Send comments about the site to: webmaster for all other church matters: info |
Haiti Earthquake - How You Can HelpUMCOR Responds to the Earthquake in HaitiA major earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12, 2010, causing widespread destruction. Millions of people are affected and thousands are feared dead. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has close ties with the Methodist Church in Haiti and is responding to the devastating earthquake with funding, material resources and prayers.UMCOR executive, Melissa Crutchfield says, “We are working with our partners on the ground to provide immediate relief to the people in Haiti. UMCOR has worked in Haiti for many years. We anticipate that there will be years of rebuilding needed and are prepared to work with the people to help them through that process.” Working with partners, Action by Churches Together, Church World Service, Global Medic and the Methodist Church, UMCOR is channeling its resources to respond effectively to the people most in need. How You Can Help You can also donate by check. Checks can be made to UMCOR with Advance #418325 Haiti Emergency in the memo line. Checks can be put in the church offering plate this Sunday or mailed to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. UMCOR Sager Brown is coordinating a shipment of health kits to provide individuals with basic necessities. Instructions for assembling and shipping health kits are available at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/. Please pray for all of the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Thank you for your faithful support for all of God’s children. 100% of gifts made to this advance will go to help the people of Haiti.< 2010 Centennial Endowment Grant Application
Only official organized administrative groups within First Church are able to apply for a grant. Please also note that Centennial Endowment Committee members are available for consultation during this process. Should you have any questions, please ask the Committee for clarification and/or guidance before you submit your application. More details about the grant process, and a list of the current committee members are available in the Grant Application Information package. Applications may be submitted to the Church Business Administrator at any time up to 4:00PM on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. Late applications will not be considered. Click here to downloand the Grant Application package. Joy Of Giving 2009
The Joy of Giving has been a long Christmas tradition of the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto. It is a natural expression of our faith in Christ and our caring and love for our people in every part of the world. Through the Joy of Giving you can designate which listed organization(s) your financial gift should be given. As you can see below, we have global opportunities as well as local opportunities to which you can give. Make your checks payable to: First United Methodist Church and mark them "Joy Of Giving". Please add a note indicating which of the designated groups you want to donate to, and how much of your donation each group should receive. Send your donation to: First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, 635 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301 If you wish to give a gift in honor of someone on your Christmas list, you may request a gift card from the church office. Click here for the Joy of Giving information brochure and donation form. Click "Show rest of Joy of Giving 2009" to learn more about the organizations that are part of this year's Joy Of Giving program. Nothing But Nets
In the poorest parts of the world, where effective window screens are lacking, insecticide-treated bed nets are arguably the most cost-effective way to prevent malaria transmission. One bed net costs just $10 to buy and deliver to individuals in need. You can buy a net by going to www.nothingbutnets.net. Nothing But Nets is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly challenged his readers to donate $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed net, and thousands of people have joined the campaign. The people of The United Methodist Church, along with Sports Illustrated, NBA Cares, the United Nations Foundation and several other groups, are raising funds to purchase bed nets to end malaria. You can join the cause and contribute money for bed nets that will keep children and families safe. Support our Church with eScrip
eScrip has signed up hundreds of merchants (including Safeway, Andronicos, Draegers, Macy's, Piazza’s and Round Table).Whenever you shop at one of these merchants, the church will receive a portion of the proceeds. Simply log on to the eScrip website at www.escrip.com and sign up your merchant cards (such as the Safeway club card) and the credit cards you use to shop. The church's ID number is 137957517. If you have previously signed up to support the church, make sure your credit cards are up to date on the site. If you've already signed up with eScrip to support another group, such as a school, eScrip allows you to support up to three groups. Simply go to their website and edit your existing user information. Feel free to call Craig Norris if you have lost your ID number or if you have any other questions. Food Drive
The Outreach Committee is collecting canned food for the Food Closet. Every Monday morning we deliver the collected food to the InnVision Food Closet. Please bring items to the collection bin in the Narthex . Centennial Endowment Summer Newsletter
Buoyed by prayers, the Centennial Endowment was born. Read about the Centennial Endowment Funds and how you can give a gift that keeps on giving in their latest newsletter. Click here to download the newsletter. John Wesley Society Dinner
The new members are Marsha Sterling, Bart Cox, and Bob and Carol Olmstead. The Society was established by the United Methodist Church to recognize those who have made significant endowment contributions to the Church. At First United in Palo Alto, those contributions are administered by the Centennial Endowment Committee who recommend the award of significant grants of money each year to worthy projects within our Church, in the outside community, and overseas as well. The Methodist Foundation invests most of the Centennial Endowment funds and representatives of that organization attended. Mark and Kathy Parsons drove from Sacramento where Mark is the President of the Foundation. School Library, Cabala, AngolaSchool Library, Cabala, Angola Estimated Project Cost: $10,000 The purpose of this initiative is to build a library as part of an expansion of a one-room school in the community of Cabala. Funds are needed for materials to make bricks and secure other materials for construction of the library, as well as (later) to outfit the library with furniture and books. Cabala is one of 20 villages selected by the West Angola Conference (UMC) and Angola Ministry of Health for working in partnership with the California-Nevada Conference (UMC). Villages selected for the partnership were chosen based on need, presence of leadership that will likely promote and sustain the assistance efforts, and accessibility to construction equipment and supplies. JP Maguire, Volunteers in Mission (VIM) coordinator of the California-Nevada Conference, has been working closely with West Angola Conference leaders to make plans for construction of the library that ultimately will encourage the habit of reading and improve education for children in the community. VIM teams from the California-Nevada Conference will work alongside people from the community of Cabala to build the library and provide follow-up. Click here to read about the other Many Faces of Africa project, the Community Maternal and Child Health Care at Maua Methodist Hospital in Meru, Kenya. Click here to download the Many Faces of Africa projects brochure. Community Maternal & Child Health Care
Estimated Project Cost: $14,117 The purpose of this initiative is to enable Maua Methodist Hospital to greatly expand the existing community health care outreach work that takes essential preventive and curative health care services to areas within our district where such services are not available and the population is too poor to seek services from other sources. Our goal is to provide maternal and child health services to eight communities. Our Goals 1. Make regular monthly visits to the eight sites. 2. Increase usage of ante-natal services and especially prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. 3. Have 10% of mothers who deliver babies to accept family planning methods and to maintain the continuation rate at more than 70%. 4. Achieve 80% completion of primary immunizations.
