The Ecumenical Center in Berkeley, Calif., (ECB) has been established by Disciples Seminary Foundation (DSF) and Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in the historic building of a Disciples congregation. In a new legal partnership, DSF and PSR completed purchase of the property of University Christian Church, Berkeley, on October 31, 2008, twenty months after the congregation ended its visible ministry.
Immediately across the street from the PSR campus, the Ecumenical Center geographically is in the heart of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), a consortium of nine theological institutions. Its location is nicknamed "Holy Hill," one block north of the University of California, Berkeley, campus. The Center will house offices and activities of DSF and PSR with additional space leased to worshipping communities and non-profit organizations, primarily GTU-related.
The ministry of University Christian Church, Berkeley, continues especially in three important ways: first, through DSF’s formation and support of Disciples seminarians; second, the service of its building to the larger seminary community; and third, the congregation’s trust fund at Church Extension of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The trust will support new church establishment, Week of Compassion, the Community of the Great Commission (camp ground) of the Northern California-Nevada region, and other regional ministries.
For further information, contact Disciples Seminary Foundation, 909-624-0712 or [email protected].
