Joy to the world!
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.
Jorge is the race equity coordinator for the Presbytery of San Francisco.
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 14
If you’ve been thinking about joining the church or want to know more about Old First and the Presbyterian Church (USA), consider coming to our class to explore what this church is all about. Pastor Maggi will lead a class for New Members and Inquirers on Sunday, December 14, after coffee hour. Lunch is included.
Please let Pastor Maggi know you would like to join us. Send an email by clicking below.
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 Thursday, December 19, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. We will discuss Chapters 5, 6, and 7. Future dates will be announced. You needn’t have come to the first meetings 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?
December 7-13, 2025
The theme for our second week of Advent this year looks at how we work through our fear and still hold on to hope when things seem hopeless. The primary scripture shows us a picture of John the Baptist thrown into prison for opposing the oppressive authority of Herod the King. Our devotional for the week says, "In the dim light of his cell, with excecution on the horizon, hope flickers low. John does not ask for a miracle. He asks whether his whole life -- his ministry, message and risk -- meant anything. It's a question many of us have asked especially when our efforts for justice and truth feel fruitless." Many of us often feel the same way as John. We are in a time when children are being starved, immigrants are being rounded up and imprisoned, life-giving vaccines are being cut off, and our leaders ridicule, insult, and demean those who oppose them. This is our time of Herod. But Advent tells us to hold on, as John did, to that hint of hope even when fear and pain overwhelm us. Our devotional says it this way, "Advent does not require us to manufacture hope. It invites us to bring our emptied hope to Jesus, to ask the hard questions, and to listen again for signs of God's nearness."
You can find these thought-provoking and inspirational devotionals by requesting online access clicking below, or you can pick up a booklet at church.
Click to request access to the online advent devotional book
What's Happening at Old First