Menlo Church

Menlo Church, previously Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (or MPPC), is a congregation located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California with campuses in Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Mateo, Saratoga, San Jose, and South San Francisco. It was officially organized on November 30, 1873. Its congregation has over 3,863 members as of 2016.[1] It was listed as the 17th Most Influential Church in America according to a 2007 survey.[2]

Menlo Church
Menlo Church
Menlo Church
37.4493°N 122.1877°W / 37.4493; -122.1877
Location950 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025
CountryUnited States
DenominationECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians
Websitemenlo.church
History
FoundedNovember 30, 1873
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)John Crosby, Transitional Pastor (Formerly John Ortberg)

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. The church also holds two Sunday services at the site of its original location, 700 Santa Cruz Avenue, behind Ace Hardware store. 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 led by Senior Pastor John Ortberg, 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, John Ortberg III) who had confessed a sexual attraction to minors, to continue volunteering with minors at the church. After an investigation by a 3rd party, no evidence of wrongdoing was found.[3] Ortberg returned to the pulpit on March 7, 2020.[4] The church announced his resignation on July 29, 2020, citing broken trust and “poor judgment” in decisions to allow his son, Ortberg III, to continue to volunteer with students at the church after learning of his attraction to minors.[5]

On October 27, 2020, Menlo Church named John Crosby as its Transitional Pastor.

References
  1. www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/research/pdfs/2012-cs-table6.pdf
  2. 50 Most Influential Churches in America
  3. John Ortberg Investigated After Church Volunteer Confessed Attraction to Minors
  4. Lessons Learned on Leave
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