First United Methodist Church of Olympia - Olympia (WA)

3 /5 Thomas: When I first began attending services, I was taken in by the friendliness of the congregation, its childrens moment/message during the service, and its incredible and robust music ministry (praise team, choir, and bell choir immediately come to mind). These are the elements that truly unite everyone and keep me attending (for now). While I am still attending services for now, it is very disturbing to hear the weekly messages/sermons. While God/Jesus is mentioned (seemingly in passing), it is not the main focus. There is far more mention of/ emphasis placed on political messages and comes across as a political push and/ or to place blame on certain societal demographics. The last truly uniting message was for Christmas 2022 (even the Easter message 2023 had numerous outright political mentions). There tends to be a fine line between faith and politics. The weekly messages have mostly crossed that line. Please focus on the UNITED in United Methodist, and on praising God and Jesus throughout the weekly messages, instead of dividing His Kingdom through the use of political rhetoric.

5 /5 Larry Kronquist: Wonderful pastors and concerned, caring members. This is a clean, well-run, and multifaceted church that is a great asset to the surrounding community, including LGBTQ persons.

5 /5 Ash: I cant speak to the religious services, but I attended their holiday bazaar today. All proceeds are going to local charitable organizations like Sidewalk. Everyone I spoke with were so sweet. I did not feel like an outsider and there is an obvious culture of inclusivity.

4 /5 Vinnie Markovski: When I walked in, they thought I was homeless and tried to kick my cat out, thinking that it was possessed. I told them that that was my problem and I needed their help. Priest called his wife and congregation to run me out of the church with large crosses. My cat began to sizzle. Not happy with their attitudes, however, stained glass was nice and had some progress with the crosses exorcising the cats demons. Still not fully gone though. Thoughts and prayers for my cat and I. Wish me luck.