The Upper Room

The upper room is not a queer friendly or queer safe church. They have lovely people, and the younger pastor there is mutli qualified, in areas that he draws from in his sermons. The sermons are rich, layered and educated. The people there have empathy and a heart for God, however, it is not safe if you are queer. As someone who is very cis passing, the casual comments that have been made to me throughout the years reveal an alarming insight to the hidden mindset of this church that hides behind their friendly demeanor and "heart for God." Pastor Craig, who has recently stepped down, would often make some very weird comments against "woke" people, or "girls who mutilate their bodies and chop peices off". He would Sprinkle these in throughout his sermons and whenever he spoke. The younger pastor John, would do his best to handle this with sensitivity and empathy whenecer i'd bring this up. however, I can no longer set myself on fire, holding out hope, or trying to blindly change a church that keeps going back to this baseline of unsafety and phobic values. In times of crisis, such as the te Atatu terror attacks by destiny, or other circumstances where Queer people's lives in our local community have been on the line, this church stays silent, where others have spoken up. Recently they have decided to publicly support and create an evangalical classes / movement that involve going out into the community and on campuses. This has been built around at least one person with blatantly homophobic views. When i have tried to speak up about some of his actions, have been labeled a sinner myself, for supporting or choosing to hold love in my heart towards our queer Whanau. When I tried to bring this up via fb messenger to the main pastor, i got brushed off and this was never properly addressed. The level of unsafety and refusal to ongoing acknowledge and address these areas of importance has absolutely broken my heart, given that not only I have spent several years calling this church home, through some of the hardest most trying times, but I had previously searched For 7years trying to find the right church, and I really thought this was going to be the one. If you don't care about the lives and existences of effected minorities within our community, then this church will be perfect til your dying day. However, if you have any sort of a heart, then don't stay here for too long. The people here will steal it, make their home there, then shatter it when it's time to leave. 💔

This review is a reply to a review made by - .Anonymous who gave a two star rating based the church not been 'queer friendly.' Also please note that Im only a church goer at The Upper Room, and The Upper Room church or its members of authority has no influence on this reply at all and is solely independant. If The Upper Room church is not 'queer friendly,' l praise God for that. It is a clear sign that this church is based on Godly values and scripture. Also if you read the Holy Bible you will find it not to be 'queer frienly' at all lol. We as Christians are called to not conform with the ways of the world mate. But called to be Godly, Holy and set apart. Therefore, there is no sodomy involved in it. If you are a true seeker of the Kingdom of Heaven, please understand the Holiness of the Creator and His values. The Holy Bible clearly states that no homosexual will enter heaven. So please get a good deliverance and repent of your sodomy. Coz if you do not, im really really sorry to say, forget about heaven, the doors of hell will be widely open to you. Here I am telling you the utmost truth as a Christian brother full of love. God bless you.

I am not a big church goer , but I loved this church. Good mix of ages from young to old, you could feel the Life and Fire in the people there, modern, but not "new agey anything goes" modern. The music wasn't blasting loud. It was beautiful and you could still hear your voice & the voice of others, which is a beautiful part of the worship experience to me. Definitely a church that knows what they stand for and felt like the people there really felt at home. Based on my conversations, it seems like the church has a good mix of long-time attendees as well as new members. Seems like a lot of good hearted people there. I'm definitely eager to attend again. I cried during some of the worship songs, just because I felt God and felt thankful to God

Fake Christian cultists who blast bass-heavy, non-Christian music at ungodly hours from a premises with zero soundproofing, while lacking even the common human decency to advise residential neighbours of their intention to do so beforehand. Avoid at all costs. Do not send your children here.

American style evangelicals. The lead pastor preaches protrump, anti Greta Thunberg talking points. He deleted his sermons when the a congregation member join the National Party.