“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.” Stephen Colbert
First Congregational Church of San Rafael has a long tradition of being strongly oriented toward outreach and benevolence. In recent years we have consistently been ranked as one of the most “giving” churches for our size in our denomination.
- In the early 1970s, we built Pilgrim Park, an innovative low-income housing project on land adjacent to the Church. Since the inception, members of First Congregational Church serve on the Pilgrim Park Board of Directors, offering support to the community and oversight of the operations. For several years, members of our church staffed an after-school Homework Club to help elementary school kids with homework assignments.
- In 1999, we started Every Dollar Feeds Kids, (EDFK) a zero-cost non-profit that now raises approximately $50,000 a year to feed hungry kids in Mexico.
- For many years, we have provided meals for those in need.
- For about a decade, we prepared and served home-cooked meals for unhoused women at the San Rafael shelter through the R.E.S.T. program (Rotating Emergency Shelter Team).
- Beginning in 2024, we’ve helped to prepare and serve dinners, in cooperation with The Street Chaplaincy, at First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael.
- FCCSR was a founding member of the Marin Organizing Committee, a broad-based effort to apply community organizing principles to persistent social justice issues in Marin.
- In 2017, we met with other faith-based organization through the Marin Interfaith Council and formed the Network of Immigrant Congregations. We supported newcomers by providing transportation to medical appointments, court appearances, and legal aid, as well as emergency funding for immediate needs, help with filling out forms, and short term housing. We continued to participate with this group for two years
In addition to these hands-on activities, we actively support a number of outreach efforts through our Mission Budget. You can read more about them from the links below
Canal Alliance helps the community of San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood through social justice advocacy, academic support, after-school programs and community leadership development.
Homeward Bound operates a number of shelters, job-training and re-entry services for homeless families and individuals in Marin. In addition to financial support, FCCSR conducts a drive each year to collect large numbers of new pillows or towels for Homeward Bound to give their clients..
Ritter Center provides food, clothing, showers and other essentials for Marin County’s homeless and other at-risk populations. They also conduct “Backpack Sunday” every summer, collecting school supplies for Ritter Center’s program to equip needy kids for the start of school. Our congregation collects backpacks and school supplies on Backpack Sunday. We also donate to the Ritter Center’s Family to Family Holiday Gift Card Program. This program provides gift cards to Ritter Center registered families and individuals so they can fulfill their kids’ holiday wishes and buy what they need..
FCC is a Convenent Church of Greater San Francisco Habitat for Humanity (which includes Marin.) In addition to financial support, FCC members get together one day a year to work at one of Habitat’s affordable-housing construction sires.