Church of the Chimes Reformed Church In America

This church is called «of the chimes» because of their recorded bells that go off every hour.
it’s a really nice place, the chapel is very pretty, done in wood tones with several large stained glass pieces behind the stage.
the people who attend the church are quite friendly. it’s not a super formal group, you can wear whatever you want to service, and they are quite welcoming to new members.
this is part of the reform church organization, so it is evangelical protestant, meaning the members believe they have a direct personal relationship with God. but they are not the fire and brimstone type of evangelicals, the sermons are generally very positive, as Amanda mentions.
the head pastor is Dwight Bailey, he’s a very compelling speaker. they have several other assistant pastors.
there is a program for hungry and homeless individuals every saturday night from 5 – 7 pm, they serve dinner and hand out non-​perishable foods and toiletries and such.
there are about 600 members in the congregation, with about 100 or so adults regularly attending each service, one at 9 am and one at 10:30 on sundays. services generally last about an hour and 15 minutes, and they encourage members to gather in the community room before and after services to drink coffee and eat bagels and donuts (for sale).
they also have bible studies and other groups during the week such as mothers of preschoolers and «primetime» and «evergreen» groups (over 50 and over 65 i believe).
the congregation is primarily white, although they do have people of other ethnicities. they are mostly married couples with kids, or elderly individuals. a fairly large amount of the congregation is over 65. there are not very many single adults, so this isn’t really a church to go to if you are looking for a spouse!
they don’t have a designated choir, except at christmas. instead, they have prayer leaders who stand on stage and lead the singing via microphone, usually 2 men and 2 women at a time. the rest of the congregation follows along by reading the lyrics to the songs on the overhead projector. the songs are generally contemporary christian, not much in terms of traditional hymns. they have a great live band that plays along.
they really embrace modern technology, you can hear past sermons on podcast.
the church is wheelchair accessible.

The people who run the youth programs as well as just everyone in the church in general are great, amazing people.
This isn’t just a church where you go to sing boring hymns and listen to long and on-​going sermons. This is a very down to earth place with amazing music, great christian choirs and bands and an upbeat sermon every week.
To be honest ever since I’ve left san jose I have not been back, but I helped out in the kids area (ages five to eleven) for quite some time and fell in love with the kids and the adults who helped run the youth groups.
COTC also has amazing other groups such as youth groups for kids in college, an amazing marriage and couples who are about to get married group as well.
One thing I also really like is all the outreach programs COTC provides and just the amazing welcoming feeling I always get when I go with my mom. I never get mean looks and «where the heck have you been all these years». Instead I get huge hugs and everyone asking what I’ve been up to and how much every ones missed me and genuine smiles