What to Expect at a Black Church in Palo Alto, If You've Never Been

If you have never been to a Black church, here is what to expect at ours. The music is louder and the service is longer than you might be used to. People will talk back to the preacher. Someone will hug you. And you will be welcome whether or not you are Black, churched, or sure about God.

What a historically Black church is

A historically Black church is a congregation founded by Black Christians, usually because they were not welcome, or not welcome as equals, in white churches. Ours traces to 1796, when Black Methodists in New York walked out of a church with a segregated communion rail and started their own. We have been in Palo Alto since 1918, which makes us a church in Palo Alto since 1918.

That history shapes the room. This church stood through the 1918 pandemic, the Great Depression, Jim Crow, and COVID. It was a gathering place for civil rights organizing when Palo Alto was writing racial covenants into its property deeds. When we sing “On Christ the solid rock I stand,” we are not being poetic. Our grandparents sang it through worse than we have seen.

What a Sunday feels like

The music. 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. It is loud, it is joyful, and people stand and clap. You do not have to. Nobody is watching you.

The preaching. The message runs about thirty minutes and it comes from Scripture. It will also come from real life, because I preach to people who work in tech, teach school, raise kids, and sit in traffic on 101. In the Black church tradition, people respond out loud. You will hear “amen” and “come on” and sometimes laughter. That is not a performance. It is a conversation.

The length. About 90 minutes. Communion Sundays and baptism Sundays run closer to 11:45. Plan for it and do not feel bad about slipping out if you need to.

The people. Greeters will meet you in the courtyard. Someone will ask your name. After service, people stay and talk. If you want to be left alone, that is fine too, but you will have to say so, because the default here is to notice you.

The rest. We say the Apostles’ Creed. We pray. There is an offering, which as a guest you are welcome to pass on. Everything is on the screen, so you will not be lost. Wear whatever you are comfortable in. Some people wear a suit and some wear jeans.

Who is in the room now

This is the part that surprises visitors. On a typical Sunday you will sit near families with small kids, Stanford students, young adults new to the Bay Area, and members who have been here fifty years. You will see people of different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. We are a historically Black church that is genuinely multicultural, and it is not a marketing strategy. It comes from Genesis 1: every person is made in the image of God.

You do not have to be Black to belong here. You do not have to be anything else either.

A few honest answers

Will I stick out? For about ten minutes. Then someone will talk to you and you will forget about it.

Will anyone make me stand up or introduce myself? No. We do not single out visitors from the front. If you want to be known, come to Next Steps after service. If you do not, sit in the back. We meet in the Fireside Room 15 minutes after service for 30 minutes.

What about my kids? Amazing Kids meets during the service for kindergarten through sixth grade. Check in at the counter when you arrive.

Do I have to believe? No. Some of the people in the room are exploring whether they believe any of this. Come with your questions.

We meet Sundays at 10:00 AM at 3549 Middlefield Rd, at the corner of Middlefield Road and Christine Drive. Look for the flags. Parking is free.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Kaloma Smith