Our church, affiliated with both American Baptist Churches, USA, and the Church of the Brethren, is home to persons from a broad range of backgrounds. We want to extend our welcome to everybody!
University Baptist & Brethren Church has established itself as a dynamic and progressive congregation since the April day in 1922 when a small group of people gathered to organize a Baptist Church in State College. The congregation — forty charter members — met in private homes and on campus until the first church building was dedicated in 1928.
In 1968, the congregation was joined by a group from the Church of the Brethren and since that time we have been dually aligned with American Baptist Churches and the Church of the Brethren.
The purpose of our church was summed up well in a statement written in the early 80’s:
“The guiding purpose of our church is to serve God. This purpose claims us because in Jesus of Nazareth we have seen God most fully revealed and have discovered that the same God who created the universe loves and sustains us.
To serve God we serve others – caring especially for those in deep need; the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, the outcast, the lonely, the sorrowful; caring also for one another in the church and in the world. It is our intent that this purpose of loving service might deepen our understanding of our spiritual lives and direct all our work–worship, education, fellowship, outreach–and that it will shape the way we use wealth and property.
We seek to follow this purpose with dedication but without exclusiveness, narrowness, or arrogance. Therefore, we affirm as Christians the value and equality of all humans.”
The University Baptist and Brethren Church has through the years combined a deep desire for worship, a faithful commitment to service, and an abiding spirit of community and fellowship in Christ. Persons from our community have been instrumental in beginning and sustaining a number of ecumenical and community ministries.
For a more complete UBBC history, please check out the following links:
UBBC’s First 50 years 1922-1972
UBBC’s First 75 years 1922-1997
Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 Dual Affiliation of Baptists and Brethren