Yvette Flunder

Yvette Flunder

Flunder singing at 2011 San Francisco Pride
Church United Church of Christ
Personal details
Born (1955-07-29) July 29, 1955
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse Shirley Miller

Yvette A. Flunder (born July 29, 1955) is an American singer and senior bishop of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California.

Flunder was born in San Francisco, California. She was raised in the Church of God in Christ. In 1984 she began singing and recording with Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir.[1][2] She was later ordained by Hawkins.[3]

In response to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, Flunder founded several not-for-profit enterprises in the San Francisco Bay Area, providing services for people affected by HIV: Hazard-Ashley House, Walker House and Restoration House, through the Ark of Refuge, Inc., which later became the Y. A. Flunder Foundation.[4] In 1991, she founded the City of Refuge under the United Church of Christ, "in order to unite a gospel ministry with a social ministry".[5][6]

Flunder earned a Certificate of Ministry Studies and a Master of Arts in 1997 from the Pacific School of Religion, before earning her Doctor of Ministry degree from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2001.[7] In 2000 she founded the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a trans-denominational coalition of Christian churches who "desire to celebrate and proclaim the radically inclusive love of Jesus Christ",[8] and was appointed its Presiding Bishop in 2003.[9]

In 2013 she was named as a Distinguished Alumna of the Pacific School of Religion.[10] On December 1, 2014, Flunder was a keynote speaker in the White House for World AIDS Day, where she described the harmful effects of stigma and homophobia on those living with HIV and on AIDS education in general.[11] In the same year she was a guest speaker at the American Baptist College's Garnett-Nabrit Lecture Series.[12]

Since 2015 she has been a member of the board of trustees of the Starr King School for the Ministry.[13] As of 2016 she is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.[14]

Flunder's spouse is Shirley Miller, the cousin of Walter Hawkins; they have been committed partners since the mid-1980s.[15]

Flunder is the author of a book, Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion.[16]

References

  1. ↑ The LGBT religious archives network - Yvette Flunder
  2. ↑ Love Center Ministries - About Us
  3. ↑ Yvette Flunder - Profile - Working Preacher
  4. ↑ Yvette Flunder | Starr King
  5. ↑ NCLI 2007 Program Book - United Church of Christ
  6. ↑ The Fellowship - Our Presiding Bishop
  7. ↑ Alumni Updates. CHIMES: Breaking Ground. San Francisco Theological Seminary Newsletter, Winter 2015, Vol. 60, No. 2.
  8. ↑ Radically Inclusive - The Essence of the Fellowship
  9. ↑ City of Refuge UCC - Our Team Archived February 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Pacific School of Religion - Distinguished Alumni/ae
  11. ↑ The White House Observes World AIDS Day 2014
  12. ↑ American Baptist College - 2015 Garnett-Nabritt Lecture Series
  13. ↑ Starr King School for the Ministry - Welcome to Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder
  14. ↑ Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS: Members & Staff - aids.gov
  15. ↑ Our Love That Has Lasted 30 Years - Bishop Yvette Flunder and Mother Shirley Miller
  16. ↑ Amazon.com - Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion
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