Yvette Flunder biography, married

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<a href="/biography/yvette-flunder">Yvette A. Flunder</a> was born on July 29th 1955 in San Francisco, California. She was raised there where her father was the preacher at the Church of God in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus">Christ</a>. Where she met <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hawkins">Walter Hawkins</a> and the Love Center Choir. She began performing with them and started recording music as the lead singer of “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hawkins">Walter Hawkins</a> and the Family” and the Center Choir in 1984.  She has made several gospel recordings including, “There’s Power“ with the City of Refuge Praise Ensemble, “We Won’t Be Silent Anymore” with The Fellowship Mass Choir. She even collaborated with the Grammy Award winning Chanticleer to record “How Sweet the Sound”. During this time she met and fell in love with her future spouse Shirley Miller who is the cousin of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hawkins">Walter Hawkins</a>. She would go on to become licensed in the COGIC and even ordained by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hawkins">Bishop</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hawkins">Walter Hawkins</a> of Love Center Ministries. She then served as Associate Pastor along with being the Administrator for Love Center Church located in Oakland California.

FIRST CALLING

After witnessing the 1980’s epidemic of HIV/AIDS spreading through her community. She was moved to help and preach to the victims and their families. This is when she founded a number of non-profit enterprises in and around the San Francisco Bay Area including Oakland. Responding to the needs of the AIDS epidemic she started with Hazard-Ashley House then Walker House which serves people in recovery as well as people living with HIV. It was followed by Restoration House which is a dual-diagnosis residential facility for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans">African-American</a> women. It was the first of it's kind. These were all through the Ark of Refuge Inc., a non-profit agency that provides housing as well as direct services, education and training for people afflicted with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area and through out the US along with three countries in Africa as well. It later became the Y. A. Foundation.

In 1991 she wanted to merge Gospel Ministry with Social Ministry so she founded the City of Refuge under the United Church of Christ fellowship. She has described the City of Refuge UCC simply 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, and disconnect us from justice issues locally and globally".

In 1997 she earned a Certificate of Ministry Studies and a Master of Arts degree from the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California. In 2000 she started the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. It was a trans-denominational of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity">Christian</a> churches who she claims "desire to celebrate and proclaim the radically inclusive love of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus">Jesus Christ</a>". She was appointed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop">Bishop</a> and started presiding in 2003.

Flunder was consecrated as a bishop of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, which began in 1999 and now has some 60 member churches and about 40 affiliates. Although most of the congregations are predominantly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans">African-American</a> and led by LGBT or LGBT-affirming clergy, the fellowship also includes whites and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic">Hispanics</a>.

MOST RECENT

In June 2003 Rev. <a href="/biography/yvette-flunder">Dr.</a> Flunder was consecrated Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship (founded in 2000 and renamed The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries in 2011), a multi-denominational coalition of over 100 primarily <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans">African American</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity">Christian</a> leaders and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the United States, and extending to Mexico, three countries in Africa and most recently, Asia. TFAM is in covenantal relationship with The United Church of Christ, The Metropolitan Community Church and The Centers for Spiritual Living.

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Flunder has been quoted saying she identifies as a womanist as well as a reconciling liberation theologian. She wrote a book in 2005 titled, Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion.

<a href="/biography/yvette-flunder">Bishop</a> Flunder is also an ordained <a href="/biography/yvette-flunder">Minister</a> of the United Church of Christ. She received a Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo California. She has been named as one of the first religious leaders to encourage and even embrace <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Pearson">Carlton Pearson</a> after he was declared a heretic for announcing he was gay in support of the universal reconciliation doctrine in 2005.

In 2011, she received a Robert C. Kirkwood Community Leadership Award from the San Francisco Community Foundation. Within the United Church of Christ she also served on the UCC Unified Governance Working

In 2013 she received the award of being a Distinguished Alumna of the Pacific School of Religion. On December 1, 2014, Flunder was honored with being a keynote speaker in the for the World AIDS Day at the White House in Washington D.C., where she told of the damaging effects of homophobia and stigma on the victims that are faced with living day to day having HIV. She also spoke about AIDS education in general. The very next year she was granted a guest speaker spot at the American Baptist College for their Garnett-Nabrit Lecture Series.

Since 2015 she has been a <a href="/biography/yvette-flunder">member</a> of the board of trustees of the Starr King School for the Ministry. As well as also serving as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

<a href="/biography/yvette-flunder">Bishop</a> 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, a consultant to the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust, and as a Member of the California Ryan White Working Group.

TELEVISION AND FILM PORTRAYALS

She was portrayed in a three part finally of the miniseries 'When We Rise' in 2017 by <a href="/biography/phylicia-rashad">actress</a> <a href="/biography/phylicia-rashad">Phylicia Rashad</a> for the network ABC. Her role on the show was to highlight the compassion of the church and the commitment of it's members. As well as the home the church provides in a tough mostly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans">African-American</a> community inside of San Francisco.

In 2018 she was played by Joni Bovill in "Come Sunday" by Josua Martson. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and then was release by Netflix.

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