About Us
We love how this painting of FLC by artist Marguerite Fletcher (used with her permission) depicts us as a vibrant place, a community hub with multiple open doorways.
More than 100 years in Palo Alto
In 2020 we celebrated our centennial – a wonderful event, even during the pandemic and on zoom. We remembered how in 1920, the Augustana Synod (then the Swedish branch of the Lutheran Church) established First Lutheran as a mission to Swedish immigrants living in the area.
There are still a few Swedes around – we celebrate St Lucia in mid-December in a rather Swedish way – but people of varied ethnic backgrounds make up this community. We have continued to reach out to immigrants, most recently through accompaniment work with refugees from Latin America who are seeking asylum. We have a sister congregation in El Salvador.
What’s First Lutheran like as a congregation?
Solidly grounded in the gospel as good news, laid back and valuing the simple joys of community life, artistic and caught up in the beauty of it all – especially when it comes to music. We love open-ended conversations. We’re blessed with remarkable people. And: great treats with our coffee.
What’s a Lutheran Church?
Not all of us consider ourselves Lutheran, and some of us aren’t sure we’re Christian. We don’t go to church because we’ve got things figured out, but because we don’t. We’re always beginning, and that’s kind of the Lutheran way.
Lutheran Protestants trace their origins to the early church through the Reformation in Northern Europe. They are now prominent at home in new places such as Tanzania and Indonesia. Famous historical Lutherans include Martin Luther himself, J.S. Bach, Soren Kierkegaard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Georg Frideric Handel (lots of musicians).
Our confessions of faith include the historic Apostles and Nicene Creeds. A central teaching is that our worth and our hope aren’t based on personal achievement or moral effort but solely on the kindness and mercy of God, shown to us in Christ. We don’t ascend to God; God descends to meet us down in the mud of everyday life (as here, a photo from one of our church hikes):
Are we Evangelicals?
On a national level, we belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But we’re not Evangelicals. That “E” word is perhaps an “antagonym” – it’s come to mean almost the opposite of what it once meant. Today, for many, ‘Evangelical’ means authoritarian, restrictive and conservative. But the root New Testament word means “good news” or “glad tidings” – a message about God that brings real joy actually liberates people.
Martin Luther loved (and composed) joyful music – though perhaps his face doesn’t show it here, in a famous painting of Luther on lute singing with the family:
