At 70, Townes founded the Berkeley Ecumenical Chaplaincy to the Homeless to bring Berkeley’s churches together to provide meals, shelter, and other services to homeless people.
First Congregational Church
Posted inCrime & Safety
Video: Firefighter escaped peril in First Church blaze
A Berkeley firefighter almost died last fall after he was left more than two floors up in a smoke-filled building as flames closed in and his oxygen ran down, a new video reveals.
Posted inCommunity
After devastating fire, services return to First Congregational Church
Services have returned to First Church after a fire which put a firefighter in danger. The future of the damaged Pilgrim Hall is being discussed.
Posted inFire
Berkeley congregation shows resilience in wake of fire
After a fire Sept. 30 at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley, a sign thanks firefighters for their work. Photo: Fred Werner By Arielle Gordon-Rowe Five days after a three-alarm fire tore through the roof of a building owned by the First Congregational Church of Berkeley on 2345 Channing Way, causing an estimated $2 million in damage, […]
Posted inFire
Berkeley church says 3-alarm fire caused by roof work
Fire on Channing at the First Congregational Church at 2345 Channing Way. Photo: Ted Friedman Update, 5 p.m. Authorities say 94 children and 14 staffers were evacuated during Friday’s three-alarm fire at the First Congregational Church on Channing Way in Berkeley. The fire was declared under control at 3:20 p.m. but had not been extinguished, Berkeley Fire […]
Posted inCommunity
Berkeley communities of faith join forces for ‘peaceful civil disobedience’ Black Lives Matter protest
Nearly 300 protesters from a number of churches and synagogues staged a die-in on University Avenue in Berkeley on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014. Photo: Lance Knobel By Lance Knobel and Tracey Taylor An estimated 300 people, most of them affiliated with local faith-based places of worship, blocked University Avenue in Berkeley for just over an hour during […]