A Welcome on Hopkins Street
Epworth United Methodist Church stands at 1953 Hopkins Street in Berkeley's Northbrae neighborhood, a few blocks north of Solano Avenue and within walking distance of the North Berkeley BART station. From this corner of the city, the congregation has built a half-century of community life marked by a single through-line: a commitment to be fully inclusive, anti-racist, and justice-seeking in everything it does. The church's mission is to grow in Christian faith and build a more just world by coming together to worship, to study, and to act on its convictions, a community living in the grace and mercy of God, trusting in the healing and liberating example of Jesus, and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Visitors arriving on a Sunday will find the doors open, a gender-neutral restroom waiting in the sanctuary lobby, and a community whose formal welcome is matched by decades of practice. Since 1995, Epworth has belonged to the Reconciling Ministries Network, a national grassroots organization that mobilizes United Methodists to embody Christ's inclusive love across sexual orientations and gender identities. The reconciling statement reads: "We welcome all people on their journey of faith regardless of age, physical condition, race, gender, sexual orientation, or class, and support each other in our ministries to one another, the community, and the world."
Worship at Ten
Sunday morning begins at 9:00 a.m. with a Parent Support Group for families with young children. At 9:45 a.m., nursery care opens for infants and toddlers, staffed by a dedicated team of trained workers and running through 11:30 a.m. Worship itself begins at 10:00 a.m., held in the upstairs sanctuary and offered both in person and online through a YouTube livestream.
The service draws on the breadth of the Methodist musical tradition. The chancel choir, the Jammin' Methodists (a spirited guitar-led ensemble), a newly-restored pipe organ, and a grand piano all take their turns leading the congregation. During Advent and Easter, the Children's Choir adds its voice to the mix. Children are present for the first part of the service and then are invited to Godly Play or to remain in worship; acolytes light the altar candles, and young readers volunteer for scripture readings. A brief Children's Message is offered every Sunday.
On the first Sunday of each month, the altar table is opened for Holy Communion. Following the Methodist conviction that the Lord's Table is open to all who wish to respond to Jesus' invitation, Epworth extends Communion to anyone present who feels called, regardless of membership or background. Art installations created by the congregation's artist-in-residence, Clark Kellogg, decorate the sanctuary during the seasons of Advent and Lent, with children often contributing art for Children's Chapel during these same seasons.
A Sanctuary Church in Practice
In November 2018, the congregation voted to declare Epworth a Sanctuary Church. The declaration, which stands as a formal commitment, reads in part: "We are called to act on our principles that all people have inherent worth regardless of their national origin, citizenship or legal status. We are called to stand with those suffering injustice and to work to change the systems causing it. Therefore Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, declares itself a Sanctuary Church, standing in solidarity with immigrants and other organizations working on their behalf." That declaration continues to shape the church's engagement with immigration and with partner organizations working on immigrant rights in the East Bay.
Racial Justice and the Black Wealth Builder's Fund
Epworth's commitment to racial justice has unfolded across multiple decades. Following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the congregation launched a Truth and Racial Reckoning Group that later evolved into a Reparations Study Group and, in 2023, a Reparations Action Group. In the autumn of 2021, the church held a comprehensive "Holy Conversations on Race, Racism, and Racial Justice" series, with eighteen members offering presentations and ninety people participating in breakout conversations. Those Holy Conversations produced the church's Racial Justice Mission Statement, adopted by church conference on December 7, 2021.
The most visible fruit of this work is the congregation's partnership with the Black Wealth Builder's Fund, a reparations project addressing the racial wealth gap by providing zero-interest loans of up to $20,000 to first-time Black home buyers for down payments. Since Epworth began partnering with the Fund in late 2023, the congregation has raised over $165,000 in support; in a single pledge campaign, fifty-nine pledges from seventy-nine people totaling more than $52,000 have been committed. Across the Bay Area, the Fund as a whole has disbursed $883,800 in loans to fifty-eight applicants. Members of the congregation also helped author and pass a resolution at the Cal-Nevada Annual Conference encouraging churches to study reparations, and they now co-chair the newly recognized Reparations Task Force of the Cal-Nevada Annual Conference.
Members who feel called to the work participate in a Reparations Action Group, a BIPOC Speaker's Bureau, and ongoing book studies. The church frames its engagement as an expression of its commitment to being an anti-racist, justice-seeking community and acknowledges the history of redlining in the neighborhood surrounding the church itself.
Children and Youth
Children and youth at Epworth are treated as full members of the congregation. The cornerstone of children's faith formation is Godly Play, a Montessori-based method that invites children in preschool through fifth grade to "come close to God all by myself" through storytelling, wondering, art, and a shared "feast." All Godly Play volunteers are screened and trained, and the church maintains Safe Sanctuary policies.
The church hosts week-long children's summer camps each year, with recent themes including Being Peacemakers, All Creatures Great and Small, Backyard Camping, Makers Workshop, and Sewing Workshop. Sliding-scale fees ensure that all children can attend regardless of family income. Intergenerational events weave children and adults together: park gatherings, potlucks, the annual All-Church Retreat in Aptos, egg dyeing, seasonal Breakfast for Kids events, and the Advent Workshop arts and crafts festival. Children and families are encouraged to serve the local community through alliances with the Berkeley High School Parent Resource Center, Dorothy Day House Shelter, and Berkeley Food Network.
