First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael sits on the corner of Fifth Avenue and E Street in downtown San Rafael, a single city block given over to a stone-and-redwood sanctuary, a chapel, a 48-foot bell tower, and three walls of frescoes by Lucienne Bloch, who once worked beside Diego Rivera. The congregation, founded on September 26, 1869, by a small circle of Presbyterians who met in the local public schoolhouse, has watched its downtown neighborhood grow up around it for more than 150 years. Today the church is known for progressive, inclusive Protestant worship, a contemplative program rooted in Celtic Christian mysticism, a handbell-and-voice music ministry that welcomes high-schoolers into the chancel, and a Mission and Social Justice Committee that feeds the hungry through The Street Chaplaincy, sends volunteers into disaster zones with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and has earned renewed recognition as an Earth Care Congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
From 1869 to the Corner of Fifth and E
The congregation formed on September 26, 1869, when a group of Presbyterians met in the Public School House in San Rafael, many of them immigrants of Scottish ancestry. After seven years of fundraising they built a wooden sanctuary on the east side of E Street between Third and Fourth. By 1892 the wooden building had been outgrown, and the members chose to build again, this time at the corner of 5th and E. That second church, constructed of stone from the Hotaling Quarry on Clark Street in San Rafael, was first used for worship on February 14, 1895. In 1914, ten bronze bells cast by the McShane Bell Company of Baltimore were installed in the bell tower, every one engraved with a verse of Holy Scripture. In 1920 the sanctuary gained memorial windows designed by the noted architect Julia Morgan; their glass includes fragments from the cathedrals of Rheims and Verdun.
By 1971, after long debate over the structural integrity of the old stone walls, the congregation decided to demolish the historic church and build a new one on the same footprint. The bells, stained glass, and organ were carefully removed and stored. The present sanctuary was dedicated on September 9, 1973. On Christmas Eve 1974 the bells were rung for the first time from the new 47-foot steel-and-redwood bell tower, and on Palm Sunday 1975 the tower and adjacent Chapel Lounge were dedicated. In 2019 the congregation marked its 150th anniversary.
Frescoes by a Rivera Apprentice, Bells from a Steamship Captain
The building itself is a small museum of Marin religious art. As visitors enter the atrium, they pass five frescoes by Lucienne Bloch and her husband, Stephen Pope Dimitroff, both of whom were assistants to the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. The panels - The Creation, The Tree of Life, The Exodus, The Prophets, and Cosmos and Peace - cover major biblical narratives and close with an image in which, in Bloch's words, "the lamb and the lion lie together in peace." Bloch (1909-1999), a Swiss-born American, studied with Antoine Bourdelle and Andre Lhote in Paris, designed glass figures for the Royal Leerdam Glassworks in Holland, and was invited by Frank Lloyd Wright to teach sculpture at Taliesin East. She eventually turned to mural painting as Rivera's apprentice and met Dimitroff on one of his projects. The two moved to Mill Valley in 1948 and settled on a ranch and studios in Gualala.
Inside the sanctuary, a 16-foot redwood-and-metal Chancel cross was specially designed for the new building to express both the Christian and Presbyterian traditions. Stained glass salvaged from the 1895 church includes a "Christ Transfigured" panel built by the Charles J. Connick Associates of Boston and dedicated in 1962 in memory of R. Stanley Dollar, and a "Browning Window" that carries a quotation from Robert Browning. The chapel holds additional memorial windows from the old sanctuary.
The ten bronze bells, each an individual memorial given between 1914 and the 1920s, were a gift of steamship owner Captain Robert Dollar and his wife. Dollar's worn leather Bible was found open on the table beside him at his death in 1932, beside a verse from Second Timothy. Nine of the ten bells were installed as named memorials honoring Marin residents; in 2024 a plaque was added to the tower honoring the Rev. Charles Griffen, the pastor at the time the tower was erected.
Two Sunday Mornings: Contemplative and Blended
On a typical Sunday the congregation gathers in two distinct services. At 8:30 in the chapel, fifteen to twenty-five people settle into a quieter, more intimate worship built around Taize-style chants, extended moments of silence, scripture, weekly communion, and a Bible-based message from the Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney that is followed by a chance to talk back. The 8:30 service runs during the program year; in July and August the two services combine into one at 9:30 in the sanctuary.
