Harbor Community Church

I LOVE my church. Looking for a place to help grow your faith and your relationship with Jesus Christ? This is the place. I started attending Harbor about a year ago after moving to New Orleans from North Carolina. I found a network of beautiful people, great messages and music on Sunday mornings and I've watched my relationship with Jesus Christ be strengthened more than ever. I found far more than I could have ever imagined. Thank you Harbor, the people who I now call friends and the leadership that drive this ecclesia.

Harbor Community Church is the complete opposite of any church I ever attended as a kid. It is a place of acceptance; focusing on a relationship with God and friendships. It is not about a bunch of rules to follow or hoops to jump through to be in God's good favor. The messages are down to earth and relate to everyday life. This church is truly about being the church and helping the communities around them instead of just being a church building. If you are looking for a place to find a new side of God and some new friends with questions just like you; Harbor is a place to visit.

My husband and I started attending Harbor several years ago and we love it. We both have grown up attending church and have always enjoyed attending church. There are several things I love about Harbor, but primarily I am thankful to be challenged to serve and love others. If you are looking for a church to challenge you, offer great community, and a place for you to serve, Harbor Community Church is it! We also have two preschoolers who attend the Itty Bitty Bayou where they learn that God Made Them, God Loves them and Jesus wants to be their friend forever I love that!

I love the excitement from all the volunteers! They are so passionate about the mission of Harbor Community Church. They want to see people come into growing relationship with Jesus Christ. The great thing is they create environments for all people not just super religious ones. Every week I see new people connect and love it. I believe if you stop by you will love it. It is a creative place of grace and encouragement.

Harbor is a community of dreamers who are passionate about bringing the hope and love of God to New Orleans. This isn't a church that wants everyone to fit a certain mold. It's a church that challenges everyone to break their mold and reach new people. I didn't go to church for a good 5 years before I found Harbor. I didn't understand why churches made themselves so boring, and I certainly didn't like being around people that pretend to be perfect. Harbor is made up of genuine people that have no pretense of perfection, and let me tell you, honesty makes for far greater community. And boring? I've had friends come that have no interest in God, but none of them have called Harbor boring. The music is simply phenomenal and gets the spirit moving. And then there's a message that makes what the Bible says relevant to our lives today. The service is wonderful, but there's so much more to Harbor than that hour. There's all the amazing volunteers that make personal sacrifices to provide an awesome experience. A key component of the Harbor experience is the community groups, where people connect outside of the church to live life together. Harbor people are crazy, they do things like turn moving into a party. It's nice knowing there's always someone that will be willing to join you for some volunteering around the city. If you could experience what I have gained from the people of Harbor, you'd be there the next service with a friend and you'd be asking about different volunteer positions. I hope to count you among the many that have experienced great life change through the Harbor experience.

Harbor breaks all the rules laid out in the 30 years for churches in the south. If you're looking for judgement, condemnation of the things you don't like, or choose not to understand, this is not the church for you. If you need a hour long worship service and sermons geared to making you feel superior and better than, this is not your church. If you ARE in search of a consistent message of acceptance and love, coupled with inspiring, hopeful music and practical teaching that is challenging and real, facilitated by people who truly desire to to see EVERYONE meet Jesus and find healing, then this is DEFINITELY your church.

Harbor is a great place for unchurch people as well as those already in a growing relationship with christ. The pastor is funny, approachable, and makes the message applicable to everyday life. The volunteers and staff are very kind and open. I highly recommend Harbor!!!

Love this church! The people that go here are very welcoming, the Sunday service is engaging and so applicable to my life, and there is a fantastic environment the Itty Bitty Bayou for my 7 month old daughter to go to while I'm in the service. You seriously can't find a better place to spend your Sunday mornings!

My wife and I have attended Harbor Community Church twice. The first time the assistant pastor gave a shallow but decent message. We liked the people we met and went back hoping for a deeper message from the primary pastor, James Welch. It was the first time in my 12 church-going years to walk out on a service. James Welch was teaching on dating/marriage in a series called “The Love Connection.” He flippantly took God’s name in vain twice. We lasted for the first 20-30min of the service, which consisted of a sarcastic, degrading illustration of a couple falling in love. Not once was the Bible or biblical values referenced. Pastor Welch made two classless references to sex. Pastor Welch also used societal stereotypes to degrade both women and men. He made women out to be mindless, solely emotional beings that find happiness in material possessions, beauty, and the wine-and-dine experience. He made men out to be uncomprehending, smelly, uncaring pigs whose response to their wife leaving is just to sit in front of the TV, drink beer, and fall asleep. Please bear in mind, this was not a drawn-out illustration a pastor was using to display “how not to act.” This was a crass, demeaning display of a pastor trying to be relevant and cool, yet succeeding only in diminishing who God is and the standards He has.

Harbor is an amazing church! It is a great place to grow your faith and find fellowship with people that will treat you like family.