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MINISTRIES
 
Our Pastoral Team
Educational Ministries
Statement of Purpose
ABC/USA
Evergreen Baptist Association
PCBA
AWAB
 
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Our Pastoral Team

Rev. Dr. Nancy E. Hall, Pastor
Rev. Nathan Brittsan, M.Div., Associate Pastor
Minister Sharon Allen, Administrative Associate


Educational Ministries

Pandemic note: Adult Education Forum is currently on hiatus.

Our Adult Education Forum meets at 12:45 PM every Sunday, after the coffee and fellowship time following worship. We blend together a range of topics from Bible study and theology to the church’s responses to critical current events. Recent series have included such topics as Restorative Justice with guests Ched Myers and Elaine Enns, Death and Dying, Health Care Reform, and an ongoing sharing of our spiritual journeys. Guests are always welcome to our Adult Education Forum – discussions are open and friendly!


Statement of Purpose

Theological Practice and Tradition

The First Baptist Church of Berkeley (FBCB) is a theologically open congregation committed to living out the Baptist tradition in today’s world. Being non-creedal, we are inclusive of the various ways people come to know and experience God in Jesus Christ. We affirm the freedom of the local congregation to determine the content of its own worship, preaching, and mission. Individual members are free to express their faith and interpret scripture for themselves. We affirm that the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers all people strength and purpose for life. We affirm God’s continuing revelation through scripture, the human family, and our individual faith experiences. With these, we integrate contributions from the various areas of human activity, including the sciences, philosophy, and the arts, in continuing to develop our understanding of God’s revelation.

The Church

The church is a source of fellowship for nourishing our faith and growth through the mutual care of one another. FBCB is committed to that faith which grows in the interdependency of our community as well as in our individual lives. We are in covenant with the First Congregational Church of Berkeley. FBCB is committed to an ecumenical ministry in our community and the world.

Worship

FBCB corporately experiences the presence of God through preaching, prayer, and congregational singing, led by clergy and laity. Each week we celebrate together our faith experience through a variety of sources from Baptist traditions and the wider community of faith.

Social Mission

FBCB affirms that providing strength for the oppressed and encouragement for the disenfranchised are fundamental to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through corporate and individual efforts FBCB members actively support projects for the hungry and homeless. We support the liberation of all the oppressed. We affirm women in professional ministry. We welcome and affirm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in all lay and professional ministries. Believing that God’s grace and redemptive love embrace all, we endeavor to be reconcilers in the world. FBCB also has a tradition of emphasizing the role of education in the church, integrating both educational and spiritual growth with the Christian experience. Over the years we have both supported and benefited from university and seminary students participating in our community life. Historically, we have been involved with many students of the American Baptist Seminary of the West, especially through the Ministers in Training program, and continue to be a local church support for that institution.

Adopted June 9, 1991; amended June 6, 1993

First Baptist Church of Berkeley · American Baptist Churches U.S.A.


American Baptist Churches, USA

Visit the ABC/USA web site to learn more about our denomination. FBCB has been an American Baptist Church since its founding in the late 1800s.


Evergreen Baptist Association

Visit the Evergreen Baptist Association to learn more about our regional home, based in Seattle.


Pacific Coast Baptist Association

Visit the PCBA web site to learn more about the local American Baptist association that we belong to in California and the important work that it is doing.


Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists

Visit the AWAB web site to learn more about this important organization and its work of advocacy for full participation of all believers in church membership and leadership, regardless of sexual orientation.