroughly enjoyed the 10 AM service and the sermon from your Associate Pastor.

However, I was quite surprised by how a number of elements outside the service were handled. When I first entered the building at about 9:30 (I arrived early) there was no one at any of the doors to greet people, especially new-comers. Once I finally found the sanctuary, thanks to your well-placed signage, I wandered in to the hall where coffee was available. Again, I was not greeted or even spoken to by anyone, even after almost bumping into a member. I wandered around looking at the posters and announcements, intentionally looking a little lost just to see what would happen. I noticed that a number of tables were set up for various purposes, from two empty tables reserved for Boy Scouts who were not present, to several tables promoting sponsors for the altar flowers, to tables being used to collect money for the various pastries on sale. There were only two tables available for sitting and drinking coffee. Both had people sitting at them talking among themselves. Again, I intentionally slowly walked past both and no one even looked up, much less smiled or said "hello." I finally made my way to the sanctuary for the service. As I entered I was wordlessly handed an order of service by one person and another said simply "sit anywhere you want."

Quite honestly, if this had happened to someone at my own church I would be ashamed at our lack of friendliness and hospitality. I realize that your membership is much larger than ours and that it would be impossible for any member to know everyone, much less recognize a visitor. However, I feel my experience at First Unitarian is a very poor representation of what a first visit to a UU...

I was looking for a spiritual home and more support as I was going through cancer treatment, some marital issues and just the general stress of life as a parent of eight children. Most churches don't align with my personal spiritual beliefs and those I wanted to pass along to my children, so I went looking for a Unitarian Church thinking that they would provide the direction I was interested in. I was absolutely correct in that. This church has not only become my family's spiritual home and a source of support for us, but there children's programs are fabulous. My teenagers are engaged and involved with their classes and the new friends that they've met. Thanks to qualifying for a scholarship for my 16 year old daughter, she was able to attend a service trip which we would not have been able to afford to pay for with all of my medical bills. I've made quite a few friends and good contacts at this church. The weekly sermon is excellent and even when I can't make it due to not feeling well or some other obligation that interferes with attending the church service, the sermons are available online within a few days to be able to watch from home. No matter what your religious beliefs, I cannot recommend this church enough it's an excellent place for families, for single people, for couples, for anyone. They are very open and accepting of everyone, LGBT, straight, anywhere in between, old, young, whatever you are and wherever you are in life and how ever you want to be....

I love the Unitarian communities that me and my family were a part of when we lived in Colorado. This church, however, does not reflect a welcoming community like we have experienced in the past.

We went for the Easter 2024 service with our kids and we were directed to a balcony area that seats children. Shortly after sitting down, I was told that my kids were too loud and needed to be quiet from a not so lovely member. My kids hadn’t said a word at that point and were doing great at that point. I know that this could just be a rude member, but multiple people came around shushing the kids during the service. They did not have the nursery open since it was Easter.

Why even have kids at the service if you are going to give them candy, toys, and then make them sit in the sanctuary while being quiet? This church does not value children in their community. I would give this church a half star review if I could. The best thing I could say about the experience is that the greeter was very nice during our entrance and...