A Sanctuary on Homer Avenue
For more than a century, the chime of an old bell from the tower of First Lutheran Church has announced Sunday morning on Homer Avenue in downtown Palo Alto. That bell still rings just before worship begins, an open invitation to anyone walking by. The church was established in 1920 as a mission to Swedish immigrants living in the area, and it grew alongside the city. Today, a century later, First Lutheran is a multilingual, multi-generational congregation of varied ethnic backgrounds serving Silicon Valley. Its members include tech workers and retirees, students and grandparents, longtime Lutherans and people who would not call themselves Lutheran at all but who show up for game nights, concerts, or a quiet hour of scripture in a comfy chair.
The congregation belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with ties to the Sierra Pacific Synod, and since 1991 it has been a Reconciling in Christ congregation, intentional about welcoming people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, racial and ethnic backgrounds, ages, abilities, and family structures. That welcome, restated and updated in 2026, reads in part: “We, the community of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, proclaim that Christ, in grace, draws all people to himself. We welcome the full participation of people of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, physical and mental abilities, educational backgrounds, and economic conditions.”
The Sunday Gathering
The main Sunday service begins at 10am and runs about an hour. It is built on a classical pattern that goes back to the early church, similar to what one would find in a Roman Catholic or Episcopal parish, and at First Lutheran the order of service is sometimes simply called the Mass. Worshippers hear multiple scripture readings drawn from the three-year Revised Common Lectionary, share prayer concerns, and gather around the table for Holy Communion in bread and wine. A sermon attempts to identify a theme that resonates with the day. A cantor leads the singing, a choir often offers an anthem, and a Casavant Frères pipe organ anchors the music. The basic posture throughout is to stand - ready to greet the Risen Christ - but it is fine to sit when standing is difficult.
Sanctuary tone is cozy rather than grand. Dark wood and lofty ceilings hold the room, and a good mix of ages is present, including children, who sometimes light the candles, lead processions, or assist at communion. Some people dress up, others come casual. The description sums up the mood: “each of us embraced in love, consoled in sadness, forgiven and included. Struggles are shared, and a way forward is found. We like to laugh together, enjoy beauty and conversation, hang out and help out.”
After worship, coffee, treats, and fellowship spill into the reception area. Many stay to talk. On Sunday mornings during the school year, an earlier hour at 9am in the library offers something quite different.
The Slow Read
From September through May, anyone can arrive at 9am, find a comfy chair, and join a Slow Read of a Gospel. The group currently moves through Mark, the shortest and earliest of the four gospels, reading aloud chapter by chapter from beginning to end, pausing to reflect, ask questions, and consider what the text means today. A facilitator prepares a bit of background, keeps the group moving, and reminds everyone where they have been. Coffee and simple treats are on hand. It is, as the group puts it, a “slow food” approach to scripture: not a fast-text to wolf down in the car but a sit-down feast to savor, bite by bite.
Bibles are available, and a variety of translations is welcome, though the NRSV is the default. No preparation is required. Newcomers and people who have never read the Bible before are especially welcome - the group describes reading Mark as an ideal “Jesus 101” experience.
Thursday Bible Study on Zoom
On Thursday mornings at 10am, a separate Bible study meets on Zoom to look ahead at the three readings that will be heard at the following Sunday's worship. There is often a passage that someone does not understand, or one that feels too familiar to be interesting. The hour flies by as the group offers interpretations, experiences, and questions. Pastor Kate usually attends. Some people mostly listen, others speak up. No preparation or previous knowledge is required, and there are no right or wrong answers, just a respectful exchange. The hour is held to a strict one-hour time limit, and the Zoom link makes it easy to participate from anywhere.
Music: Organ, Choir, and a Welcoming Ear
Music is woven into the congregation's identity. The Lutheran tradition has long held that music is a gift of God second only to God's word, and that everyone at worship should sing, not just clergy and musicians. At First Lutheran, the music program is led by Dr. Jung Jin Kim, an award-winning organist who also directs the choir and organizes guest concerts. The main organ is a 26-rank instrument built by Casavant Frères of Québec, with a 3-stop continuo organ by Bond Organ Builders of Oregon providing a smaller voice for certain repertoire.
The First Lutheran Choir is an accomplished ensemble of teens and adults that supports the congregation in song and enriches worship with a diverse offering of sacred choral music. The choir generally sings twice a month, rehearsing at 9:20am before the service, with additional Thursday-evening rehearsals at certain times of the year, especially through Advent and Christmas. A Pickup Choir meets twice a month on Sunday mornings during the fall semester, allowing singers with weekday conflicts to participate.
Cantors lead the hymn singing and chanting. Small ensembles of duets and solos, electric and acoustic guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and bells add variety from Baroque to Celtic to Gospel. Children and youth are often part of these ensembles. At the end of each service, many people stay seated for the organ postlude as a form of listening prayer.