6. Educate communities on ways to prevent burns especially to small children. Offer ear-nose-throat and eye primary health care services. Additional information about Maua Methodist Hospital can be found at www.chak.or.ke/maua-methodist.asp. Click here to download the Many Faces of Africa projects brochure and donation form. Centennial Endowment Grants
Click here to view the presentation. Give the gift that keeps on giving - Remember the Centennial Endowment Funds in your will. Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A DifferenceOver the years the church needs funds outside our regular church budget to keep our physical plant safe, secure and accommodating. The following is an interview with the chair of our trustees, Allen Wood, on how the Centennial Endowment Grants have helped over the years……. “All capital expenses must come from either Centennial Endowment grants or direct bequests – so over the years these funds have made an important difference to our physical plant. For example: • $7,736 was awarded in 1991 to build our first handicap accessible restroom. We took a closet and turned it into the restroom. That project paved the way to doing the whole millennium remodeling. We were also granted $5,960 for refurbishing the Patio Room that year. • In 1992, we replaced the one Patio Room door with the current large, inviting doors with a $7,555 grant. When we had only one door it just really blocked foot traffic, especially when serving food in the Patio Room. • The existing outdoor sign (on the corner of Webster & Hamilton) was installed in 1994 with a $2,800 grant. It really helps to let passersby know who we are. • In 1995 we were awarded $6,500 to fix the closures on the heavy (and dangerous) main doors of the church. • In 1996 $1,470 was awarded to redo the entry from Webster Street. We had a badly sloped walkway and rain gathered there. This greatly enhanced our entry into church. • Finally, I’d like to mention the series of grants that we were awarded in the late ‘90’s totaling over $19,000. They were to purchase six new exterior doors for the education building. The old ones were wood and falling apart. One of the two that went out to the parking lot fell apart on a windy day. We eventually replaced all the doors which resulted in better security, better appearance and certainly easier for people to enter and exit.” Show rest of 'Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A Difference'... United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
Whenever and wherever an emergency occurs throughout the world, this agency is the one that responds initially on behalf of the United Methodist church. 100% of your donations are used directly for relief services. How can you help? A yearly offering is taken at First Palo Alto for UMCOR's general fund, and special offerings are taken when we are asked to respond. All donations are welcomed. Contact: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor |
The Centennial Endowment Funds Committee is beginning the Grant Process for 2010.
One of the easiest ways to support our church is through the eScrip program.
Help feed and clothe the needy in our community.
Approximately 30 people attended the 2006 John Wesley Society dinner and program sponsored by the Centennial Endowment Committee. Following welcome and introductions by Reverend Archer Summers, Nancy Glaser recognized four new members of the John Wesley Society. 
Community Maternal and Child Health Care, 
5. Reduce incidence of malaria and prevalence of worm infestation. Prevention of malaria in a pregnant woman will not only save the life of the unborn child, but will prevent the mother from becoming severely ill and unable to provide for herself and her family.
UMCOR is the disaster relief agency within the United Methodist denomination. 
The First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, California - A Welcoming Church spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties since 1894. We're conveniently located in downtown Palo Alto near the Stanford University campus. Whether you're in the Silicon Valley or on the Peninsula, we want to be your Church home.
We invite you and your family to worship with us any Sunday morning.
Our members come from all over the San Francisco bay area including Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, Campbell, Castro Valley, Cupertino, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Fremont, Gilroy, Half Moon Bay, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Newark, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Stanford, Sunnyvale and Walnut Creek.
Check out our Visitors Information section for more information about the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto
©2000-2010 First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto
 Listen to Pastor Michael's greeting. You are welcome here!
Join us for worship at 10:25 am. Pastor Michael will preach the 4th sermon in the Lenten series entitled Let Us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus
Our 8:30 am communion service is on hiatus. The reading for Sunday March 14th is Luke 15:1-3, 11-32. Listen to and read the March 7th sermon. Save it to your iPod.
Read the latest issue today!
Read the latest column by Pastor Laurie
Join Pastor Michael for this new class. Just as a house can be rebuilt after it has fallen into disrepair or devastation, so God can enter in to our brokenness and completely rebuild our lives.
Join us on April 1st as we "fix our eyes on Jesus" and relive together the dramatic events of this night of all nights
We need you for our welcoming and worship ministries
|