University Baptist & Brethren Church sits at the corner of South Burrowes Street and West Nittany Avenue, four blocks from Penn State's University Park campus. In a college town better known for football and central Pennsylvania weather, the church has built a reputation as one of State College's most intentionally welcoming congregations and as the longtime home of the Alternative Christmas Fair, an annual fundraiser that has channeled more than a million dollars to local, national, and international charities.
Baptist and Brethren, Together Since 1968
The congregation traces its beginnings to 1922, when forty charter members gathered in State College to organize a Baptist church. For its first six years the group met in private homes and on the Penn State campus before dedicating its first building in 1928. A century later, the church is dually aligned with two very different American Protestant traditions.
In 1968, a group from the Church of the Brethren joined the congregation, and University Baptist & Brethren Church has carried that dual identity ever since. Members describe it as a unique combination of American Baptist and Brethren practices, and the church holds membership in both American Baptist Churches and the Church of the Brethren. It also belongs to the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists, a network of Baptist congregations committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion.
The welcoming identity runs deeper than policy. The church's published statement reads, in part: "Believing that God's unbounded love and grace are offered to all and meant to be shared and celebrated by all, we embrace persons of every age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ethnic and religious background, and economic means as vital and integral members of God's family. We welcome EVERYONE to participate in all aspects of worship, membership and life of our church."
Worship on Sunday Mornings
Sunday morning at UBBC runs from a 9:30 worship service through fellowship and Christian education, finishing around noon. The service is held in person in the sanctuary and is simultaneously offered via Zoom. The first Sunday of each month is Communion Sunday, and child care is available throughout the morning.
Worship is followed by Fellowship Time from 10:30 to 11:00, with coffee and treats and a chance to visit. Zoom viewers join Breakout Rooms for the same purpose. From 11:00 to noon, children and youth head to Sunday School while adults gather for the Adult Forum, which uses guest speakers, panels, video series, and Bible study to address spiritual, cultural, social justice, and other current issues. The Adult Forum can be joined in person or on Zoom.
Music at the Heart of Worship
Music is a defining feature of UBBC worship. The Sanctuary Choir sings each Sunday from September through May, with rehearsals on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings before the service. Previous experience is helpful, but the choir is open to all and attendance policies are flexible.
Jonah Glunt, a doctoral candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Penn State who also holds a minor in Piano Performance, serves as Director of Music and Accompanist/Organist. Javier Gorelik, a graduate conducting student at the Penn State School of Music originally from Argentina, conducts the Sanctuary Choir. Together they shape musical offerings that, in Glunt's words, "explore the many aspects of our faith and unite us in celebration of the loving God." The choir is open to anyone who wants to sing, and the church regularly welcomes musicians from the Penn State community into leadership.
Contemplative Prayer and Midweek Rhythms
The church's prayer life is anchored by Pastor Jeremy Richards, who leads Contemplative Morning Prayer on Tuesdays from 8:15 to 9:00 in the church library or via Zoom. The gathering explores practices such as lectio divina and centering prayer and is open to newcomers and longtime practitioners alike. Richards, who was ordained at Mosaic Church of Clayton in North Carolina and previously served as university chaplain at Linfield University in Oregon, brings training from the Center for Action and Contemplation's Living School program to the rhythm.
On Wednesdays from noon to 1:00, the Sharing and Prayer Circle meets on Zoom for a brief devotional thought, personal reflections, and a closing prayer. Thursday evenings bring the Thursday Night Dinners, held in the Fellowship Hall on the first and third Thursday of each month during the school year and weekly in private homes during the summer when hosts are available. The suppers are a long-standing way for newcomers and longtime members to connect over a shared meal.
On Mondays from 5:00 to 5:30, members gather at the Allen Street Gates for the Candlelight Vigil for Peace, a half-hour of silence and light held to express what the church calls "our communal longing for an end to violence everywhere." Participants are invited to bring a candle or other light, and to leave signs and flags at home.
