Church Research

One of the churches that we visited recently

Church Research attempts to get people out of their Sunday bubbles in order to see firsthand how members of other religious communities actually practice their faith. This helps us build coalitions among the ones that share common progressive and humanist values, build bridges to the more conservative denominations, and dispel some of the the preconceptions we have about what is actually said by the clergy and believed by the members.

New reviews will be added to the top of this page so they go from newest to oldest.

If you would like to join the Church Research excursions, please join the Sunday Nomads meetup group.

Rating System

Worship services will be rated on a 1-10 scale according to 7 metrics, which is the right number of metrics for this sort of activity.

The goal is to give an independent rating of the quality of the service, from the perspective of a lifelong secular universalist with no prior affiliations or firsthand experience with any religion whatsoever.

1. Holy Spirit - how lively is the service? How enthusiastic are the worshippers? How well attended is the service?
2. Authenticity - is the spirituality authentic or performative? Are they true believers or social climbers?
3. Music - was the music good? Do people sing along enthusiastically or just mumble the words? How good is the band or choir? Do they sing contemporary music or traditional hymns? Or is it banned?
4. Woo - how much is the supernatural invoked? Are the beliefs taken literally or interpreted as allegory? Is science respected as a source for truth or is it superseded by superstition?
5. Diversity - was there a diversity of ethnicities, genders, generations, and viewpoints represented? Or was it a bunch of retired white people? Are diverse viewpoints, cultures, and lifestyles accepted, if not always represented?
6. Prosperity Gospel - how much emphasis was placed on donations and tithing? Were disingenuous promises of future riches made in order to encourage donations? 1 is craven and money-grubbing,10 means there was no overt pressure to donate.
7. Hell or Heaven - how much fire and brimstone is being preached? How much "othering" and focus on spiritual and/or political enemies is being done? A sole focus on hell, Satan, enemies, demons, and damnation gets you a 1, where a 10 represents purely positive, inspirational, apolitical, and optimistic spirituality.

Redemption Church

Redemption Church is the first conservative church visited by Church Research team. It was selected because it is a televangelist church, where services are broadcast on a Christian TV network founded by the pastor. There was also some personal history with one of the members of our group, though not the reviewer.

The sermon was about "The Authority of the Believer" and centered around the reinforcement of the concept that belief in Jesus gives one the authority to compel the angels to help you out and make demons frig off. While the language was literal and sometimes rather dense with Biblical references that were hard for an outsider to follow, the psychological intent was clearly to reinforce strong faith in the god concept in a way that helps enhance things like the placebo effect and manifestation through self-fulfilling prophecy.

Overall, the vibe was very Righteous Gemstones. Having never attended a made-for-TV evangelical worship service, it was impossible to fully comprehend just how spot-on that parody is. The band's singer could be swapped out with Judy Gemstone and the pastor with Eli and nobody would bat an eye. The podium was on an elevator that came up out of the stage. Three huge screens with color-changing neon crosses were hung behind the stage. It was a spectacle!

• Holy Spirit - 7/10 it was a fairly well-attended and lively service with a lot of hand raising. A LOT.
• Authenticity - 3/10 it definitely seemed like a good deal of performing for the camera.
• Music - 7/10 the band was quite good. The song that was all about "the blood" was a little creepy, though.
• Woo - 3/10 this was about as literalist as you can get. However, since there was no snake handling or speaking in tongues it doesn't deserve the lowest score.
• Diversity - 4/10 it was weird because many of the volunteers you see coming in were minorities, but once inside it was clear that those were the only diverse members, which gave it heavy RNC vibes. However, the age range was more diverse than average. Strong Karen vibes.
• Prosperity Gospel - 2/10 they straight up preached prosperity gospel, and there was a very long, well-organized, and high-pressure pitch for donations. The only way to score lower would be if prosperity were the main focus of the sermon.
• Hell or Heaven - 3/10 there wasn't that many overt references to hell and damnation or the condemnation of sin in this particular sermon, but there were enough references to demons to make it clear that we just didn't show up on the right day for that. There were also many references to the previous week's sermon, which was the weekend of Trump's assassination attempt. They apparently decided not to broadcast it due to being too controversial. While the sermon we saw was fairly apolitical other than a few conservative dog whistles, it was clearly not the case the previous week. It made us intensely curious to see what we missed there.

