Longview Baptist Temple

Loved the service I was in! I don’t know what these other reviews are about but they are not about LBT. Wonderful organized services they love The Lord and it shows! No they don’t tell you what you want hear, they tell you what is in the bible what God wants you to hear. No they don’t flip flop in in their jeans and tank tops but I don’t think they would ask you to leave if you did. The house of The Lord is for you to give Hod your best and if that’s your best then I am sure you won’t be condemned. Love the preaching and services!

None other than a distasteful CULT organization

I am being generous for granting this establishment 1 star. Longview Baptist Temple is Church of Scientology for the bible belt. I went here once or twice when I was a wee. All I remember is an Easter bunny and one of those marshmallow peanuts-​seriously. Could be the wrong memory in the wrong place.
As a non-​member I used to rollerblade in the back parking lot. My siblings and I would weave through their post-​apocalyptic fleet of buses (they recruit people from hundreds of miles away and drive them to and fro service). Once we got caught and started to freak out. Much to our chagrin «Brother John» chuckled and spared us from having our feet cut off. Pretty sweet. Also, they have strategic parking. If the lot isn’t up to full capacity, cars are parked every other space. Brilliant PR/​marketing. Apparently the doors are locked once service is in session.
So the rules are a bit wonky, but Brother John seems to make up for it, right? WRONG: you can’t listen to music with drums, ladies don’t cut their hair, wear long skirts, and succumb to the most abysmal wardrobe from the 1800s-​making Gunne Sax look like Chanel Haute Couture. At least Scientology allows you to go to a Celebrity Centre church with Beck, watch Mission Impossible 3, Hairspray, join Jenny Craig, move things with your mind, hang out with aliens, live infinite lives, and wear Earnest Sewn jeans. I’m still waiting out for a mass suicide in which the congregation is bedecked in Gunne Sax and wearing those pilgrim buckle shoes. Rad.