Bread Church

Great vibe. Low key real people. Good worship & life relevant message

Bread is an incredibly special church that is warm, welcoming, and exactly what my husband and I didn't know we needed when we moved to LA. It's small enough that your name is learned within the first few weeks of attending and that is one of the many things that makes this place special. The pastors are very clear that you are there on your own terms and they mean that. Your questions, doubts, fears are welcomed. It's been a place of healing transformation for my husband and I and we are grateful for this gem of a place to come to and be cared for immensely!!

Everyone I have met at bread is there for a different reason. Personally, my husband and I were looking for a church that was open and affirming for everyone, including and LGBT folks and where folks seemed to actually believe in the things that they said they believed in. At bread, we have found a community that not only fulfilled both of those characteristics, but has also provided opportunities for authentic relationships, challenged us to grow spiritually (particularly in experiencing the Holy Spirit), and helped us understand what church can and should be.

The women and men who speak on Sundays and lead in various ways do so with consistent humor, intellectual rigor, honest vulnerability and a humility that comes from seeking to build God's kingdom rather than their own.

It is a place where everyone is welcome on their own terms and everyone is invited to participate in everything.

Whatever your experience with religion or spirituality, I would recommend that you check it out.

Bread is an off-the-beaten-path gem of a church recently moved from Culver to Los Feliz (although people come form all over the city for it) that offers a pretty exciting and intimate alternative to the larger smoke-and-fog-machines churches, and is a great fit for people looking for a real spiritual experience and a more progressive, affirming, and distinctly non-fundamentalist message, yet one unswervingly focused on the experience of Christ. I've been to a few churches around LA, and it's the only place I've been where I've seen an emphasis both on the Holy Spirit and on being fully inclusive and affirming, and not just paying lip service to either.

It's a small but steadily growing congregation (it only started last year), and so it's a place where you will definitely meet people and be welcomed beyond just a hello the first time you show up, but they are not at all pushy about coming back or anything else for that matter. The pastors are super funny and engaging and intellectually thoughtful and very much the opposite of the cheesy, up-with-people messages you might find elsewhere. What I like most of all about is the communal, non-overly-choreographed nature of it all - it's not a place where you anonymously sit in a dark auditorium to watch the "church show." In that sense, it may not be for everyone, but definitely worth checking out! (and the music is pretty rocking too).

An exciting place to be.

Bread has been such a life-giving place for me. I have tried all kinds of churches and have chosen to make the commute from the West Valley because this is a place where the Holy Spirit is alive and at work. I choose to go where people can be un-done, where we can gather for a drink and really get to know each other rather than just say hi on Sundays, and where I can grow in my ability to hear God in my daily experience. Love this place and these people.