Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, CA

This past Sunday, the lovely Robin and I had the joy of accompanying our son and his kids to a church I've long wanted to visit, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in--can you guess?--Menlo Park, California.

We were late arriving to begin with, and parking presented a major challenge. The woefully inadequate church lot was full and much of the street parking close to the church was prohibited on Saturdays and Sundays! We ended up parking a half dozen blocks away. At least it wasn't raining.

The service had already begun and the place was packed when we arrived, so we made our way to the balcony where someone very thoughtfully had reserved the next-to-last pew for our whole family. That's hospitality.

The speaker of the morning was Nancy Ortberg. Maybe you've heard of her and her almost-as-famous author husband, John Ortberg. The message, illustrated with numerous video clips (it was part of a series, "Summer at the Movies"), was interesting and affecting. The service closed with a lovely rendition of "My Chains Are Gone" and a heartfelt benediction.

We joined the after-service fellowship going on in the breezeway behind the chapel, and got free coffee and donuts! Now that's a real church, if you ask me.

Over lunch, I asked my grandson whether he liked the service; he gave it two thumbs up. I asked what his favorite part of the service was, and he answered, "the stained glass windows." They were beautiful. This one, above, was right behind us on the balcony.

As there was a street festival going on right in front of the church, I asked one of the ushers if parking was always as problematic as our experience indicated. He said yes, that he and his wife always find it easiest to park a few blocks away. Other than that, our visit was terrific; we all agreed that we would love to return sometime. Maybe we'll bike to church next time.

Menlo Park Presbyterian Church is located at 950 Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park, near Palo Alto, which is near San Jose. The church has four campuses--Menlo Park, San Mateo, San Jose, and Mountain View.