Niles Discovery Church

If you are on the look out for a very ‘chill’ church experience, or if you’ve had concerns about your past faith experiences, this is a church that will meet your needs uniquely well. I also feel that regular families and people looking for a regular friendly church will be very well served by the traditional format of the worship service. However, NCC UCC really excels at offering and embracing and accepting space. As the pastor points out in the first Unilocal review, the motto there is, «No matter who you are, and no matter where you are on Life’s journey, you’re welcome here.» The congregation actually manages to put that philosophy into practice very well. The other core value of the church that is well reflected in the practices of its attendees is a strong commitment to social justice and the environment. They have a fairly constant stream of projects that are aimed at addressing causes that are pertinent to our world today. While my work prohibits my involvement in a number of these, due to scheduling challenges, I am so proud to be in such an awesome group of people. It’s invigorating to meet positive people making scheduling sacrifices to support things they believe in: a breath of fresh air in a cynical world.
Socially and culturally, I have the feeling that Christians (and non-​Christians: I’m not always sure that I truly fit that particular descriptive, and I’ve been going for months.) with a moderate to liberal world view will feel the most at home with community of Niles Congregational. (I myself am flamingly liberal and feel pretty darn cozy.) If you were not comfortable with openly gay attendees, this church might not be the exact perfect fit. However, if you live and let live, there is a good mix of young people, families, and a wonderful compliment of older parishioners.
The church has been undergoing some transitions in terms of its location. It remains a Niles institution, regardless of the specifics. (We’ve housed the homeless at our standard site, and we’ve been worshipping with another terrific congregation and pastor a few blocks away.) It might be best to check the website for an exact location and time.
Bottom line, the pastor and congregation NCC UCC are a positive friendly group of individuals trying to practice their ideals in a complex world. I’m proud to go there.

Was not a real fan of organized religion for most of my adult life then I became a parent to a child with a lot of questions I couldn’t answer so I went looking for a church I felt comfortable at. After visiting a lot of churches and basically giving up because nothing fit right with me I read an article about UCC and their Churches and decided to give one more church a try. As soon as we walked into Niles Congregational we were greeted with genuine smiles and felt really at home. The service was uplifting and very open minded and realistic… when they said «Everyone is welcome» I really believed it not like at some of the other churches I visited. My daughter loved the Sunday School and I was impressed how community minded the church was… so that was it, we finally found a church that we felt comfortable at… four years later we are still just as happy as we were when we started. So if you are looking for a church stop by Niles Congregation and see if it is a fit for you too=)