We believe that God is still speaking, and continues to reveal new truths if we will listen.
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We invite you to join us for worship and fellowship †

We Value:

​​Diversity of backgrounds
and beliefs.

​Outreach to our community
​and world.

​Strong Christian education for all
​ages, with lively and engaging programs.

​A vibrant and varied music, art,
​and theater ministry.

​Stimulating, challenging, and
​inspiring sermons.

An extravagant
welcome to all!

Our Denomination

​We are a member of the United Church of Christ, a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. The UCC was founded in 1957 as the union of several different Christian traditions: from the beginning of our history, we were a church that affirmed the ideal that Christians did not always have to agree to live together in communion. Our motto—"that they may all be one"—is Jesus' prayer for the unity of the church.

That unity, in fact, is what prompted the creation of the United Church of Christ. As a united and uniting church, we are “ecumenical” -- the term used to refer to the broader Christian community of all denominations and affiliations. Often, families from different religious traditions find a home in the UCC because of our blended nature. We have formal agreements of Full Communion with other Protestant churches, as well, fully recognizing each other’s ministries, sacraments, and leaders. Learn more about our ecumenical partnerships.

Through the United Church of Christ, we are in covenant connection with other faith communities throughout the nation and the world. Locally, we are a member of the Santa Clara Association, which includes all of the local churches and authorized ministers in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties, plus one church in San Mateo County. Our Santa Clara Association supports ministers and local churches engaged in broader ministry, like campus ministry programs at Stanford and San Jose State Universities, and numerous chaplaincies and hospice ministries, like Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy at the Santa Clara County jails, or SpiritCare Ministry to Seniors.

The Association meets at least twice a year, and usually more regularly with special meetings for the purpose of authorizing new ministers and encouraging new ministries. Lay delegates from our congregation are essential to this process -- and more are always welcome!

We are also in connection with the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ, which includes six associations, about 120 local churches and more than 300 authorized ministers from Fresno in the south to the California-Oregon border in the north, from the Pacific Ocean in the west to Winnemucca, Nevada, in the east. In this vast territory are churches and ministries diverse in age, race/ethnicity, and mission. Camp Tamarack and one seminary, the Pacific School of Religion, are also included in this territory. The Conference is headed by a Conference Minister and two Associate Conference Ministers -- one of whom is our very own Daniel Ross-Jones, a minister-in-covenant with our congregation.

The Conference meets at the Annual Gathering each late spring/early summer on the beautiful campus of Sonoma State University. The collective expression of around 500 voting members and friends, including at minimum 50% lay people representing their local churches, results in a dynamic event of worship, business, learning, and connection.

Every two years is the General Synod of the United Church of Christ -- our denomination’s “family reunion.” Thousands of UCCers from across the country gather together to praise and worship God, to discern resolutions of witness to the world, make amendments to our governing documents, to learn more about the ministries being carried out by our UCC connection, and to snack on legendary Synod cookies baked by volunteers from the host Conference. Our last in-person meeting in 2019,was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our 2021 meeting was supposed to in Kansas City, Missouri, but because of Covid-19 precautions, was held as an online gathering July 11-18. Read about the work of that Synod. Delegates are appointed by our Conference from a slate of nominees suggested by local churches, and past delegates have included members of our Congregation. You don’t have to be a delegate to attend, however -- and, in some ways, visitors have more fun!
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Stillspeaking. It's the shorter form of "God is still speaking," a campaign by the United Church of Christ to remind us that God still has a lot more to say. Stillspeaking has worked with thousands of UCC churches and individuals across the country to make religion relevant again and to extend an extravagant welcome to all--because no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here.

 

Open and Affirming Congregation

​We’re Open. You’re welcome!              openandaffirming.org

Here, like in many congregations of the United Church of Christ, we like to say, “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”

In 2007, First Congregational Church of Palo Alto became an Open & Affirming Congregation, extending our extravagant welcome to intentionally name LGBTQ persons and their families. As new understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity has emerged, we have actively engaged in expanding our welcome to include the whole spectrum of gender expression -- including genderqueer, gender nonconforming, and gender nonidentifying folks.
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The United Church of Christ, through our neighboring Golden Gate Association of the Northern California Nevada Conference in 1972, ordained the first openly gay man to Christian ministry in modern times (William Johnson). And then, in 1982, the first openly lesbian woman ordained to Christian ministry was ordained by the Shenandoah Valley Association of the Central Atlantic Conference. 

Since the 1970s, the UCC has been at the forefront proclaiming Christian witness for the embrace of all God’s children as beloved creations. At our General Synod in 2005, we became the first Christian denomination in the United States to call for marriage equality nationwide -- and when the Supreme Court decision finally made that equality the law of the land in 2014, it was while our General Synod was meeting in Cleveland, and was celebrated by a sustained standing ovation throughout the convention hall.

Our formal Statement of Welcome, posted as you enter the Sanctuary, reads:
As we, the members of the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, seek to embody God’s extravagant welcome to all, we declare ourselves to be an open and affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ, welcoming into the full life and ministry of our church all who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

​But that’s simply a long way of saying: We’re open. You’re welcome. Just as you are -- you, your whole self, and all those you love and embrace are welcomed, affirmed, and celebrated here.