Biography
Early Life
Bishop Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder is the founder and Senior Pastor of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ and the Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship, which is a multi-denominational fellowship of over 110 primarily African American Christian churches that practice radical inclusivity.
In her youth, Bishop Flunder was heavily active in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) denomination. She was a teenage evangelist missionary who even attended the Church of God in Christ’s Saints Academy. She remained an active Pentecostal until she realized that being gay would cause conflicts.
Social Justice
After a self-imposed religious exile, she went on to serve as Associate Pastor for Love Center Ministries, then felt a call to plant a church, the City of Refuge based in Oakland, CA in 1991. One of her church’s main purposes is to unite gospel and social ministry. It is particularly known for its work with AIDS and transgender communities.
She honed this passion for social justice activism at the College of San Mateo and it continued in her leadership of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ. There, she partnered with organizations to address substance abuse, prison reform, and green justice. She also provided direct services, housing, and mentorship to community youth. She has planted several City of Refuge churches across the globe.
Religious Activism
Flunder earned a Master of Arts degree from the Pacific School of Religion and a Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary. There, she focused on providing a framework for her work in the AIDS and transgender communities. This research was published as Where the Edge Gathers: A Theology and Homiletic of Radical Inclusion which was published by Pilgrim Press.
It also led to her giving the keynote address for the White House’s World AIDS Day in 2014. Her activism is advanced through her service to various boards and through her fervent advocacy for marriage equality.
One of her most notable achievements is being consecrated Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, which offers support to religious leaders to create inclusive religious networks. In this role, she is a lead change agent expanding opportunities for LGBTQI inclusion and radical social justice ministry.
She founded The Fellowship to be a global, trans-denominational coalition of Christian churches and ministries, which is self-governing, self-supporting, and a site of accountability and nurturing for communities on the margin.
Her grand vision, and that of the church and The Fellowship, is radical inclusivity, or the intentional inclusion of everyone. She is demonstrating her responsibility to not just get to heaven but to bring heaven to earth.
