It all started when I attended a “Guild for Psychological and Religious Studies” seminar on comparison of “The Records” (of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) with about 20 others, mostly ministers. One of the ministers took me informally under his wing, Walter Wink. He suggested I try a church in “east Oakland”: MPC, where he knew a few members. I first attended…

When I was a child, my parents agreed that I ought to be raised in a … hmm … “thoughtful community interested in matters of the spirit”?? “Church” is easier to say, but harder to implement. Dad was an atheist, Mom was a believer, so I of course was an agnostic. MPC is a wonderful place to grow and learn, but I…

For me, it’s the community. Of course, that’s something that grows gradually; when I first started attending MPC nine years ago, I didn’t know anyone. I was visiting all the local churches, looking for a new spiritual home, and found myself in an MPC pew. Over the next few Sundays, I was drawn in by the music, the preaching, and the welcoming…

MPC is my neighborhood and ‘home.’ Whatever else is going on in my life I can count on seeing people that I like and people who like me at all meetings and this is very reinforcing. Also, we are one of the best church choirs anywhere — so please join! We are also superior at choosing a new minister — right now…

The first time I visited MPC, the then-minister was illustrating points in her sermons with her well-trained dogs, who romped down the sanctuary aisle. I knew immediately that I’d come back. Part of what I wanted in a Sunday celebration was the sense of joy, not judgment and foreboding. MPC has joy in spades. What keeps me coming back? The music transports…

My first attraction to MPC was two fold. I admired the dedication to learning and understanding that people showed by their participation in contract adult education groups. Imagine,committing to show up six sundays in a row. The thing that caused me to actually start coming here was the idea that my husband would have a church that he could fully be part…

The services at MPC provide quiet, meditative time to hear the lessons that give me the peace, strength, and inspiration to face the chaos of the world around me. And in the creative, intelligent, and loving members I find the sense of community that makes me want to give back. Gretchen Garlinghouse I come her because it is a friendly environment. People…

We don’t just sit around thinking “Holy” thoughts – we work to make a better world. Sari Kulberg I go to MPC because it’s a place where everybody knows my name. Sloan White Now, every time I attend a church even I find that I am talking to a person who cares as deeply as I do about things going on in the…

Montclair Presbyterian Church is an extended family for me and for many others in our church family. MPC is spiritual without being too religious. Our Sunday morning services are a celebration of Jesus and God. We worship together, have fun together (there is a lot of laughter, including on Sunday mornings), and work together for social justice and other causes. Come for…

My husband and I moved to Oakland on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend 1994 – from New Jersey. My X-husband’s first wife whom I had attended church with in the 70’s (in St. Louis, MO)  told me I should check out Montclair Presbyterian Church.  So on the day after we moved into our new home, I headed down the hill to MPC…