The 10:00 worship in the sanctuary blends hymnody, contemporary song, scripture readings, and special music. The chancel choir and handbell choir, vocal soloists, and visiting musicians on harp, violin, flute, cello, kora, trumpet, and organ enrich the service. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, with everyone, including children, welcome at the table. Both services are open to anyone; membership is not required.
Sermons are recorded and made available on the church's YouTube channel, and the 10:00 service is livestreamed on Sunday mornings. A Monday-night Sermon Conversation gathers at 6:30 on Zoom for those who want to talk over what they heard. The church also maintains a substantial archive of memorial services on YouTube for families who cannot attend in person. The Sunday morning is completed at 11:15 in the chapel by Adult Education Forums, where speakers from San Francisco Theological Seminary, local non-profits, and visiting authors address interfaith dialogue, Christian theology, Celtic spirituality, social justice, climate change, end-of-life choices, and art and faith.
SoulSong and the One World One Spirit Program
Contemplative spirituality at FPCSR runs deeper than a single service. It is anchored by One World One Spirit (OWOS), a program that invites members and seekers to awaken to the Divine Presence animating all people. The program operates within the church's Protestant heritage while drawing on Celtic Christian mysticism, the contemplative practices of the early Christian mystics, and the wisdom of the world's major spiritual traditions. OWOS is also the umbrella for Centering Prayer (Wednesdays at 10:00 in the chapel, including body prayer and lectio divina), the 8:30 Sunday contemplative service, the monthly SoulSong service, classes, and seasonal retreats.
SoulSong is a Celtic candlelit, Taize-style service held on the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30 in the chapel. It is built of contemplative readings, music, and chants intended as a time for quiet reflection, a chance to draw close to the Holy One, and a way "to know again you are held in love." Recent all-church retreat leaders have included John Philip Newell on Celtic spirituality, Mark Yaconelli on storytelling, Anne Lamott on writing and faith, and Father Cyprian Consiglio on "Prayer in the Cave of the Heart." The church also offers a Spiritual Direction ministry, matching members with certified spiritual directors.
A Ministry of Music
Music at First Presbyterian is treated as a ministry in its own right. The chancel choir, directed by flutist and choral conductor Amanda Hahn, rehearses Thursday evenings from 7:30 to 8:45 in the sanctuary and sings at the 10:00 service on the first and third Sundays of each month. No auditions are required. The choir's stated purpose is to inspire and encourage praising God with music by "honoring the classics as well as developing and fostering more contemporary elements of sacred music."
The Sounds A'Pealing Handbell Choir, directed by Marquise Usher (a member of the renowned Sonos Handbell Ensemble), rehearses on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 on the church's five-octave set of Malmark handbells and accompanying handchimes. The handbell choir rings at the 10:00 service on the third Sunday of the month and at special services, and is open to youth, college students, and adults who can read treble or bass music.
A signature outreach of the music program is the Young Musicians initiative, which invites Bay Area high-schoolers - many of them Redwood High School students and Marin Music Chest scholarship recipients - to perform during worship. Instruments seen at the front of the church in recent months have ranged from piano and violin to cello, flute, harp, and trumpet. Pianist Isabella Lo, a junior at Redwood High School who founded her school's Classical Music Club, plays the 10:00 service as student pianist. The senior musician and composer John Steiner, who began his career as a keyboardist for the pop group New Edition and went on to become composer and pianist for the San Francisco Center for Spiritual Living, plays the 8:30 service and improvises during worship. Two Sundays a month the church also welcomes guest professional musicians for concerts and special offerings.
Bible Study, Book Groups, and Lifelong Learning
Wednesdays at 11:15 in the church library, retired Presbyterian pastor the Rev. Bob Hirni leads an open Bible study that digs into one book of the Bible at a time, paying close attention to the cultural and historical context of the text. The Men's Book Group meets via Zoom twice a month on Thursday mornings and tends to read non-fiction on current topics; the Women's Book Group meets once a month on the last Wednesday evening. The Nonfiction Book Group, which meets on the first and third Tuesdays at 7:00 in the library, is reading No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism by Jared Huffman for the autumn season.
Once or twice a year the whole congregation is invited to read one book together; recent shared reading selections have included John Philip Newell's The Rebirthing of God and Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul, Richard Rohr's The Universal Christ, and Marcus Borg's Days of Awe and Wonder. Small discussion groups meet in person and on Zoom.
