BigChurch.com

Summary:
BigChurch.com is devoted to “Bringing people together in love and faith.” With half a million Christian members worldwide, it has been a hub for Christians singles looking for love since 1996.

Pros:
- Lots of fun features: IM, icons, personality tests and Bible verse messages
- Lots of members

Cons:
- Site is practically unusable without buying a subscription
- Photo approval takes quite a long time

Costs:
Being a guest allows you to set up a full profile and browse and search other profiles; however, you may not view full profiles or pictures or initiate any contact. Silver members may view and contact other members and get some access to blogs and groups; Silver membership costs as little as $9.98 a month (for a 3 month subscription) or $15.95 for a single month. Gold members may view extra large photos and video intros, get top spots in searches, and have full access to other members’ contact info (such as AIM and MSN) as well as all of BigChurch.com’s groups, blogs and magazines. Gold membership costs $19.95 for a single month, but the 3-month deal is a real bargain at $39.95, because it comes with 1 month free, so that for exactly one cent more per month than Silver you get 4 months of Gold membership.

Account Setup: Easy, but can take some time.
Creating an account takes seconds, after which you are immediately taken to the “upgrade” page to buy a membership. You don’t have to buy it right away – feel free to click on “my profile” and upgrade it enough to test the waters. Upgrading and fleshing out your profile will take a while, since it has several sections, including basic profile, personal information and physical information, as well as options to add and edit pictures and videos, and a section with a large number of additional questions and a free test to determine your personality type.

Photos:
BigChurch allows users to upload up to 5 pictures at a time, up to a total of 20. If you don’t have digital photos at hand, BigChurch will scan and upload them for you – however, it comes with a $15 fee. You can change the order of your pictures, add comments to them, and allow other members to vote on them. The test pictures we uploaded took about 8 hours to be approved, so be prepared to wait when you first set your profile up.

Search:
Guest members may run searches with a few filters for relationship type, marital status and children; while paying members may refine their search further with criteria such as race, language, and religious denomination (only available to Gold members.) Other search options show you who is online at the moment, people near your postcode and most popular members. You may also set up your “Dove preferences” describing your ideal match, and all incoming messages and search results will be filtered according to your settings. Our test search threw a few attractive profiles, and a large number of profiles with no photo – in fact, most of the profiles on the site show no photographs.

Special features:
BigChurch has some features especially designed for Christians, such as a Bible reader which allows users to bookmark their favorite verses and contact others who like the same verses. Bible commentary is also available. Other fun features include “Bling” (icons for your profile,) magazines, groups and the opportunity to set up your own blog; along with communal chat rooms and an instant messaging software.

Support:
BigChurch has a lengthy, searchable FAQ along with an email form for your questions and feedback.

In their words:
BigChurch.com is a huge Christian/Church community and dating service - thousands of active members looking for friends, marriage, even bible-study affiliates. The site has a searchable bible, bible verse or scripture emails, chat rooms, and more.

Our reviewer’s opinion:
This site is definitely geared for Christian singles, and populated by a good number of them. We loved all the flashy features and the large photo galleries, but to get any results from this site it is imperative to buy a subscription – guest membership is simply too restrictive.

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