South Shore Baptist Church 578 Main Street, Hingham, MA 02043

"Beautiful sanctuary Great Bible teaching Very welcoming folk"

"I grew up in this church. There is a lot I have to say, but here and now, I will say this. Some of the richest people in our nation are on leadership at this church and there is a very strong network of "wealth managers" and finance professionals. For a church that prides itself on very close adherence to the Bible, there have been consistent blind spots over many decades. For example, while the letters of Paul were cited many times as defense for maintaining men-only leadership team, no such literal interpretation (or even serious consideration) is given to words like these by Jesus himself: "If you wish to be complete, sell everything you have and give the profit to the poor so that you will gain treasure in heaven. Then, come follow me". (Matthew 19). Much discussion and study and effort is placed into dissecting what it means to actually follow Jesus, who in the church is or isn't following Jesus, what mission effort needs to be planned to recruit others to follow Jesus, etc. But this is Step 2 (per Jesus) not Step 1. You are not complete until you sell everything and give it to the poor and then follow Jesus. So according to this church's own doctrine, all I can say is that its leaders are incomplete. I believe this is where many other serious and toxic concerns do stem from."

"I recently visited this church for the first time while traveling. I was not from this part of the U.S. so I was apprehensive. I was very surprised how friendly both the volunteer greeters were as well as the regular folks attending. Most importantly though I was touched by the pastor Cody who gave the main message. He was clearly a man who understood his role is to teach the love of Jesus for us. That's it, he didn't ask for anything or want anything. If I am passing through again, this is where I will come to worship. Thanks."

"I visited South Shore Baptist on Easter Sunday morning 2022. Nobody greeted me, but when I asked a woman with a name tag on where the restrooms were, she was pleasant and pointed out where they were. Other than that brief interaction that I initiated, not one other person said “hello”, or “welcome”, or “are you visiting today?”. People were very friendly to one another, and seemed very happy to be there. The choir sounded fine, although strangely, after the first song was sung, the choir director decided that she needed to speak to the choir - and did so, for a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity to the choir members who were obviously feeling awkward, as this was the Easter Sunday service, which had already started and as a visitor it made me squirm. Odd. We all waited until she finished. Then the music/service went on as planned. The pastor’s message was excellent, included relevant scripture, and the plan of salvation for unbelievers. The building was a lovely, spacious, traditional New England church. After the service, as all of the people filed out, nobody said hello or acknowledged me. A few women looked at me (up and down) and turned their heads. I was dressed appropriately for church (the website explicitly states to come as you are-no dress code). I couldn’t help but feel that maybe I didn’t fit in, in some way. I came alone, although I am married. My husband was playing music at another church, which I attend, so on a whim, I decided to join this Easter service and was looking forward to sharing in the joy of Christ’s resurrection with another local group of believers. Maybe if I’d come with my husband and kids, we would’ve approached by someone. Apparently there is a “Welcome Desk” that was my responsibility to seek out (which I read about on the website after I got home). I left feeling sad and left out. I felt like it was my responsibility to have tried harder to insert myself, and I failed. What a shame. The nursery rhyme, “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors, see all the people….” comes to mind. But the people here were too busy being engaged with themselves and each other to notice one visitor who was seeking to share in the joy of Easter. I think they need to try a little harder."

"This is my fourth time attending this church, and I must say my wife and I are very pleased with the teachings by pastor Cody and the passion he has for leading sinners to salvation Thru Jesus Christ. It’s so wonderful to see families young and old worshiping the Lord. I’m from Dorchester, but it’s worth the ride to be part of this Spirit filled Church."