Tucked at the corner of Magdalena Avenue and Foothill Expressway in Los Altos, Los Altos United Methodist Church has grown from a circle of eighty worshipers gathered under oak trees beside a creek in 1950 into a large, multigenerational congregation known locally as LAUMC. The church describes itself as a Changemaker church and a Reconciling congregation, committed to following Jesus' example of compassion for all people and welcoming people of every gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, immigration background, and socioeconomic status into the mission of God's love.
Sunday Worship and Music
Worship is offered twice on Sunday mornings at 8:30 and 10:00 in the Sanctuary, with both services also carried live online for those who prefer to join from home. The services blend traditional and contemporary elements and are anchored by an extraordinary instrument: a 45-rank Swain and Kates pipe organ with 2,416 pipes, joined in 2007 with an Allen 465 Custom Organ Console that offers four organ suites across American, French, German, and English styles. The organ regularly draws visitors from across the community who come to see and hear it.
The musical life of the church centers on the New Covenant adult choir, which rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 in the Choir Room and sings in the Sunday services in alternate months, with no auditions required. The Alleluia Ringers bell choir rehearses on Tuesdays from 5:00 to 6:00, and additional vocal and instrumental ensembles round out the program under Music Ministry Coordinators Jose Mendiola (vocal) and Tony Marriott (instrumental). Outside the Sanctuary, a contemporary service and shared lunch are offered on the third Sunday of every month, beginning at 11:30 in the Creekside Center.
Communion is observed as a recurring holy meal, and the words of institution from Matthew 26 frame the practice: Jesus took bread, broke it and said, "Take and eat; this is my body," and offered the cup saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant." Baptisms are scheduled into one of the regular Sunday services on the third, fourth, or fifth Sunday of the month and may be performed by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.
Five Practices of Discipleship
The congregation describes itself as "Touching heaven, changing earth with head, heart, and hands" and organizes its life around five practices of discipleship. Radical Hospitality names the work of inviting and welcoming strangers into the life of the church. Extravagant Generosity opens space for giving that exceeds expectations. Bold Service and Social Justice takes members outside their comfort zones to meet neighbors in need. Passionate Worship gathers the community for an intense encounter with God in Christ. Deepening Faith holds up study, prayer, and spiritual formation as the deliberate work of growing in grace. Together these commitments shape everything from Sunday mornings to a global mission trip.
Children and the Children's Center Preschool
Children's and Family Ministry is led by Sharon McClintock and focuses on nurturing faith, building strong family connections, and fostering a welcoming community. Nursery care for infants and toddlers through age three is offered from 8:15 to 11:15 by trained providers in the church nursery located inside the Children's Center. Sunday School for preschoolers through fifth graders meets after Children's Time during the 10:00 service, with families checking in at the Children's Center and walking children over to class after the opening of worship. Kids return to their parents on the playground directly after worship ends.
On the same campus, the Children's Center Preschool operates as a separate early childhood program with its own director, Dee Gray, and a separate phone line, (650) 941-5411. The preschool has been a part of the LAUMC campus for decades and is open to families in the wider Los Altos community, not only to church members.
Youth Ministry
LAUMC's youth ministry is intentionally combined across middle and high school ages because the community believes strongly that all students belong together. Groups meet on Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 to share a meal, talk through concerns, address timely topics, plan service projects, study the Bible, play games, and simply build friendships. Director Timothy Loewen-Elofson also leads Midweek Morning Prayer in the Chapel on Wednesdays from 7:15 to 7:45, an open invitation to start the day with the Book of Common Prayer.
Confirmation is offered during the eighth-grade year. In January, the confirmation class begins meeting on Sunday mornings and continues through March, with each student paired with a non-parent mentor for conversation about life and faith. Confirmands are then welcomed to lead worship the day after the Confirmation Service, and the class culminates around Easter. Two scholarship funds support young people from the church: the Roy Damonte Scholarship, established in 1992 to honor the church's former director of Christian education, is given each year to outstanding high school seniors active in the life of the church, and the Dirk and Carol Damonte Scholarship, established in 2010 by the church's minister of music and worship arts and director of ministries and music for youth, supports undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in music and religious studies.
Adults, GroupLife, and Study
Adult formation at LAUMC follows two tracks. GroupLife is the church's network of small groups of six to twelve people who meet in homes or on campus around the topics that shape their daily lives, from parenting and finances to scripture and spiritual practice. A library of curriculum resources supports the small group leaders, and a digital group finder helps newcomers browse and join a group that fits. A second track gathers adults in study groups that read Scripture and explore faith together, and a third seeks honest Christian fellowship through recreation, day trips, movie groups, and intergenerational get-togethers.
United Methodist Women is a long-running part of the congregation with its own executive committee made up of representatives from each circle. The unit supports local and global ministries and funds scholarships, including the African Student Education Fund, through fundraisers such as a rummage sale, harvest craft faire, and an annual Sale-Abration.
Care, Prayer, and Support
The Care Ministry is the umbrella for the church's many pastoral offerings. Pastoral Care provides one-on-one spiritual guidance from a pastor to any age, available by request. An After-Hours Urgent Pastoral Care Line, (707) 834-9958, connects callers in crisis to the on-call pastoral staff. The Prayer Team gathers every Monday afternoon to lift up the prayer concerns of the congregation, and prayer requests can be submitted online or by calling the church office. Congregational Care Ministers are lay volunteers trained in the Caring Congregation model, partnering with clergy to walk alongside people through grief, illness, and other seasons of need; training for new ministers is offered roughly every other year.
