Menlo Church
{{Infobox church
| name = Menlo Church
| fullname =
| img =
| caption = The front of the sanctuary at Menlo Park campus at Menlo Church
| denomination = ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians
| diocese =
| parish =
| division =
| subdivision =
| founded date = November 30, 1873
| founder =
| architect =
| style =
| years built =
| dedicated date =
| closed date =
| demolished date =
| bishop =
| priest =
| archdeacon =
| dean =
| provost =
| rector =
| canon =
| prebendary =
| curate =
| chaplain =
| vicar =
| deacon =
| abbot =
| minister =
| seniorpastor = Phil EuBank
| location = 950 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park, California 94025
| country = United States
| coordinates = {{coord|37.4493|-122.1877|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin map = USA California#USA
| website = {{url|menlo.church}}
}}
Menlo Church, previously Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, is a Presbyterian church congregation located in the San Francisco Bay Area with campuses in Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Mateo, and Saratoga, California.
History
The church was officially organized on November 30, 1873. Its congregation has over 3,863 members as of 2016.[http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf] It was listed as the 17th Most Influential Church in America according to a 2007 survey.[http://churchrelevance.com/resources/churches-to-watch/ 50 Most Influential Churches in America]
The original site was donated in 1874, less than a year after the church was founded, and MPPC met for 76 years at 700 Santa Cruz Avenue and Chestnut, until the church built its current facility at 950 Santa Cruz Avenue in 1950, where it remains now. The Open Doors campaign led to the openings of two new campuses: the North Campus in San Mateo and the South Campus in Mountain View, in 2007 and 2008. In 2015, the church renamed itself Menlo Church to unify the different campuses, and also launched the Menlo San Jose, Saratoga and South City campuses.
On March 2, 2014, the congregation voted to affirm the recommendation of the session to depart Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in order to realign with ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians denomination.
Menlo Church was formerly led by Senior Pastor John Ortberg Jr., a widely known evangelical author and speaker. Ortberg was placed on a temporary leave of absence in November 2019 after allowing a volunteer (later revealed to be his son), who had confessed a sexual attraction to minors, to continue volunteering with minors at the church. After an initial investigation by a third party, no evidence of wrongdoing was found.[https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/february/pastor-john-ortberg-menlo-park-childrens-volunteer.html John Ortberg Investigated After Church Volunteer Confessed Attraction to Minors] Ortberg returned to the pulpit on March 7, 2020.[https://menlo.church/series/everybodys-welcome-nobodys-perfect-anythings-possible#/modal/message/6029/mlo Lessons Learned on Leave] The church later announced his resignation on July 29, 2020, citing broken trust and “poor judgment” in the aforementioned decisions.{{cite web| url = https://religionnews.com/2020/07/29/embattled-megachurch-pastor-john-ortberg-resigns-from-menlo-church-lavery-volunteer/| title = Embattled megachurch pastor John Ortberg resigns from Menlo Church| date = 29 July 2020}}
On October 27, 2020, Menlo Church named John Crosby as its Transitional Pastor. In March, 2021, the worship director of the Mountain View branch of the Menlo Church was fired after a claim was made of “inappropriate behavior online” many years ago.{{cite news |last1=Toledo |first1=Aldo |title=Mountain View: Megachurch employee fired for "inappropriate behavior online" years ago, church leaders say |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/03/21/megachurch-pastor-who-declared-attraction-to-minors-fired-for-inappropriate-behavior-online-years-ago/ |access-date=26 March 2021 |agency=The Mercury News |publisher=Bay Area News Group |date=March 21, 2021}} In November 2022, after a two-year nationwide search, Phil EuBank was confirmed by congregational vote to take on the responsibilities of Senior Pastor at Menlo Church.{{cite web |last1=Palmbush |first1=Scott |title=November 2022 Newsletter |url=https://menlo.church/story/november-2022-newsletter |website=Menlo Church Newsletter |publisher=Menlo Church |access-date=22 March 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://menlo.church/ Official Website]
{{authority control}}
Category:Presbyterian churches in California
Category:Churches in San Mateo County, California
Category:Menlo Park, California
Category:ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians