Yvette A. Flunder (born July 29, 1955) is an American womanist, preacher, pastor, activist, and singer from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, CA. She is the senior pastor of the City of Refuge

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries.

Life

Flunder was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and raised between the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. She grew up in the

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly Bl ...

(COGIC), graduating from the High School from COGIC's Saints Academy in

Lexington, Mississippi Lexington is a city in and the county seat of Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. The county was organized in 1833 and the city in 1836. The population was 1,731 at the 2010 census, down from 2,025 at the 2000 census. The estimated populat ...

before returning to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 1984, she began singing and recording with

Walter Hawkins Walter Lee Hawkins (May 18, 1949 – July 11, 2010) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. An influential figure in urban contemporary gospel music, his career spanned more than four decades. He was consecrated to the ...

and the Love Center Choir, where she was the lead singer. She was later ordained by Hawkins. Flunder earned an undergraduate degree from College of San Mateo. She then went on to receive a Certificate of Ministry Studies and a Master of Arts in 1997 from the

Pacific School of Religion The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the schoo ...

, before earning her Doctor of Ministry degree from the

San Francisco Theological Seminary The San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) is a seminary in San Anselmo, California with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). SFTS became embedded in a new Graduate School of Theology of the University of Redlands in 2019. It was ...

in 2001. 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", and was appointed its Presiding Bishop in 2003. Flunder identifies as a womanist and a reconciling

liberation theologian Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

. In 2005, she authored a book, ''Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion''.

Carlton Pearson Carlton D'metrius Pearson (born March 19, 1953) is an American minister and gospel music artist. At one time, he was the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center Incorporated, later named the Higher Dimensions Family Church, which was ...

cites her among the first religious leaders to embrace and encourage him after he was declared a

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

due to coming out in support of

universal reconciliation In Christian theology, universal reconciliation (also called universal salvation, Christian universalism, or in context simply universalism) is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of love of God, divine love and mercy ...

. In 2013, she was named as a Distinguished Alumna of the Pacific School of Religion. On December 1, 2014, Flunder was a keynote speaker in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

for

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...

, where she described the harmful effects of stigma and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

on those living with HIV and on AIDS education in general. The following year she was a guest speaker at the American Baptist College's Garnett-Nabrit Lecture Series. Since 2015, Flunder has been a member of the board of trustees of the

Starr King School for the Ministry Starr King School for the Ministry is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Oakland, California. The seminary was formed in 1904 to educate leaders for the growing number of progressive religious communities in the western part of the US. The scho ...

and also served as a member of the

Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) advises the White House and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the US government's response to the AIDS epidemic. The commission was formed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and each ...

. Flunder's spouse is

Shirley Miller Shirley Miller (born 1937) is a Jamaican attorney and one of the first women admitted as Queen's Counsel in the Caribbean. Admitted to the inner bar in 1971, she became the first Queen's Counsel in Jamaica and has served in numerous capacities, ...

, the cousin of Walter Hawkins; they have been committed partners since the mid-1980s.

Ministry

Bishop Flunder was raised in the "womb" of the church coming from church founding families in the Bay Area. From a young age, Flunder's life reflected her beliefs to treat people with value and equality. In 1986, Flunder was moved to minister to people with HIV/AIDS in response to the epidemic of the 1980s. She founded several not-for-profit enterprises in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

, 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. In 1991, she founded the City of Refuge under the

, "in order to unite a gospel ministry with a social ministry". She describes the City of Refuge UCC as an effort to "create a spiritual community that will embrace our collective cultures, faith paths, gender expressions, and sexual/affectional orientations while simultaneously freeing us from oppressive theologies that subjugate women, denigrate the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...

, and disconnect us from justice issues locally and globally". The

Transcendence Gospel Choir The Transcendence Gospel Choir, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the first documented transgender gospel choir. It was founded in 2001 by record producer Ashley Wai'olu Moore, with Yvonne Evans as its first conductor, and was a community choi ...

was a community choir affiliated with the City of Refuge and was the first all-transgender choir in the United States. Flunder's work expands into digital spaces. In 2021 she was a panelist fo
"Fire and Desire"
the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture's Center for the Study of African American Religious Life as they discussed "Black Male Gospel Music Performance."

Film, television and media

Flunder was portrayed by actress

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby S ...

for the final 3-part episode as part of the Dustin Lance Black mini-series ''

When We Rise ''When We Rise'' is an eight-part American docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights advocacy in the United States from the 1970s to the 2010s. It was created by Dustin Lance Black and stars Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise ...

'' on March 3, 2017, on the major television network

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The Bishop's role in the show highlights the compassion of the church, the commitment of its leadership and the loving home the church provides to minister in the tough, primarily African-American community in San Francisco. Flunder was also depicted by Joni Bovill in the

Joshua Marston Joshua Jacob Marston (born August 13, 1968) is an American screenwriter and film director best known for the film ''Maria Full of Grace''. Born in Los Angeles County, California, he graduated from Beverly Hills High School. Marston worked in ...

drama film ''

Come Sunday "Come Sunday" is a piece by Duke Ellington, which became a jazz standard. It was written in 1942 as a part of the first movement of a suite entitled ''Black, Brown and Beige''. Ellington was engaged for a performance at Carnegie Hall on Januar ...

'', which premiered at the

2018 Sundance Film Festival The 2018 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 18 to January 28, 2018. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 29, 2017. Awards The following awards were presented: * U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award: '' Th ...

and was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in April 2018. Flunder is active on many social media platforms using her platforms to consistently advocate for black lives, queer lives, medical accessibility, and destigmatization of HIV+ lives. In 2021, Flunder was featured in PBS's "The Black Church: This is our story, this is our song."

Published work

* Where the Edge Gathers * Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process * Those Preaching Women: A Multicultural Collection * Queer Christianities: Lived Religion in Transgressive Forms

References

External links

City of Refuge UCCYvette Flunder , Starr KingYvette Flunder - Profile - Working Preacher
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flunder, Yvette 1955 births 20th-century Protestant theologians 21st-century Protestant theologians Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area African-American Christian clergy 20th-century African-American women singers African-American feminists African-American women writers African-American writers American bishops American Christian clergy American Christian theologians American Christian writers American feminist writers American health activists American Protestant ministers and clergy Bishops in California Feminist musicians HIV/AIDS activists Lesbian feminists American lesbian musicians American lesbian writers LGBT African Americans LGBT bishops LGBT people from California LGBT Protestant clergy LGBT rights activists from the United States Living people Proponents of Christian feminism Protestant writers Religious leaders from the San Francisco Bay Area Singers from San Francisco United Church of Christ ministers Womanist theologians Womanist writers Women bishops Women Christian theologians Writers from San Francisco American women non-fiction writers 21st-century African-American women 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people