Belleville Congregational Church 300 High Street, Newburyport, MA 01950

"Sadly, not at all welcoming. This occurred many years ago but still haunts me. I met Ross during apparent outreach when he struck up a conversation downtown. This led to Ross inviting me to help organize a music festival. It was my idea to make it a Mardi Gras. I took a strong lead in locating the band and the caterer. I fully admit that the caterer was a bust. Despite my having a strong development background, I soon became openly hated by the queen bee organizing the event. Man of God Ross never intervened. I believe that my largest “sin” was disagreeing with the queen bee for the good of the event. My knowledge in this case was better than hers. I always was polite, but she simply did not want any views that differed from hers and Ross was too mild-mannered to speak up. The impetus for this review was reading online about how some people find people chewing bothersome. I still occasionally experience angst about being treated like a monster merely for eating a granola bar at a committee meeting. Each of my first bites and closed mouth chews prompted comically exaggerated outrage. I finally asked if it really was that loud and the queen bee shouted that it was. Despite having a few bites left, I was shamed into not finishing the granola bar. I missed the part in the Bible about crunchy snack foods being a sin. I still do not understand what was so awful that it promoted such hatred from these supposed Christians. The coup de Grace was the night of the event. I was in charge of the food, and it had been decided that the meal would be served in the community room across the hall from the concert. I arrived to find that the queen bee had set up space for her young daughter and the friends of the daughter to sell trinkets in the community room. I recall that there were other tables selling other items. The Cajun food, which was more of an integral part of the event than conducting commerce in a house of God was relegated to the basement. Once more, Ross failed to intervene or even say a word. I subsequently reached out to Ross for support during an exceptionally stressful time in which I was having open warfare with my condo association over major structural defects and was being tormented by my neighbors whose son had long history of severe “issues.” Getting Ross to meet was like pulling teeth, and he did virtually nothing. The macro level is that I have all three of the Ws that make someone a valued volunteer. I have roughly 7 years of wisdom from development work, have plenty of time to work, and have enough “wealth” to make a donation. My experience with Belleville was the beginning of the end regarding my charitable nature. Apparently, everyone except me is welcome in this loving community."

"Well, let me tell you about this church that's got it all - music, faith, and a whole lot of good times. I recently saw the Steeldrivers play there, and let me just say, they put on one heck of a show. It was like watching a bunch of angels get down with their bad selves while the congregation clapped and sang along. The acoustics in that holy house were so good, they could make a tone-deaf rooster sound like a nightingale. And the vibe? Folksy, friendly, and just plain fun. I don't think I've ever seen so many smiles and toe-tapping in one place before. If you're looking for a musical experience that'll touch your soul and get your hips moving, this church is the place to be. Just don't blame me if you end up singing hymns all the way home!"

"We saw the Seldom Scene as one of the concerts in the Roots Music series. Good acoustics and a clear view of the stage. We will be back for other concerts in the series."

"Thriftshop open Wednesday and Saturday till noon, donations accepted for Christmas Decorations"

"Hi. Freind. This is pastor Charles from the Lutheran Church of south Sudan. Western Equatoria State. Yambio. Am asking U. to have partener with U as Church in USA. God bless U all. Rev.Charles Undo. Kazimilio.d"