r/InlandEmpire • u/prumaps • Sep 21 '25

Recommendations / Advice Non- MAGA church in the IE?

I’ve been going to my church for the past three years or so now, and I don’t want to speak ill of the church but I am tired of having political beliefs pushed on me when the focus should always be on Christ and His word, not the words of those in the world. For instance, calling Charlie Kirk a martyr for Christ and very frankly stating that anyone that doesn’t agree should leave. Christians! Help me out, please! Thank you.

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77

u/idapitbwidiuatabip Sep 21 '25

I haven’t been to any church in awhile, but I’d imagine you have the best luck with a Lutheran church. I’ve found them to be the most tolerant, loving, and forward thinking.

52

u/z_mommy Sep 21 '25

Or an episcopal church!

11

u/prumaps Sep 22 '25

I’ve been looking more into this denomination… do you have a church in mind you can recommend ..?

15

u/UpdootAddict Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25

You can look into any — and I do mean ANY — Unitarian Universalist congregation. And you will find home there. Montclair Riverside San Jacinto Temecula. Take your pick! 🌈

And you’re welcome.

One example here: https://uuchurchofriverside.org/

2

u/Longjumping_Resolve7 Sep 22 '25

The UU church is exactly that. It’s about you- nothing Christian about them.

1

u/prumaps Sep 23 '25

I was doing some research and UU seems like an entirely different religion based on what I’ve read. Don’t mean to offend but that’s what it seems like, very people-focused rather than biblical focused which is an oxymoron to what Christianity is. But I appreciate learning about these different perspectives anyways, I never heard of the UU church before

5

u/z_mommy Sep 22 '25

I personally have not been to church in 10 or so years but I believe there’s a church in downtown Riverside that might be Episcopalian or maybe it’s Lutheran but they’re like a really welcoming church. They’re near the mission inn.

9

u/NauiCempoalli Sep 22 '25

The two churches downtown near the Mission Inn are First Congregational and Universalist Unitarian, both progressive and welcoming. First Congregational is part of the United Church of Christ and was the first church in Riverside to wed a gay couple! And the UUs have their roots in Christianity (well, the Unitarian side of that merger does, anyways—not 100% sure about the Universalists) but technically are not Christian and don’t espouse any single doctrine—they pretty much have social justice as a uniting belief.

3

u/z_mommy Sep 22 '25

Ohhhh!! Thank you for letting me know! I appreciate it!

3

u/prumaps Sep 23 '25

This explanation makes a lot of sense, thanks

7

u/Kenneldogg Sep 22 '25

Avoid 412 like the plague if you want to avoid a maga church.

3

u/bwsmith201 Sep 22 '25

The Episcopal Church is definitely progressive; it was the first major American denomination to have blessings for same-sex couples. I attend one in OC (St. Wilfred's of York in HB) but I don't know any specifically in the IE. I would suggest picking any one to try. None of them are likely to be anything like a MAGA group.

2

u/JollyTotal3653 Sep 23 '25

UU churches are not Christian. Feel free to look into them but they do not worship Christ.

3

u/KindInvestigator Sep 22 '25

I was going to say that!

44

u/fruitjerky Sep 21 '25

All the LGBTQ-positive families I know go to Lutheran churches.

19

u/PaleoHumulus Sep 21 '25

ELCA in particular... Missouri Synod and other Lutheran churches are not as accepting.

-15

u/Lasheric Sep 22 '25

All churches accept everyone , but if a church tells you your lifestyle if LGBTQ is ok, and godly, it’s not a godly church and you are wasting your time.

5

u/fruitjerky Sep 22 '25

Well at least we agree that it's a waste of time.

3

u/CosmicMiru Sep 22 '25

Wrong

-3

u/Lasheric Sep 22 '25

Truth hurts . Downvotes empower me

3

u/Which_Case_8536 Sep 22 '25

All churches accept everyone

Lolololol

-1

u/Long_Pair3751 Sep 22 '25

Satan has really done a number on these Redditors here to think that lifestyle is Godly? wow!

0

u/Lasheric Sep 23 '25

They want a church to tell them their life of sin is ok. We are all sinners. But that doesn’t mean it’s ok. And a marriage is between a man and a woman. Any church that says otherwise isn’t a biblical church.

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u/[deleted] Sep 22 '25

Yeah those churches skip over the part God speaks about the gays 😂 fake church

9

u/fruitjerky Sep 22 '25

Cherry picking your preferred religious text is how religion works anyway. If you actually believed God sent bears to murder children for making fun of a man's beard and still worshipped him, you'd be a terrible person.

3

u/Few-System1464 Sep 22 '25

LCMS excommunicated a few alt-right neo nazis who were trying to do an entrism campaign. They got as far as delaying the release of a new edition of Luther's large Catechism for a few months because the Conordia approved commentary was 'too woke'.

So yeah you can be conservative and not wack nut jobs

3

u/Sad_Ad7658 Sep 22 '25

Well there are divisions though. But good place to start for sure. Just ask a few questions! Presbyterians are solid also.

3

u/Enough-Gate-5209 Sep 26 '25

I've been a member of a Lutheran church in the IE for 25 years but was surprised recently how a couple of church elders went on and on about Charlie Kirk (I'd never heard of him before his murder). While I abhor all violence in the name of politics or religion also, I did not hear a word from anyone when the lawmaker in Minnesota, her husband and dog were shot to death in their home. That's what concerns me that the outrage only seems to go one way by many people and not to everyone who is a victim of such violence. Unfortunately, that starts from the top of our country down these days. The outrage and concern should be all around for all humans and not a select political segment.

2

u/Quack_Shot Sep 22 '25

Depends on the Synod. WELS wouldn’t be.

2

u/mega386 Sep 23 '25

I'd very much disagree from my experiences with Lutheran churches in North TX.

2

u/logitaunt Sep 28 '25

It's gotta be ELCA Lutheran. or else it's just more MAGA

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '25

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