By Lora Oehlberg
Town Crier Editorial Intern
If you didn’t know it was the 40th anniversary celebration of Foothills Congregational Church, a passerby along Lincoln Avenue on Sept. 30 would have guessed the gathering was a large block party. Like in “Cheers,” everyone knew everyone else by first name.
“Even after you’ve left Foothills, you haven’t really left it,” said former minister Diane Phillips.
Foothills celebrated the anniversary of the signing of the church’s charter. Posters and pictures from each decade were on display.
The celebration began with two worship services with founders and past ministers joining the present pastor, Matt Broadbent. Later in the day, the festivities included musical acts from the church’s choirs and singing groups, a sing-along with former pastor Jim Manley, memories from each decade from former ministers and longtime parishioners and a catered barbecue dinner.
A group from a congregational church in Palo Alto established the church in 1961. They felt their Sunday school material was becoming too fundamentalist and wanted to form a “non-creedal liberal church with no emphasis on doctrine and dogma.” The pastor of the First Congregational Church in Palo Alto at that time, Art Cassidy, agreed there was a need for a congregational church in Los Altos and helped the community organize its own congregation.
In 1914, renowned architect Ernest Coxhead built the sanctuary, originally for the Episcopalians. When growing numbers forced the Episcopalians to move to a larger site, the congregational community purchased the church in 1962. The church building was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 1982.
“We respected the architecture even when there was talk of expanding the building to accommodate our growing membership,” said Jean Stafford, secretary and founding member at Foothills. “Everyone was in favor of not changing the structure.”
For the past 40 years, Foothills has been active in the community. In 1975, they combined efforts to help a family of Vietnamese refugees get settled in an apartment in San Jose. They have supported earthquake relief funds, Habitat for Humanity and homeless shelters.
Foothills participates in the Alpha Omega program, where 12 local churches combine to provide food and shelter for the homeless. Ruth Polata, who helped establish the program, attended the celebration.
“The church provides the volunteers and the home,” Polata said. “There’s always plenty of volunteers from this community.”
In 1999, an anonymous donor offered to match their outreach. With a short campaign, the Foothills congregation established the Endowment for Outreach, valued at $750,000, to help support various community needs.
The Foothills community has grown, expanding to 364 people at the end of 2000. The music program now has four choirs, including “Joyful Noise,” their bell choir.
The Foothills Forum invites speakers to address both sides of an issue followed by a question period.
“We’re one of those very open-minded churches. We seek to be in dialogue with other religions,” said Broadbent.
For information, call 948-8430.