Several facilitated support groups serve those walking through specific journeys. The Cancer Support Group is led by Patty Kenny and Lynne McCoy and meets periodically for a 75-minute session of shared reflection. The Caregiver Support Group gathers in the Sequoia Room on the first and third Mondays at 10:00 for tea and mutual encouragement, facilitated by a licensed psychologist from the Care Ministry Team. The Grief Support Group, led through Pastor Jeong Park, offers comfort and connection to those coping with the loss of a loved one. The Parent Club is a parent support group for caregivers raising children of any age.
The Silver Link Ministry extends the church's care to older adults at The Forum, a nearby retirement community. Volunteers host online worship services and offer a Communion service in The Forum's Gardenia Room on the first Sunday of each month, and personalized visits are available on request for prayer, companionship, Bible study, or pastoral support. Angels on Call is a volunteer network that delivers meals, gives rides to Sunday services, and runs errands for those recovering or housebound.
Hope's Corner and Community Service
Hope's Corner is a joint ministry of Los Altos UMC and Mountain View Trinity United Methodist Churches that began in 2011 and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. The program, located at the corner of Hope and Mercy Streets in Mountain View, serves a free breakfast and bag lunch to neighbors experiencing homelessness every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and on those same days offers free showers and laundry, along with haircuts, bicycle repair, a personal device charging station, health resources, and emergency clothing and weather supplies. By the end of 2023 the program had passed more than 216,000 cumulative meals. LAUMC contributes its Creekside commercial kitchen and food storage space and many volunteers.
Beyond Hope's Corner, the Bold Service and Social Justice Committee organizes construction projects with Habitat for Humanity's All Faiths Alliance and Rebuilding Together, a tool trailer ministry that travels to build or repair homes, churches, and camps, an annual house-building mission trip to Mexico each spring, and partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank, Sacred Heart Community Services, and other Peninsula nonprofits. The Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange hosts volunteer repair days on selected Saturdays.
Social Justice and Global Mission
The Social Justice Ministry at LAUMC studies the root causes of human suffering in the community and around the world, including unjust systems, and works toward long-term solutions through study, advocacy, and action. Current focus areas include fair trade, hunger, poverty, moral budgeting, nonviolence, and human rights. JustFAITH classes offer a more intensive journey of formation in social mission, and the church raises letters to Congress and other advocacy campaigns during the year. Advent Generosity, an annual church-wide fundraiser, designates three beneficiaries that change from year to year; recent recipients include Compassion Week, the First Tee Oakland Mentoring Program, and Taghyeer: The Palestinian National Nonviolence Movement.
Pastor Emeritus Mark S. Bollwinkel's words still frame the work: "It's not enough for us to enjoy the privileges and prosperity of our life in Silicon Valley. We are not comfortable knowing that one in four children in California live in poverty, or that thousands of children will die every day of hunger and malnutrition-related diseases around the world. We yearn for a marriage of personal spirituality and social responsibility in our lives."
The Changemaker Initiative
The Changemaker Initiative is the church's signature effort to live out its welcome-and-send commitment. Led by Executive Director Kim Jones with Director of Learning Karen Kehlet and Director of Community Engagement Yvonne Murray, the Initiative partners with local organizations and across the California-Nevada Annual Conference to equip members and neighbors as change makers in their own communities. The church is open about its Reconciling Church identity, affirming that all persons are children of God and welcoming all, regardless of age, cultural background, disability, ethnicity, financial circumstances, gender identity, marital status, religious tradition, or sexual orientation.
Music Archive, Devotionals, and Sermon Conversation
For those who want to keep connected through the week, the Sermon Talk-Back gathers on Zoom with Senior Pastor Dave Samelson on the second and fourth Sundays after the late service, from 12:30 to 1:15, with Sue and Tom Alvey facilitating. Pastor Jeong Park publishes a monthly devotional, "Reflections from the Sequoia Room," along with a podcast series on the heritage of gospel music, both produced for gen2gen@LAUMC and open to the wider congregation. A worship archive on YouTube and Vimeo goes back many years and complements weekly bulletins and sermon notes.
Giving, Stewardship, and Legacy
Ways to give include online by credit card or e-check, by text message to (650) 229-5200 using keywords like GIVE, COMMITMENT, BUILDING, YOUTH, or CHILD, by stock through a dedicated Charles Schwab account, by direct ACH transfer, by IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution, by planned legacy gift through the Endowment Committee established in 1992, and by automobile donation through Charitable Auto Resources at (877) 537-5277. The UMCOR disaster relief and Outreach Connection funds channeled through the United Methodist Committee on Relief connect LAUMC's giving to global disaster response.
Visit, Find a Group, and Stay Connected
The church sits at 655 Magdalena Avenue in Los Altos, with the main driveway just before the second traffic light from Highway 280 or from Magdalena off Foothill Expressway. Driving directions are posted for travelers arriving from Highway 280, Highway 101 north, and Highway 101 south via Foothill Expressway. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 9:00 to 5:00, with the office closed for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00, and the main line is (650) 948-1083. A group finder, email newsletters, a sermon archive, and a robust calendar of one-time events supplement the weekly rhythm. Boy Scout Troop 33 has long called the campus home, and the building itself, with its pipe organ, columbarium, and Creekside Center, hosts weddings, funerals, and music recitals for the wider community in addition to the congregation's worship.