1751 Sacramento St, San Francisco | Free Parking | Kid Friendly | Get Directions
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Old First Presbyterian Church enthuiastically invites all people into our community!
This church was the first Protestant congregation established on the west coast of the U.S. during the gold rush. And we are proud now to continue sharing Christ's love, justice, and welcome to modern seekers who arrive in San Francisco now 175 years later. We have taken a leadership role both locally and nationally welcoming LGBTQIA+ Christians into full participation in the life and leadership of the Presbyterian Church. We strive to bring hope, joy and justice reaching out to people of all ethnicities, incomes, races, and life situations, and like Jesus, we always try to offer a smile and welcome the outcasts.
We hope you will come visit and consider becoming part of our community. We want to know you and share your own particular gifts, experience, and insights with us on our corner, in our city, and in our world.
We worship every Sunday at 11:00 am both in person in our beautiful sanctuary and on line via YouTube livestream. We celebrate communion on the third Sunday of the month. Worship is our joyful praise and thanks to God - our celebration of God's Love.
We have a wonderful choir singing a mixture of classical and modern music and singers are always welcome. Our organ is one of the most renowned in the city. We founded and support an amazing variety of new artists each week in our Old First Concerts programs.
Bringing God's love, welcome, justice, in our neighborhood, city and world and working to make the world a better place for all are important to us. We are a founding member of the weekly interfaith food pantry every Saturday and host a free community meal on the 4th Saturday of each month. We work with many local, national, and international groups to promote racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, and other human rights, to end gun violence, and to help immigrants.
We feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, and work for justice. We always need volunteers to help with all of these projects.
We believe that learning and growth are important for all ages. We offer regular book studies, Bible studies, theological discussions, and topical classes for adults on issues important in our culture. Small groups meet on Zoom and in members' homes for study and support. We make time and space for children in worship and offer regular, broadly graded children's church school every 1st and 3nd Sundy. We also have excellent childrens' and adults' libraries.
We love to read and support the Little Free Library on Sacramento Street. Bring you books to share with the community.
Rev. Jorge Bautista showed up to Dennison Road in East Oakland early in the morning of Oct. 23 with other clergy to protest the Trump administration’s planned law enforcement “surge” in the Bay Area. He stood in the road with dozens of others as part of a Sanctuary Faith Vigil as approximately 10 trucks carrying Customs and Border Protection agents sped to the entrance of the lone bridge that ties Oakland to Coast Guard Island. The agents would be supported by the Coast Guard base for the operation, a spokesperson confirmed, and East Bay residents braced for the kind of controversial crackdowns that have upset Chicago and Los Angeles.
According to three eyewitnesses who spoke to us and photographs from three photographers who were on the scene, a few CBP agents got out of their vehicles when they got stalled by the crowd. Other vehicles made it onto the bridge, where some CBP agents got out and returned to the cluster of protesters, who were all gathered on the city side of the blue line marking the edge of federal property.
One of the agents, wearing a camo helmet with a chin guard hiding much of his face and a ballistic vest with a CBP badge and “POLICE” emblazoned on the front, locked eyes with Bautista and stepped toward him, crossing the blue line and exiting federal land. The agent raised a large weapon, one that shoots “less lethal” projectiles, leveling it at the reverend’s head.
Bautista didn’t think anything would happen. The agents had just lobbed some stun grenades toward the protesters, many of whom quickly retreated, but Bautista and others stayed in place. He was hoping to mediate, not believing they would fire anything directly at people’s bodies, he said. “We’re here in peace,” he recalls saying to the agent.
Then “boom!” The agent, standing roughly five feet away, shot a cloud of noxious chemicals right into Bautista’s face. The toxic vapors soon enveloped him. The caustic powder entered his mouth and coated his face and coat. He couldn’t breathe. One witness, Jerome Parmer, said Bautista’s face was covered with white dust and was bleeding from his chin.
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December 2025
Luke’s Gospel begins the story of Jesus with this opening line: “In the time of Herod…” This detail may seem minor to modern readers; however, it reveals layers of information about the fearful world Jesus entered, one filled with rampant oppression, economic disparity, uncertainty, and instability. A world not so unlike our own. For our Advent theme, sermons and devotions will take seriously the angels’ message to "fear not" and trust that Christ’s birth truly is good news of great joy for all people. We look closely at the fear and terror looming in the background during the time of King Herod and invite us to consider the fears we hold now. Can we acknowledge fear without letting it rule us? Might we catalyze our fears into love and action? What if naming our fears helps us see more clearly how God is breaking in and where God is at work?
As we journey through this season, may our hope become gritty and resilient. May we remember: hope that trembles is still hope. This season, let us insist on hope and trust that good news is greater than fear.
You can pick up one of two Advent devotional booklets at the church, or click here to request access online.
Click here to request access to our digital Advent devotional booklet
the next few weeks
Over the next few months we will be reading together Bruce Reyes-Chow's new book Everything Good about God is True: Choosing Faith. We will meet next on Thursday, November 20, and will be reviewing Chapters 2, 3, and 4. Future dates will be announced. You needn’t have come to the first meeting to enjoy this one. Please join us!
A better story of faith exists, and it has the capacity to heal the world -- if we only embrace, articulate, and live it more courageously.
With clarity, vulnerability, and wit, Reyes-Chow helps us learn a grammar of faith about God, Jesus, and the Spirit that breathes fresh meaning into old words like sin, confession, salvation, baptism, communion, and gratitude. He doesn't shy away from calling out the hateful and hurtful dogmas of many churches, but he also turns our attention toward essential questions: What if God created humans to be beautifully complex? What if the Spirit calls us to lament and repent and also beckons us toward pathways of healing, wholeness, and hope? And if Jesus equips us for lives of justice and kindness, how might our imaginations expand for what the world could be?
November 2025
As we enter this year's stewardship season, we invite you to reflect on this question: "What gives you hope at Old First Presbyterian Church?" Is it the welcome you find on Sunday mornings, the music that fills our sancturary, the friendships that sustain you, or the work we do together for justice and compassion? In these days, being hope-bearers in our neighborhood, our city, and our world is more important than ever. Please consider pledging or increasing your pledge to give in support of the hope this church shares with our city and the world. In these days, when hope seems in short supply and needs are ever increasing, we want to remain abundant in our ministry.
In worship on Sunday, November 30 we will all dedicate our pledges to give money and offer our work to serve Christ's mission. You can use the pledge card sent to you in the mail or print the card below. Then bring it to worship on November 30 or send it to the church treasurer with the link below.
What's Happening at Old First