Riverbend Church

After hearing how diverse this church is I decided to attend several sermons. The band is very good although at times they do sing out of tune. The sermons are usually pointless conservative drivel. This is one of those churches where people are notorious for not practicing what they preach. The people are incredibly unfriendly to ethnic minorities and young liberals. This is not a progressive or diverse church at all. The sermons are very biblical. They take the bible scripture literally. And the congregation has very poor social skills. They rarely socialize after church. And this church is not welcoming to younger aged people. Very rarely will you see Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, or young adults in this church. The majority of the time every single family that attends are cliquish and white Anglo. Riverbend church is very pretentious in their marketing and advertising. They mislead people into joining their highly conservative anti-progressive church in the guise of ""We welcome everybody"" facade. There is an elderly man that supervises the Riverbend church gardens and he has come across as extremely rude and mean. One time he shouted at us and pointed a large stick at us. He shouted at us ""Do you know what this is"" and made a hostile facial expression. He did that as a family member and I strolled through their beautiful gardens. Other times he tried interrogating us with rude questions that were none of his concern. That man needs lessons in professionalism and customer service. It's also pretty clear that he is a racist loser. I noticed that he did not shout at the other guests in the gardens. If you have brown skin or you appear different then it's best that you do not attend this severely unprofessional church. The people are horrible. And the sermons are even worse. The only redeeming factor is the beautiful area and the hill country. Pros: Beautiful scenery Cons: rude employees, discrimination, and pretentious more

I attended Riverbend from Jan 2004 to May 2008. Their whole motto is to share God's grace and reach the broken, battered, bruised and bored. They have meaningful messages that make you think and the kids programs are top notch. VBS at Riverbend is amazing. They go all out and in 2008 they had 800 or 900 kids there! This church is true to their mission, it is full of the broken/bruised/bored needing to be filled and uplifted, and those who need to be introduced to God and start on an amazing walk with Christ that they otherwise wouldn't have tried. The Resonate band is AMAZING and since I stopped attending this is something I miss a lot. They have several service options to really reach anyone in Austin no matter who they are. This church is for the un-churched or again, those with bored, broken or bruised church experiences. Since they mostly reach for those members they are mostly built on people who need to be served and they tend to lack the volunteers they need to serve them. The volunteers they have are the most amazing people, but they need help! My greatest desire for this church is to have a volunteering revolution! God is surely at Riverbend and if you are scared of church or new to the idea, this is your place. It is big and is NOT imposing or demanding. They are there just for people like you. If you are seeking a church that everyone is clapping and holding their hands in the air and they have ALL have a passion to serve then pray about it. You could be what Riverbend needs! We only left because we felt God call us to find a church that would give us GOD ON STERIODS, high impact, in the church and the world. Riverbend is a great place, b/c it serves a purpose in the Kingdom of Chirst, and you should try it out for yourself and pray about it before making ANY choice! GOD BLESS YOU as you search for your new home. Pros: God is surely there, the people who volunteer are amazing Cons: you can get lost easliy, even if you want to serve, follow up on anything is horrible more