We welcome you to Foothills Congregational Church! Thank you for visiting our website.
We are an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ. The UCC is a progressive denomination and a national leader in human rights issues. We have a strong commitment to outreach and favor a personal and relevant faith, as expressed by our Covenant in our bylaws: “We covenant with you, O God, and with one another, and do bind ourselves in your presence, to walk together in all your ways, according as you are pleased to reveal yourself to us.”
You will find ours to be a friendly, caring and supportive community. We welcome diversity and view it as a way of embracing the inclusiveness of God’s love.
We experience and share God’s love in the fellowship of everyone in our church community from the youngest children to our cherished and respected elders. Our adult population avidly supports the activities of our children and youth, especially the Mission Trip and Children’s Arts Camp. We help out those in need of meals and transportation and reach out to those unable to fully participate in the life of the church. We are a family.
We like to have fun here at Foothills—from our coffee gathering in the Courtyard after morning worship to our various social and outreach groups. You can count on a warm welcome to our community.
We would be happy to have you visit us, meet our ministers, Reverend Chris Breedlove and Reverend Melanie Weiner and learn more about our church.
Our Denomination
The United Church of Christ (UCC) was formed in 1957 when the Congregational Christian Churches merged with the Evangelical and Reform Church.
The UCC is a progressive domination with a long history dating back to the Pilgrims. We are proud to be a church with a distinguished history of religious freedom and social justice.
“Congregational polity” is a UCC practice that distinguishes us from many mainstream denominations. This means that major decisions that affect Foothills are made at our church rather than by higher authorities of the church. Our organization consists of an Executive Council and eight Boards with over 70 church members participating.
Our national church website is a good source of “all things UCC.” To learn more, visit www.ucc.org.
Foothills Congregational Church History
In 1960 a small and determined group of worshippers joined together to create Foothills. Sponsorship by the First Congregational Church in Palo Alto, the Congregational Community Church in Sunnyvale, the Northern California Conference of Congregational Churches and the Board of Homeland Missions in New York was both essential and welcomed.
Reverend Charles M. Bezdek registered 176 Charter Members in October 1961 in the church’s new permanent location at 461 Orange Avenue in Los Altos.
The Orange Avenue location was purchased from Christ Episcopal Church which was moving on to a larger building. The sanctuary building was designed by the renowned Ernest Coxhead and completed in 1914. The property was added on to in 1926 and 1951, before we were resident. 1966 saw the addition of a minister’s study and a new Parish Hall was built in 1973. In 1982 we were listed in the National Register of Historical Places. In 1992 we remodeled our Learning Center to create more space for our music and youth programs.
We enjoy our lovely Sanctuary and other church buildings. In 2014 we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original building!
