Fall All-Church Retreat Planning Meeting

Sun., Aug. 25, 11:15 am (during the After Party)Cloister Our longtime wonderful Fall All-Church Retreat has a new home! We’ll be together at beautiful Monte Toyon Retreat Center in Aptos Sept. 13-15. If you would like to help brainstorm fun, spiritual and community-building activities, please join Rev. Molly at a table in the Cloister during the After Party on Sun., …

Third Annual FCCB DIY Triathlon

Sat., Sept. 7, 9 amAlameda Join us for a fun morning of swimming, biking, and running (or any combination thereof) OR socializing with other First Church friends while cheering on the swimmers, bikers, and runners on Sat., Sept. 7 at 9 am at the Encinal Boat Ramp, Alameda. This is a VERY informal, low-key event, DIY triathlon, great for those …

View of front of t-shirt for First Church Berkeley celebrating its 150th anniversary. Includes images of many protest buttons and lettering on t-shirts says Pushing Buttons since 1874

New, Updated FCCB T-Shirts!

Custom Ink, our T-shirt vendor, has corrected the errors on our 150th Anniversary T-shirts and reprinted our entire order, so please come and pick up your new versions, if you haven’t already done so! Jeanne Strauss will continue to distribute them in the Hall of Entrance before and after worship this Sun., July 28 and next Sun., Aug. 4. You can keep …

Pathway lined with greenery leads to Retreat Center with open door

2nd Annual FCCB (Mostly) Silent Retreat

Fri.- Sun., Oct. 25 -27, 2024St. Dorothy’s Rest Retreat Center, Camp Meeker, CA Join us for the second annual FCCB (mostly) Silent Retreat, which will be held Oct. 25-27 among the beautiful redwoods of St. Dorothy’s Rest near Occidental, CA. If you suspect you might be craving rest, quiet, and an opportunity to spend some dedicated time in prayer or …

July 28 Learning Hour: Film Screening “My Disability Roadmap”

Sun., July 28, 2024, 11:45 amLoper Chapel Celebrating the American Disability Act of 1990 and 2008, the Learning Hour on July 28 will give us an opportunity to get to know Sam Habib and his family through his video “My Disability Roadmap.” Now in College, Sam was born and lives with cerebral palsy. He is on a quest to find …

How to Support “Care First and Jails Last” in Alameda County

— Willem VandeKamp, First Church Liaison to Interfaith Coalition for Justice in Jails (ICJJ) In response to community outcry about the incarceration of people with mental illness, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors adopted a policy of Care First, Jails Last in 2021. The fundamental goal of this policy is to “develop a continuum of care that includes a full spectrum of …

Service as Worship Sunday – Aug. 11, 2024

Sun., Aug. 11, 10 am Let’s bring some JOY!  After singing and praying together during a brief worship service, let’s support our local community by working on a project or two.  If you can’t be there in person, your service could be in the form of a donation to Second Sunday Sandwiches or by providing school supplies for the Church World Service …

Items Needed for Church World Service School Kits

Sundays, July 28 & Aug. 4, after worshipFirst Church Berkeley One of the projects for Service as Worship Sunday, which is taking place Sun., Aug. 11, is to compile 20 school kits for local children. The Justice and Service Ministry will be collecting items from congregation members after worship on Sundays, July 28 & Aug. 4. Here’s a list of …

Tours of the New Community Building

The new community building is ready enough that civilians can go for tours! Our Facilities Manager, Amare, has offered to bring up to 10 people through each Sunday after worship between now and the grand opening. Meet Amare in the cloister near the worship entrance about 10 minutes after the After Party starts to check it out!