Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder

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 Bishop Walter Hawkins of Love Center
Ministries in Oakland, Calif., 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, Calif.  She earned her Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, Calif.

In June 2003, Bishop Flunder was consecrated Presiding Bishop of Refuge Ministries and The Fellowship, a trans-denominational fellowship of 60-plus primarily African-American Christian leaders and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the country and 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 nonprofit agency that provides housing, direct
services, education and training for persons affected by HIV/AIDS in the
Bay Area, throughout the United States, 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 is a residential facility for HIV-positive dually diagnosed individuals. The Ark provides HIV/AIDS education and prevention services targeting the African-American and Latino populations as well 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 services 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 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 serves as chair of the
Social Justice Commission for the World Bishop's Council and as chair
of the Justice and Witness Ministry of the United Church of Christ.
Bishop Flunder is also a trustee of the Pacific School of Religion.

Bishop Flunder is past president of the Board of Directors
of the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of
Christ, and has served 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, member of the San Francisco HIV/AIDS Planning and Prevention Council, and 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.