625 Hamilton Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94301

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The History of The First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto

115 Years - 51 Ministers

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In our 115 year history, 51 pastors have been appointed to senior and associate minister positions at First Palo Alto.

Meet the Ministers who have served here.


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Senior Ministers Photo Wall

SeniorPastorsWallA150113.jpgOur Senior Pastors

The permanent display of photos of all of our Senior Ministers, 1894-present, is up again. Now it is on the hall wall across from Pat’s Place on the lower level.

A huge thank you to Ken Shafer who attached it to the wall and to whoever collected all the pictures in the first place.

I’m sure collecting them was associated with our centennial in 1994 and it must have been a huge project.

For more information contact Sandy Shafer


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Our Architectural History

FUMCPAexterior.jpgSince the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto was founded in 1894, we've not only been an integral part of the Palo Alto community, but we've also had a significant architectural history.

Toby Williams has written a comprehensive account of the many buildings that have served as our church over the last 100+ years, including the story behind our present sanctuary. She'a also unearthed many photos showing what we've looked like over the past century.

Read all about our architectural history


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Visit by the King of Tonga

The First Tongan United Methodist Church shares our facility.

Tonga is a nation made up of over 170 islands in the South Pacific. Many Tongans have emigrated to the United States and many of them live in the Bay Area. For many years King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, along with other Tongan dignitaries, would worship at our church and meet his subjects.

These photos are from his visit in August 2001. You'll notice that the ground and and chancel is covered with handmade Tapa cloths.

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Presidential Booksigning

On January 30, 2001 former President Jimmy Carter came to the church for a booksigning. Approximately 1500 people were present at this two hour event to get President Carter to autograph a copy of his new book An Hour Before Daylight

The booksigning was hosted by our church and was sponsored by Kepler's Bookstore in Menlo Park.

These pictures of President Carter were taken by FUMCPA member Joe Heim.

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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




©2000-2008 First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto
Join us for our regular worship service at 10:30 am or our informal Communion service at 8:30 am.

Readings for Sunday, August 24, 2008: Exodus 1:8-2:10, Psalm 124, Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20


Read Archer's August 17th Gospel Commentary.


Come hear about the spiritual memoir of a twenty-first-century Christian


The UMW D'vora circle is spicing up the Kohlstedt Hall kitchen


to Archer's August 3rd sermon. Save it to your iPod.


Join us for a talk by Raj Patel, the author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Bring a friend


Join the young adults for dessert, coffee, tea, cocoa, and games