FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH PALO ALTO, UCC
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  • Home
  • Visit
    • Sunday Service
    • Season of Lent
    • Easter Service
    • Sacred Grounds
    • Directions
  • About
    • What to Expect
    • What We Value
    • Open & Affirming
    • Denomination
    • History
    • Governance
    • Staff
    • Ecumenical & Interfaith Partners
  • Connect
    • Connect Weekly
    • Our Newsletter
    • Getting Involved
    • Choirs
    • Children's Ministry
    • Youth Ministries
    • Confirmation
    • Women's Group
    • Men's Group
    • Tuesday Fellowship
    • Spring Musicals
  • Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Season of Lent >
      • Easter Service
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Book Weddings & Events >
      • Weddings >
        • Tours & Booking
        • Rental Information
        • Wedding Venue
        • Wedding Packages
        • Wedding Floor Plans
        • Frequently Asked Questions
        • Wedding Gallery
      • Harmony Hall & Courtyard >
        • Rentals
        • Event Gallery
      • Contact Us
  • Serve
    • Story - Foothills Park
    • Outreach Ministries
    • ​Ecumenical & Interfaith Partners
    • Congregational Foundation
    • Hotel de Zink
    • Shop Fair Trade
  • Watch/Listen
  • Give
    • Ways to Give
    • Legacy Giving
    • Stewardship 2020-21
    • Members

The Process of Our Church

The ultimate authority in our church is vested within the Congregation, meeting a number of times each year to make decisions that come in front of the assembly. In between those meetings the Church Council and the five Boards -- Deacons, Education, Outreach, Trustees, and Worship -- serve as the congregational meeting ad interim. Representatives from each of the boards along with the officers of the church (Moderator, Vice Moderator, Treasurer, Clerk), and a few others, make up the Church Council. The pastors of the congregation serve on the Council with voice but no vote. Generally, we make decisions by consensus, choosing to follow what we discern to be the bold movement of the Holy Spirit in our place.

“Congregational” means a type of church organization, not affiliation. We are a congregational church because of our process, though affiliated freely with the United Church of Christ denomination. (Two of the three other types of church organization do often share their name with those church’s wider affiliation -- i.e. Presbyterian, Episcopal. The remaining type is connectional.)

Our process requires the involvement, at some level, of every member and friend of our church. This is a type of engaged practice where everyone has a stake in the outcome. For those who like a determined, streamlined method -- congregational process may very much be troubling. But for those who want to actively participate in the governance of their faith community, who want to be involved in decision-making as big as facility construction or pastoral employment (or as small as individual budget line items for office supplies), congregational polity may be the organization you’ve been dreaming of.
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A church member developed this video particularly for our Board of Trustees (those who manage the fiduciary, personnel, and other business affairs of the church), but it is a good introduction to our process generally.


​FCCPA.ORG
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1985 Louis Road Palo Alto, CA 94303
​650-856-6662
We gather as a church, welcoming people of all abilities, backgrounds, ethnicities, and those who are LGBTQ+, to become more aware of the love of God in our lives and to make real that love in the world through worshiping, serving humanity, and seeking to follow in the ways of Jesus.  

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