Grow Your Faith
First Palo Alto United Methodist Church offers multiple ways to deepen your spiritual life.
In our traditional worship service at 10:45 a.m. Sundays, you’ll hear and sing glorious music, reflect on passages from the Bible as well as a thoughtful message from the pastor, and experience prayer and fellowship with fellow attendees. We offer communion on the first Sunday of the month during worship.
A more contemporary worship experience called Upstream is offered on Wednesday evenings over Zoom. Several Bible and book study groups meet throughout the week.
Faithful Pathways
Prayer Request
The Call to Prayer team meets weekly and prays for our world, our community, our church and all those on the Prayer List.
If you would like to be added to the weekly Prayer List, or you would like to receive the prayers of the senior pastor, please download our Prayer Request Form. You may also contact the church office at info@firstpaloalto.com.
Communion
Holy Communion is a sacrament in the Christian Church that commemorates the Last Supper Jesus ate with his disciples before his crucifixion and death. He broke bread and poured out wine and passed these to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you… drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Also known as the Great Thanksgiving, bread and juice are blessed and then shared with the congregation.
Anyone can participate in Communion. You do not have to be a Methodist or even a Christian, as long as you have a willing heart.
We offer Communion during the 10:45 a.m. worship service on the first Sunday of the month.
We use the process of intuition, where you dip a cube of bread into a cup of juice. We use non-alcoholic juice for communion, and there are gluten-free options.
Baptism
Baptism is a sacrament of initiation into the Christian church. The United Methodist Church baptizes persons of all ages – babies, youths, adults. Through baptism, “we are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit.” Baptisms take place during a worship service. At FUMC, water is sprinkled on the candidate’s head by the pastor performing the baptism.
If you are considering baptism for your child or yourself, you are invited to a time of conversation with our Senior Pastor Burke Owens. He is happy to answer your questions. Please contact the church at 650-323-6167 or info@firstpaloalto.com.
Membership
We welcome your interest in becoming a member of the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto.
If you are considering membership, you are invited to a time of conversation with our Senior Pastor Burke Owens. He is happy to answer your questions about church membership as well as share the ways we equip you for a deeper experience as a member.
Members are received into the church in three ways:
- By profession of faith and baptism
- By letter of transfer from another United Methodist Church
- By letter of transfer from another Christian church or by reaffirmation of faith when a letter of transfer is not appropriate or possible.
For more information about membership, contact Pastor Burke Owens at 650-323-6167 or info@firstpaloalto.com.
Small Groups
Several small groups of 4 to 12 church members meet to study the Bible and discuss theology and religious topics. Some meet in person and some meet over Zoom. Being part of a small study group can deepen your faith.