Mission in Marin and Beyond
The Mission and Social Justice Committee runs the congregation's social-justice work, both locally and through national Presbyterian networks. The church's long-running partnerships include:
- Marin Food Bank: the first Sunday of every month is a Food for Marin Food Bank collection in the sanctuary and patio; the donation basket is out every Sunday for non-perishable protein, pasta, cereals, and canned fruit.
- The Street Chaplaincy: FPCSR hosts the Tuesday-night Wellness Gathering, where a licensed chef oversees a hot meal for unsheltered and temporarily sheltered neighbors; a volunteer team from the congregation hosts the meal a few times a year.
- San Pedro Elementary After-School Enrichment: through its Youth on the Move ministry, the church provides volunteers for a Wednesday-afternoon program for second- through fifth-grade students at the Canal-area school, with rotations through gardening, art and science, cooking and nutrition, and movement and dance.
- Ritter Center: in November the Mission Committee organizes Thanksgiving food bags and Safeway grocery cards for the San Rafael safety-net agency.
- Alternative Gift Market: each December the church hosts a marketplace of donations to service organizations including Heifer International, Homeward Bound, Opening the World, the Presbyterian Hunger Agency, Seeds of Learning, Youth on the Move, Roots of Peace, and Boy Scout Troop 2000.
- Christmas Angel Tree: in late November and early December, members take tags with the age and gift request of a San Pedro child identified by school counselors.
- Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: since 2006 the congregation has sent volunteer rebuild teams around the United States in partnership with PDA. Recent deployments include multi-year trips to Paradise, California, after the Camp Fire and a 2025 trip to Maui to help rebuild after the Lahaina fires.
- Pedal for Protein: members have been riding the Presbytery of the Redwoods' annual bike ride, which raises money for Northern California food banks, every year since 2004 and have contributed more than $50,000 over the last decade.
The Green Team, which works under the Mission and Social Justice Committee, earned a renewed Earth Care Certificate from the PC(USA) and helps lead Marin Interfaith Climate Action. The church is also a member of California Interfaith Power and Light. In 2024 two heat pumps were installed in Canoles Hall and several high-efficiency heaters were added in other rooms of the building.
Fellowship Around the Table
Congregational life at FPCSR runs on shared meals. The Church Life Committee hosts a soup lunch and Broadway sing-a-long each January, Mardi Gras with King Cakes and a Palm Sunday brunch in the spring, the September Homecoming brunch each fall, and a Mission Pasta dinner in late February that doubles as a fundraiser. Smaller gatherings happen through the Supper Club program, in which groups of eight to ten members share a meal at someone's home or a local restaurant several times a year. On the second Sunday of each month, the Second Sunday Strollers walks the nature trails of Marin with leashed dogs welcome. Saturday-afternoon movie events are screened in the sanctuary on a big screen - recent picks have included UP, Hairspray, West Side Story, and documentary discussions such as Bad Faith and Common Ground.
Pastoral Leadership and Governance
The Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney became Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael in April 2019. A native Californian, she grew up in Santa Ana and served Presbyterian congregations in Indiana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Sacramento, and Garden Grove before returning west. She holds degrees from the University of Oregon and San Francisco Theological Seminary and lists listening to people's life stories among her favorite parts of ministry. She is supported by the Rev. Bob Hirni, a long-time FPCSR parishioner and Parish Associate who studied at the Graduate Theological Union while serving the Stinson Beach and Bolinas Presbyterian Churches, and the Rev. Bev Brewster, a Parish Associate who retired as pastor of Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo and served as the church's Sabbatical Pastor in 2025.
Session elders - elected, ordained, and limited to six consecutive years on Session - lead church committees including Worship, Church Life, Contemplative Spirituality, Mission and Social Justice, Adult Education, Membership, Personnel, Finance, Stewardship, and Facilities. Deacons, drawn from the Greek word for "servant," are ordained to ministries of compassion, attentive listening, prayer, and help within the congregation and to neighbors in need.
For newcomers, the church hosts First Presbyterian Church 101 classes once or twice a year. Membership is open to anyone who wants to join; communion and worship are open to all, including children.
Visiting First Presbyterian
The church is on the corner of 5th Avenue and E Street in downtown San Rafael. Limited parking is available behind the building off Mission Street, with ample street parking nearby. The accessible entrance is off Mission Street; the sanctuary, chapel, offices, and restrooms are all on street level. Visitors are welcome to wear whatever makes them comfortable. Sunday services run about an hour and five minutes. The church is a More Light congregation, has long advocated for LGBTQ+ rights and full inclusion in church and society, and the pastor is happy to officiate weddings.