Spiritual Formation Across the Generations
UBBC takes a deliberate approach to spiritual formation for all ages. Sunday School uses the Shine Curriculum and runs September through May, with elementary classes for kindergarten through fifth grade and youth classes for sixth through twelfth grade. Each lesson includes a spiritual practice, a Bible story, and related activities.
Adults have the Adult Forum each Sunday during the school year, plus additional study opportunities through the year. The Church of the Brethren's FaithX Work Camp Experiences send UBBC youth to summer work camps, and the young people bring their experiences back to share with the congregation.
Smaller circles of formation include the Prayer Shawl Group, which meets the second Wednesday of each month from September through May. Members knit, crochet, or do other handcrafts to make shawls, lap robes, and scarves for people in times of grief, sickness, and celebration, weaving prayers of love and healing into each piece. G2O, or Generation 2 Generation Outings, organizes intergenerational outdoor experiences that pair children, youth, and adults to explore creation and build mentoring relationships.
The children also perform an annual Christmas play, with rehearsals in the fall and a production during the worship service on the Sunday before Christmas.
The Alternative Christmas Fair
Since 1982, UBBC's Alternative Christmas Fair has raised more than one million dollars for charity. Held annually on the first or second Sunday in December from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Fair turns the Fellowship Hall into a marketplace of giving. More than thirty local, national, and international charities set up booths, and visitors designate which organizations they want to support. Lunch is served, and for those who cannot attend in person, online giving is available during the first three weeks of December.
The charities supported through the Fair include Centre County PAWS, Centre Safe, Centre Volunteers in Medicine, the State College Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Centre County, Housing Transitions, Interfaith Human Services, the Mid-State Literacy Council, Out of the Cold, the PA Prison Society's Centre County Chapter, the Jana Marie Foundation, the Tides Program, the Youth Service Bureau, Ten Thousand Villages State College, Think We Not Me, and many more. The Fair has become a beloved local institution and a way for many in State College to handle their year-end giving in a single visit.
Justice, Creation Care, and Community Partnerships
"Putting our faith into action" is a stated value at UBBC, and members are involved in a wide range of local advocacy. UBBC is part of a community coalition working to bring outdoor recreation to the Centre County Correctional Facility, where Pennsylvania code mandates two hours of daily outdoor time that the facility currently does not provide.
The church is also active in the Centre County Interfaith Coalition for Gun Safety, an alliance of local religious leaders and community members committed to preventing gun violence. Members support CROP Hunger Walks each fall, with proceeds going to local food banks and the global mission of Church World Service. Tyson Daniels, a lifelong UBBC member who serves on the PA Pardon Project and represents Area 5 on the Church of the Brethren Middle PA District Coordinating Team, is one of several members engaged in criminal justice reform.
The Board of Missions publishes regular profiles of members and their service, called UBBC Serves, so that the congregation can know one another better and learn about new ways to volunteer. Members also support Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light's work on climate, creation care, and environmental stewardship.
Visiting University Baptist & Brethren Church
UBBC is located at 411 South Burrowes Street, four blocks from Penn State's campus. On-street parking along Burrowes Street and West Nittany Avenue is the most convenient option; parking is permitted for two hours during weekdays and at any time on Saturdays and Sundays. Limited handicapped parking is available alongside the church on Robin Alley, next to an entrance with a handicapped elevator that reaches both the Sanctuary level and the Fellowship Hall. Handicapped-accessible bathrooms are available on both levels.
Worship is held Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in person and via Zoom, with Communion on the first Sunday of each month. Child care is provided. To receive a Zoom link, email the church office at office@ubbcwelcome.org, or contact Pastor Jeremy Richards directly for the Contemplative Prayer link. Giving is available online, and donations may be directed to the General Offering, the Deacons' Fund for local community needs, the Capital Campaign for ongoing building renovations, or the Memorial Fund. A centennial project also offers engraved tiles from the original 1928 church roof in exchange for a donation to the deferred maintenance fund.