For teenagers, Epworth Youth is guided by three values: Welcome, Explore, and Serve. Activities include Sunday youth groups, participation in worship as acolytes and readers, confirmation preparation, and service projects with Sierra Service Project, Dorothy Day House, and the Kumi School in Uganda. Bake sales, an Easter egg hunt, ornament making, game nights, and an annual lock-in round out the calendar. A planned 2027 mission trip to Kumi, Uganda is part of this outreach. The Epworth Playgroups, which for fifty years offered new parents weekly connection and friendship in a sunny room full of climbing equipment and toys, closed in early 2025 after decades of changing demographics and competition from online parent communities; many alumni still trace lasting friendships back to those gatherings.
Older Adults and the A+ Programs
Epworth's Older Adult Ministries have been part of the church's public life since 2015. The A+ (Older Adult) Programs are free and open to the public, serving East Bay seniors aged roughly 66 to 90, with a focus on combating isolation, depression, and loneliness through connection, learning, and purposeful engagement. Offerings include a Tai Chi Chih practice, a meditation group, secular and spiritual book groups, a monthly lunch and speaker series, tea and conversation gatherings, a summer camp for seniors, classical community concerts, a bereavement group, and outings to films and museums. Susan Jardin, Director of Children and Family Ministries and Older Adult Ministries, partners with local non-profits to keep the programming rooted in the surrounding community.
Bethlehem Ministry: A Bridge Across Continents
Bethlehem Ministry is Epworth's long-standing partnership with Christian communities in Bethlehem, Palestine. The congregation has exchanged letters, prayers, and material support with Palestinian families for many years. Each Christmas, the families served by the ministry send back handwritten notes of thanks and hope; during Lent, the church has lit candles representing Joy, Love, Hope, and Peace, and on Easter Sunday sang the Hallelujah Chorus in solidarity with partners abroad. A separate Bethlehem Summer Camp, supported by Epworth and run by local Palestinian leadership, recently launched a six-week program serving 140 campers aged 5 to 14 and is on track to cover its remaining costs locally.
Caring for One Another
A web of caring ministries keeps the congregation close. Stephen Ministry has been at work at Epworth since 1988, training lay Stephen Ministers to provide confidential, one-on-one support for people facing work transitions, grief, family conflict, illness, moves, or questions of purpose. Three Stephen Leaders coordinate the program and welcome inquiries from anyone who would like a listening companion.
The newer Caring Network helps match practical needs (a ride, an errand, a meal, a note of encouragement) with members willing to help. Requests can be sent confidentially to the church office, and a short questionnaire helps volunteers identify the kinds of help they can offer. The Prayer Chain lifts up prayer requests by email on a confidential basis, with frequency ranging from three in a single day to none for weeks. The Sharing Network is a Google Group where members can request, offer, or lend items ranging from sleeping bags to clipboards, and even seek advice on home repairs. A Circle of Prayer meets on Zoom every Monday evening from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m., lifting up the world, the church, the community, friends, and all in need of loving compassion.
Music, Art, and the Building
Music is central to worship at Epworth, under the direction of Scott Jespersen, Director of Music Ministries. The Community Concert Series brings Bay Area musicians to the neighborhood for classical performances in the sanctuary, with recent programs featuring duos and trios by Beethoven, Glière, O'Conor, and Dohnanyi. Artist-in-residence Clark Kellogg coordinates seasonal art installations during Advent and Lent, often creating community-made works that unfold in stages and invite every member to contribute.
The building itself, with its pipe organ, sanctuary, large social hall, labyrinth, kitchen, meeting rooms, concert space, and parking area, is available for rental by non-profits, community groups, and private individuals for weddings, memorials, retreats, conferences, concerts, recitals, and twelve-step meetings. An accessible entrance via a ramp on Napa Avenue, an elevator from ground floor to the second-floor sanctuary, gender-neutral restrooms in the sanctuary lobby and downstairs, hearing-assist devices, and large-print Bibles, bulletins, and hymnals make the building welcoming to many kinds of bodies and needs. The church notes that the building will soon be fully wheelchair accessible throughout.
A Connectional Church
Epworth is part of a wider connection of United Methodist congregations. The local circuit links five churches (Berkeley Methodist, Berkeley Korean, Albany, Taylor Memorial, and Downs Memorial) within the Bay District of the California-Nevada Annual Conference, which sits within the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. This connectional identity shapes both the church's theology of shared ministry and its engagement with annual conference resolutions, including the reparations work described above.
The staff that leads this work includes Lead Pastor Debbie Weatherspoon, a former campus minister whose call to ordained ministry grew out of justice activism at the University of Florida. Susan Jardin serves as Director of Children and Family Ministries and Older Adult Ministries; Dylan Damonte as Director of Youth Ministries; Scott Jespersen as Director of Music Ministries; Joy Cha as Communications Coordinator and Property Use Coordinator; and David Kind as Church Business Administrator, currently completing a Master of Divinity at Pacific School of Religion.
A weekly newsletter, a Church Center portal for connection and giving, an active Instagram and Facebook presence, a YouTube channel for live worship, and a podcast on SoundCloud keep the wider community in touch between Sundays. Office hours run Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.