Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder serves as Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship and Senior Pastor, City of Refuge United Church of Christ. Bishop Flunder founded the City of Refuge UCC in 1991 in order to unite a gospel ministry with a social ministry. City of Refuge is a thriving inner-city congregation that celebrates the radically inclusive love of Jesus Christ. Preaching a message of action, the church has experienced steady numerical and spiritual growth and is now located in multiple structures in the South of Market area of San Francisco at 1025 Howard Street.
A native San Franciscan, Bishop Flunder is a third generation preacher with roots in the Church of God in Christ. She was licensed in the COGIC and later ordained by the Bishop Walter Hawkins of Love Center Ministries in Oakland, California where she served as Associate Pastor for some years. In 1984, Bishop Flunder began performing and recording with "Walter Hawkins and the Family" and the Love Center Choir. Bishop Flunder is also an Ordained Minister of the United Church of Christ and a graduate of the Certificate of Ministry Studies and Master of Arts programs at the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California. She earned her Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo California.
In June 2003, Bishop Flunder was consecrated Presiding Bishop of Refuge Ministries and The Fellowship, a trans-denominational fellowship of 60+ primarily African-American Christian clergy and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the country and as far as Africa.
Bishop Flunder continues to serve as Executive Director of the Ark of Refuge, Inc. Responding to the needs of the AIDS epidemic, Bishop Flunder and her staff opened Hazard-Ashley House and Walker House in Oakland and Restoration House in San Francisco through the Ark of Refuge, Inc., a non-profit agency which provides housing, direct services, education and training for persons affected by HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area, throughout the USA and in three countries in Africa. Restoration House is a dual-diagnosis residential facility for Transgender and biological women of color and the first of its kind in San Francisco. Walker House a residential facility for HIV+ dually diagnosed individuals. The Ark provides HIV/AIDS education and prevention services targeting the African American, Latino populations as will as education workshops in the African American faith community. The Ark opened, in collaboration with AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Magic Johnson Clinic to provide primary medical care services right on the church premises. The Ark also provides substance abuse intervention programs, transitional housing for homeless youth, mentorship programs and a computer lab and audio/video training for community high risk youth.
As a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust and the Department of Health and Human Services, Bishop Flunder also serves as chair of the Social Justice Commission for the World Bishop's Council and as chair for the Justice and Witness Ministry of the United Church of Christ. Bishop Flunder is also a Board Trustee of the Pacific School of Religion.
Bishop Flunder has served as past President of the Board of Directors for the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ, as a Board Member of the Shanti Project, as Chair of the San Francisco Inter-religious Coalition on AIDS, Chair of the Black Adoption Placement and Research Center, Founding member of the African American Interfaith Alliance on AIDS, Member of the Alameda County Ryan White Consortium, a member of the San Francisco HIV/AIDS Planning and Prevention Council, and as a Member of the California Ryan White Working Group. Bishop Flunder has received many awards for her work in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with the elderly and youth.
Bishop Flunder is much sought after as a preacher, educator, conference speaker and singer. She has been invited to minister and serve throughout the nation and many points abroad. Her highly regarded published work "Where the Edge Gathers" was published by Pilgrim Press in 2005 and can be found in our bookstore on this site.
If you are interested is scheduling an appointment or engagement with Bishop Flunder, please contact: Pastor Noni Gordon: 415-312-4547 or email: doitnownon@aol.com.
