In 1960, the move to establish the Foothills Congregational Church began, initiated by a small but determined band of worshipers and sponsored by the First Congregational Church in Palo Alto and the Congregational Community Church in Sunnyvale, with great help from the Northern California Conference of Congregational Churches and the Board of Homeland Missions in New York. The founding group rented a house on Second Street in Los Altos, eventually moving to permanent quarters in the building vacated by Christ Episcopal Church at 461 Orange Avenue in May 1961. By October, 1961, a total of 176 Charter Members were registered. Rev. Charles M. Bezdek, now Minister Emeritus, served as minister from 1961 until his retirement in 1986. The Orange Avenue church sanctuary had been designed by the renowned Ernest Coxhead and completed in 1914. Additions were made in 1926 and 1951, completing a quadrangle, now wisteria-laden and surrounded by magnificent foliage. A ministers study was added in 1966 and a new Parish Hall was built in 1973. In 1982, the Orange Avenue church was placed on the National Register of Historical Places. Welcome to Foothills Congregational Church! We are a friendly, caring, and supportive Christian community, joined with one another in our individual and shared journeys of faith. We are also a diverse group - in age, political preferences and in religious beliefs that range from "traditional" to "progressive." However, we find a common bond in our mutual respect and love for others that is fundamental to the teachings of Jesus.