Kristi Lynn Denham

The life and legacy of the Rev. Kristi Lynn Denham will be celebrated at a memorial service Saturday, Aug. 10, at 2 p.m. at the Congregational Church of the Peninsula where Rev. Denham served as pastor from 1999-2019.

Rev. Denham died Wednesday, June 19, at her home in Novato with her two sons, Jesse and Gabriel, at her bedside after a yearlong struggle with pancreatic cancer.

She was born May 28, 1949, to Audrey Jean Cochrane and Wes Martin in Redding, the first daughter in a family that would include two others. A graduate of the University of California at Davis, she earned her degree in ministry from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo. She was ordained to ministry by the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ.

Then in 1997, as a single mother with two young biracial sons, she moved across the continent to accept a call as associate pastor of the First Congregational Church of Atlanta, Ga. In 1999, she chose to return to her Northern California roots. The Congregational Church of Belmont (later the Congregational Church of the Peninsula) was searching for a pastor, and the young woman with a head of big curly red hair was a great fit. The church honored her with the title Pastor Emerita in February.

In her 20 years at CCB, Rev. Denham pastored young men incarcerated at Hillcrest Juvenile Hall, served as a chaplain to the Belmont Police Department and fostered cooperation with other faiths on the Peninsula. It was that passion that led her to co-found the Peninsula Multifaith Coalition that sponsors the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in San Mateo County every January.

She also taught Liberation Theology at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.

Among her gifts was her skill as a liturgical dancer. Congregants remember her dancing among the cars as church members gathered in a Redwood City parking lot during Covid. At her recognition as Pastor Emerita at CCP in March, she danced to the hymn, Lord of the Dance, even as she was reeling from the effects of chemotherapy.

Rev. Denham is survived by her sons Jesse (Susanna) of San Rafael and Gabriel (Joy) of New York City; her sisters, Wendy Biggam and Heidi Martin, both of Longview, Texas; and her grandchildren, Audrey, Esben and Oliver Denham.

For community members who would like to honor her, the family suggests donations to the Rev. Kristi Denham Scholarship with Project Change which surrounds formerly incarcerated young people with support as they navigate the path through higher education. The establishment of the scholarship was announced at her 75th birthday party last month. Donations can be sent to the church, Congregational Church of the Peninsula, 751 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont 94002.

The memorial service will be followed by a reception in the church Dining Room.