Sunday Assembly Nashville

This review is admittedly less unbiased than the others due to the personal history the reviewer has with the Sunday Assembly organization and the fact that they were the guest speaker at this particular service. However, an attempt will still be made to make an unbiased review using the same metrics.

• Holy Spirit - 5/10 small service, and the secular congregation is admittedly not as full of the "holy spirit" as they could be, for obvious reasons. But they did get up and clap their hands and dance to the music a bit. It was hardly Beatlemania, though.
• Authenticity - 10/10 nobody would be there if they didn't fully believe in what they were doing.
• Music - 9/10 great band and great song selections from contemporary rock music as well as a fantastic original song, The 99. Only way to score higher would be to do more to encourage the congregation to contribute more by singing, dancing, or otherwise not just stand there and watch.
• Woo - 10/10 there was absolutely no woo, all science.
• Diversity - 7/10 diversity is fully embraced, and the members are multi-generational and far less geriatric on average than your typical Sunday service. Still a bit too small and predominantly white and male to get a 10.
• Prosperity Gospel - 9/10 made it a point not to do any crass money-grubbing, but they weren't silent on the issue. No plate passing.
• Hell or Heaven - 8/10 there was no mention of hellfire or damnation, fighting, enemies, etc. Some mention of political issues were made in reference to existential issues like nuclear war and climate change. A case could be made that literalists were being demonized, as they often are in secular spaces, but it was done to make the point that we should embrace universalism. Given the reviewer's experience with this movement and the knowledge that many members are anti-religious rather than universalist, perfect marks cannot be awarded in this category even though their message is very positive and accepting overall.

Center for Spiritual Living Nashville

This was a non-Christian, new thought, universalist church, with its roots in early studies of psychology merged with ancient religious practices.

The Unity Church shared their space with the Center for Spiritual Living, and their services took place back-to-back. As such, they had very similar vibes and ratings.

• Holy Spirit - 6/10 not the biggest or most enthusiastic service, not the least, but slightly above average.
• Authenticity - 8/10 seemed like everyone was pretty authentically seeking spiritual truth, though the lack of focus and a bit of native American spiritual appropriation keeps them from a perfect score.
• Music - 8/10 a good band, which is not unusual for Nashville. Led by two female country singers with great voices. Music aspired to be inspirational but didn't always achieve its goal.
• Woo - 8/10 there was a bit of woo, but overall it was pretty grounded.
• Diversity - 7/10 diversity is fully embraced, if not fully achieved. Lots of LGBTQ+ members but not as many ethnicities. Congregation skewed older, but not too old.
• Prosperity Gospel - 9/10 very little mention was made and no pressure given to donate.
• Hell or Heaven - 10/10 the spiritual message was 100% positive, accepting, loving, and universalist.

Unity Church Nashville

A universalist, new thought church rooted in Christian tradition, though the service made very little reference to Christianity and mostly quoted the works of its founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore.

The Unity Church shared their space with the Center for Spiritual Living, and their services took place back-to-back. As such, they had very similar vibes and ratings.

• Holy Spirit - 5/10 not the biggest or most enthusiastic service, not the least.
• Authenticity - 8/10 seemed like everyone was pretty authentically seeking spiritual truth, though the focus on the teachings of the founders rather than spiritual wisdom generally keeps it from getting higher marks.
• Music - 7/10 a small jazz band and talented keyboardist played the music, but it didn't really get the crowd jumping.
• Woo - 7/10 there was a bit of woo, but overall it was pretty grounded. The more singular focus on the teachings of the founders makes it lose a woo point.
• Diversity - 7/10 diversity is fully embraced, if not fully achieved. Lots of LGBTQ+ members but not as many ethnicities. Congregation skewed older, but not too old.
• Prosperity Gospel - 7/10 it wasn't a high-pressure situation but a traditional "pass-the-plate" collection was made. In the service we attended there was a review of the church finances, which gets points for transparency but did focus a larger part of the service on money issues. This would not likely be the case most weeks.
• Hell or Heaven - 10/10 the spiritual message was 100% positive, accepting, loving, and universalist.

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Knoxville

The Quakers have a long and storied history of antiwar and civil rights activism in the 1900s, and abolitionism in the 1800s.

