5 Reasons to Visit UAMEZ Church in Palo Alto This Sunday

If you are looking for a church in Palo Alto, I want to give you five honest reasons to try ours. Not marketing. The things people tell me after they have been here a few months.

1. You will not leave a stranger

The Bay Area is one of the most connected places on earth and one of the loneliest. Many of the people in our pews arrived here not knowing a single person. This church became their first home in the Bay Area.

That does not happen by accident. Greeters meet you at the Welcome Center, the navy booth in the courtyard, and walk you in. About ten minutes after service, Next Steps meets in the Little House. It is a short, relaxed conversation about who we are and what is here for you. Most people who now call this church home started there.

2. The music will sound like home, and then surprise you

On Sunday you will still hear the classic gospel and hymns many of us grew up on, mixed with new songs and contemporary Christian music. Some Sundays the room sings like a choir. Some Sundays it sounds like a concert. Every Sunday it is people singing to God, not performing for you.

3. Your kids have their own place

Amazing Kids meets during the service for kindergarten through sixth grade. You check them in at the Amazing Kids counter on your way in, and you get to worship without doing crowd control. We do not have a nursery, so younger children stay with you, and nobody here minds a little noise.

4. You do not have to have your faith figured out

I left the church at 18 and did not come back until I was 28. So I do not flinch at questions. On a typical Sunday you will sit near people who grew up in church, people who left it for years, and people who walked in for the first time last month. Some are exploring whether they believe any of this. You are welcome to sit in the back and see how it feels.

We have been in Palo Alto since 1918, and we are part of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the denomination of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. That history is why justice and welcome are not slogans here. But you do not need to know any of that to come.

5. It is easy

Sundays at 10:00 AM. 3549 Middlefield Road, at the corner of Middlefield and Christine. Look for the UAMEZ flags. Parking is free in our lot and on the street. Service runs about 90 minutes. Wear whatever you are comfortable in. If you do not have a car, the 21 bus stops at Middlefield and Meadow, a three-minute walk from our door.

You do not have to register. Just come. If you want us to expect you, plan your visit at uamez.com/visit, or call (650) 272-6742.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Kaloma Smith