The church is also a venue for guest concerts. The Karis Piano Trio - pianist Lywon Yeo, violinist Dongsoo Cha, and cellist Bobae Lee - performed during the 2025 season, as did the Lumiét Trio (flute, clarinet, and piano) and cellist August Lee with pianist Hyunji Park. A Valentine's Day concert, organized by Jung Jin with Yonsei alumni, has become a beloved annual event. From time to time, Pastor Bernt hosts a local string band jam - old-time tunes, Irish reels, fiddle and mandolin - in the church or at the Wednesday night St. Stephen's jam on Castro.
The Path: From Measuring Up to Being Beloved
Over a year of discernment between pastors, church leaders, and the congregation, First Lutheran has been naming its sense of direction as a community. The image that came out of that work is a path - the scriptural path of liberation, release, and redemption. Four movements describe the journey:
- From measuring up to being beloved. In the high-expectations atmosphere of Palo Alto, where achievement and distinction are everyday values, the congregation is learning to live from God's mercy. Worth is not about success or failure but about being claimed as God's children. Parents emphasize this to kids in competitive schools.
- From isolation to connection. The aim is to be a warm neighborhood hub across generations and cultures, a place where everyone - including people who have felt excluded elsewhere - can belong.
- From preoccupied to engaged. Caught up in daily concerns, members are called to attention and care for neighbors in need, right outside the church door and beyond. Outdoor trips and service projects are part of the rhythm.
- From fast to slow. Silicon Valley schedules are overloaded. The congregation chooses to slow down, pay attention, reflect, and rest, beginning with Sunday itself as First Day and Feast. A recent line added to the path is from machine to human: many members work in tech, and they want to be discerning about the use of screens and artificial intelligence, seeking to live as creatures in God's good creation.
The work of discernment is ongoing, and the congregation has been living into it through small groups, sermon series, and conversation after worship.
Children and Intergenerational Life
Children are most welcome at all services of worship. They both receive and assist with Holy Communion. They may be invited forward for a children's sermon. They sometimes lead processions with the cross, light candles, read scripture, or take part in other ways. Young children usually join parents in the pew, though a craft table in the back of the sanctuary is available, and the Children's Center downstairs is set up like a preschool with a piano and its own restroom, where childcare is offered for all or part of the service.
Education happens both in occasional Sunday School “deep dives” on topics like the Lord's Prayer and Holy Communion, and in the longer, more important curriculum of simply doing church together across generations. Confirmation allows teens to go deeper in their learning, culminating in an opportunity to affirm their faith during worship and become voting members of the congregation. Baptism is for all ages, and the font is the starting point of every service: a reminder of being claimed by God and of the forgiveness of sins.
Young Adults, Women's Group, and Happy Hour Books
People in their twenties, thirties, and forties - including those with partners and even kids - gather occasionally for Friday dinners at the parsonage with the pastors, who are in their early fifties. Young adults at First Lutheran are a sizable group for a small church, and they are engaged in many areas: singing in the choir, reading scripture, hosting barbecues and birding events, managing social media, providing tech help, serving on church council, and, notably, starting the happy hour book group.
The Women's Group meets on the third Wednesday of each month from 10 to 11am, often on Zoom, to catch up and enjoy one another's company. Occasionally the group takes on a project, like collecting school supplies or Christmas presents for local kids in need. The most recent school-supply drive raised $2,925 in addition to all the donated supplies.
Happy Hour Books meets once a month midweek at 5pm, often at the Rose & Crown pub in Palo Alto or on the front patio at the church (with beverages brought from home). The current reading is “Surprised by Joy,” C. S. Lewis's spiritual memoir. Past titles include “Tortilla Flat” by John Steinbeck, “The Cost of Ambition” by Miroslav Volf, “Jesus and the Disinherited” by Howard Thurman, and short writings on the attention economy.
Outdoors: Camping, Birding, and a Tree Tour
Outdoor space is no less sacred than the church sanctuary, in the congregation's view. Several times a year, members camp together at Memorial Park in San Mateo County, sharing meals around picnic tables, hiking among redwoods, and gathering around a campfire. The kids draw sidewalk art on Rally Day. There's a birding trip to the Baylands, a coastal walk at Pescadero State Beach, and a backyard cookout each summer. A member named Holly has put together a tour of the trees around the property - Chinese pistache, crape myrtle, brush cherry, crab apple, coast live oak, pittosporum, coast redwood, purple leaf plum, Japanese maple, English laurel - with notes on how to identify each one.
The Neighbors: Immigrant Accompaniment, the Sister Congregation, and Called to Care
First Lutheran has a long history of care for neighbors in need. Following World War II, the congregation took responsibility for housing and employment for some 38 Eastern European refugees. Later, members supported refugees from Vietnam, Chile, and Central America. The church has been a sanctuary congregation for many years and has accompanied several families from Central America through the asylum process, sharing the everyday challenges of housing, childcare, health, work, transportation, and the pandemic shutdowns.
Across the ocean, the church has a sister-congregation relationship with Rios de Agua Viva in El Salvador. Mutual visits, the exchange of greetings, and scholarship support for students have all been part of the bond. Once a month, a processional cross that was a gift from this congregation is used at worship, the sister church is included in the prayers, and the peace is exchanged in Spanish.