Despite earning low marks in terms of Music and Holy Spirit, this is mostly due to the fact that their services consist of silent, contemplative meditation where you try to hear the "still, small voice in the depths of my being that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort." according to John Edward Southall. This means the overall score doesn't fully reflect the depth, conviction, and high ideals of this spiritual community.

Of the universalist denominations visited recently, the Quakers were an overall favorite.

• Holy Spirit - 3/10 if this benchmark is a measure of outward enthusiasm, then it is not possible to give high marks since the service consists of silent contemplative meditation only. It was also a very small group, so enthusiasm could not be boosted through willingness to show up.
• Authenticity - 10/10 you could tell that the spiritual practice was taken very seriously and with deep convictions that are well thought out.
• Music - 3/10 of course there is no music in a silent meditation. However, since this is not because they think that music is "of the devil" or any such nonsense it does not deserve the lowest mark.
• Woo - 9/10 the only woo is that which you bring yourself, since there is no preaching and only silent contemplation. The actual people all expressed their spirituality in very grounded, universalist, and pantheist terms with very few references to the supernatural. It is still a Christian spiritual tradition so not 100% woo-free, but it's about as good as you are going to get.
• Diversity - 6/10 they are open and accepting, but very small, white, and elderly.
• Prosperity Gospel - 10/10 there was no mention of money by anyone, and the members very clearly eschew materialism.
• Hell or Heaven - 10/10 the spiritual message was 100% positive, accepting, loving, and universalist. Granted, you could show up and contemplate hellfire and brimstone if that's your thing, but the fact that it's a core principle that no "spiritual authority" should tell you what to think, and their long and consistent history of being on the right side of social movements, nets them a perfect score.

United Church of Christ Knoxville

Another universalist congregation. Apparently the United Church of Christ is a very different denomination from the regular old Church of Christ, so don't get them confused! Of the universalist congregations it had the most ties to traditional Christianity and made the most reference to Christian theology during the sermon, though it was used more as a reference point than an absolute doctrine. They were also very LGBTQ+ friendly, with rainbows adorning most of the tapestries.

• Holy Spirit - 6/10 not the biggest or most enthusiastic service, not the least, but above average in terms of the eagerness to participate in the singing parts.
• Authenticity - 9/10 the people were friendly, genuine, and welcoming. They obviously believed strongly in the values of the organization.
• Music - 7/10 the choir was great, but it was more traditional hymns than contemporary music, which is harder to identify with when you weren't brought up on them.
• Woo - 8/10 fairly limited references to supernatural, and definitely not literalist in their theology. Seemed to take a more intellectual approach to theology than some of the others based on the sermon and the topics of their small group discussions.
• Diversity - 7/10 diversity is fully embraced, if not fully achieved. Lots of LGBTQ+ members but not as many ethnicities. Congregation skewed older, but there were several families with kids as well.
• Prosperity Gospel - 8/10 the request for donations was very low-key.
• Hell or Heaven - 10/10 the spiritual message was 100% positive, accepting, loving, and universalist.

Westside Unitarian Universalist Church

More universalists.

Review to come.

Nashville Bahá'í Community

A beautiful Baha'i temple with a very diverse and open-minded universalist congregation.

• Holy Spirit - 3/10 if enthusiasm is measured by a willingness to show up, then high marks cannot be given. The big, beautiful temple was nearly empty.
• Authenticity - 10/10 everyone who did show up was undeniably there based on a true and deep spiritual conviction. Everyone was encourage to participate directly by doing a reading.
• Music - 6/10 the choir was no longer active and the service had no music, but a couple members of our group brought a guitar and performed some songs, which was great and got them a totally unbiased 6 points in this category.
• Woo - 8/10 while the spiritual language used in the writings they quoted invokes god quite a a lot, the teachings also very clearly point out that science and evidence should always be followed, and the members clearly interpret scripture as allegory.
• Diversity - 9/10 diversity is fully embraced, and the actual congregations are a very diverse mix of Persians, Africans and "crunchy" white people. As diverse and multi-ethnic as a religion can get. However, the small crowd in attendance that day didn't allow for full marks.
• Prosperity Gospel - 10/10 despite the fact that someone provided a lot of money to build their beautiful temple, not single mention of money was made by anyone at any time during our visit.
• Hell or Heaven - 10/10 the spiritual message was 100% positive, accepting, loving, and universalist.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

The largest universalist congregation in the Knoxville area and a hub for activism.

Review to come.