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, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, physical and mental abilities, educational backgrounds, and economic conditions. We value families in their many, diverse forms and we support marriage equality for all couples. We embrace people from diverse faith backgrounds, Christians from every tradition and people new to faith.

That’s a statement of welcome we as a congregation stand behind, voting to approve these words in a congregational meeting.  Since 1991 we have been a Reconciling in Christ  (RIC) congregation. RIC recognizes Lutheran communities that publicly welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender believers. The complete Reconciling in Christ Roster now exceeds 600 settings nationally.  You can learn more at the website for ReconcilingWorks.

We pray that all those reading this website may come to know themselves, together with all people, loved by God.