Each month, the congregation lifts up one of its ministry partners through its Called to Care giving program, encouraging designated gifts that go above the general offering. Past and current partners include the Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Food Closet, ReconcilingWorks, ELM (Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries), the ELCA, the Sierra Pacific Synod, ELCA Disaster Relief, and the Immigrant Accompaniment Fund. Gifts are made by check or PayPal and may also be doubled through employer matching programs like Benevity. Members also collect school supplies, fill a wagon with non-perishable food for the Palo Alto Food Closet, and adopt local families at Christmas through an Angel Tree program.
The Building, Weddings, and Facility Use
The sanctuary seats 120, and the altar and dais can be moved to make room for performers, an asset for the many concerts the church hosts. Adjacent to the sanctuary is a fellowship hall suited to small receptions, with a kitchen available. The ground-floor library serves as a meeting room and green room, and the childcare center downstairs has its own restroom and a piano. Several rooms are available upstairs.
Weddings are a significant part of ministry. First Lutheran celebrates marriage as a gift for the flourishing and joy of all people, welcomes couples from all faith backgrounds, and supports marriage equality. A Lutheran wedding typically follows a traditional and ecumenical pattern with scripture and prayers, while leaving room for flexibility around the central exchange of vows. A rehearsal is usually held the day before. Couples work with one of the pastors, a church wedding coordinator, and a musician.
The church makes its space available for concerts, receptions, meetings, and other gatherings by non-profit organizations and individuals. Groups complete a Facility Use Application and Agreement at least two weeks but no more than twelve months in advance.
Two Pastors, a Music Director, and an Office Manager
Pastors Katherine (Kate) Marshall and Bernt Hillesland share the ministry of the congregation. They are married and have five children between them. Pastor Kate grew up the daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, and great-great-granddaughter of pastors, spent her first ten years in Puerto Rico speaking Spanish alongside her parents' ministry with Latino Lutherans, and earned her degree at California Lutheran University before studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, where she met Bernt. Her first call was to Christ Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Washington, where she was ordained in 2005; she then served Holy Shepherd Lutheran Church in Chatsworth before coming to Palo Alto. She loves to dance - salsa, ballet, and the wider dance of culture and faith - and is a long-distance runner, a yoga enthusiast, and a writer.
Pastor Bernt grew up in Pasco, in Eastern Washington, the son of an active Lutheran family. A class on Vocational Ethics at St. Olaf College in Minnesota nudged him toward ministry. After graduation, he joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, preached his first sermons, and went on to study at Yale Divinity School and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. His first call was as associate pastor at St. Mark's Lutheran Church by the Narrows in Tacoma; he later served St. Luke Lutheran Church in Woodland Hills. He plays mandolin at local old-time jams and is an elaborate home cook, a fan of Moby-Dick, a regular walker of wilderness and city neighborhoods, and a writer of thoughtful posts on the church's blog.
Dr. Jung Jin Kim, the music director, was born in Seoul and grew up in the Anglican Church listening to a Harrison & Harrison pipe organ from England. He studied organ at Yonsei University, then earned a master's in music history there, a second master's in organ performance at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Doctor of Musical Arts. He has won the William C. Hall Pipe Organ Competition and was featured on American Public Media's “Pipedreams.” He oversaw the tonal design and installation of the new 47-rank Peragallo Pipe Organ at A&M United Methodist Church in College Station, Texas. He has served as a church musician since 2000 and joined First Lutheran in recent years. His favorite verse is Psalm 1:3: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.”
Kristin Menon is the office manager, handling scheduling, publications, and communication. Joyce, the Financial Secretary, is the contact for giving questions.
What It Means to Be Lutheran Here
First Lutheran's understanding of being Lutheran is not about being more pious or more correct than anyone else. “In a way, to be Lutheran just means that when it comes to faith, we're always beginners.” Some members come for religion, others for game nights, concerts, or simply company. People of varied Christian backgrounds - or none at all - are at home here.
Confessions of faith include the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, shared in common with Catholics and many other Protestants. A central teaching is that worth and hope are not based on personal achievement or moral effort but on the kindness and mercy of God, shown in Christ. Liturgy is close to the Catholic Mass, but conducted in the vernacular. Singing and music are highly valued, and the use of reason and a respect for higher learning are part of the tradition. The congregation belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America but notes that the word “evangelical,” in its root New Testament sense, simply means “good news” or “glad tidings.” A much-loved quote, from Luther's “Freedom of a Christian,” hangs over the work: “Christians do not live in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor; or else they are not Christian. They live in Christ through faith and in the neighbor through love.”
How to Find the Church
First Lutheran Church of Palo Alto is at 600 Homer Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301. The phone number is (650) 322-4669. VTA Route 21 serves Homer and Webster. Sunday worship at 10am is preceded at 9am during the school year by the Slow Read of a Gospel in the library. Thursday Bible Study meets at 10am on Zoom. The Women's Group gathers on the third Wednesday of the month at 10am, often on Zoom. Young adults in their twenties through forties meet for occasional Friday dinners. Parking is on the street, and the chime of the old bell from the tower is the open invitation to step inside.