Green named permanent pastor at Foothills
David Green began serving Foothills Congregational Church in May 2023, coming to Los Altos from Philadelphia. The congregation voted unanimously this year to make Rev. Green the church’s settled – or permanent – pastor; a service of installation was held this past Saturday.
“An installation service is the way a church formally marks the start of a new chapter in ministry under the guidance of a new pastor,” Green said. “It’s not so much about the person being installed in that role, but the congregation’s commitment to serving the larger community as well as the spiritual nurture of its own members.”
Foothills Church was founded in 1960 and has gathered since 1961 at 461 Orange Avenue, in what was originally the location of Christ Episcopal Church.
The Rector at Christ Church, Rev. Claire Dietrich Ranna, preached at Green’s installation.”
It’s especially cool that both of our congregations have called our location home, and Claire’s presence at my installation reflects the spirit of inter-church cooperation and community focus our two congregations share,” Rev. Green said.
Beth Am adds to clergy team
Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills welcomed two new members to its clergy team. this past July.
Rabbi Arthur P. Nemitoff is serving as Interim Senior Rabbi and Rabbi Shoshana Nambi joined as Assistant Rabbi.
Nambi and Nemitoff bring different backgrounds and experiences to the synagogue’s Arastradero Road campus and, as Beth Am President Amy Gerstein notes, “they are both perfect fits for our community.”
“Rabbi Nemitoff and Rabbi Nambi will have quite different roles to play at Beth Am,” Gerstein said, adding “they bring a distinctive constellation of skills that will – especially when combined with each other and with our current clergy team – lead Beth Am into a future as vibrant as our past.”
As Interim Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Nemitoff will be with Beth Am for one year.
He will provide leadership in every area of congregational life – leading Torah study, officiating lifecycle events, pastoral care, leading services, giving sermons, teaching in the youth education programs, and in social justice work.
Nambi was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. She had been serving as Rabbinic Intern at Manhattan’s historic Congregation Rodeph Sholom.
Rabbi Nambi grew up in the Eastern Uganda’s Abayudaya Jewish community, learning Hebrew at her synagogue and teaching Jewish songs to the children in her village of Nabweya.
After graduating from Kampala International University in 2011, she worked part-time as an HIV counselor and agricultural educator.
Congregation Beth Am is a multigenerational synagogue founded in 1955 to be a center of Reform Jewish life on the Peninsula. For more information, visit betham.org.
