From a small gathering of students in 1893 to a multi-generational community today, we’ve kept one thing at the center: love God, love people, follow Jesus.
University Baptist & Brethren Church is a deeply and broadly Welcoming church, a unique combination of American Baptist and Brethren traditions. The church traces its beginnings to 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.
n 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.
UBBC is the kind of church where you can ask any question, doubt out loud, and still be loved unconditionally.
Every person, every story, every doubt — welcome here.
We take Scripture seriously and questions seriously too.
Friendships across age, background, and life stage.
Love made tangible in our neighborhood and world.
Listening together for the gentle leading of God.
Singing, silence, Communion, and prayer — week after week.
This is the heart of who we are and the direction we follow together. At our core, it reflects the purpose that guides our community and the calling we seek to live out every day.
Devoted in Worship
Serving Our Neighbors
Opening Our Doors and Hearts
Giving Generously
Leading with Courage
Expressing Creativity
Healing Through Reconciliation
Stepping Out in Faith
Walking Beside the Hurting
Growing as Disciples
Rooted in God and Community
Living Transformed, Loving Boldly
Nurturing the Health and Joy of Children
Addressing Poverty and Its Effects in Our Neighborhood
Embracing a Culture of Teaching and Lifelong Learning
Deepening Faith and Expanding Our Community
If you want to truly understand who we are, nothing captures it better than our Confession of Identity. Crafted collaboratively-yes, everyone had a hand in it, not just a committee-in the fall of 2021, it reflects our church’s character, values, and the hope that shapes our bold journey forward.
We grieve that the church today can appear divided and confusing, sometimes falling short of reflecting God’s heart, the life-giving way of Jesus, and the Spirit’s liberating work. Moved by Christ’s love, we confess the church’s role in exclusion and division, acknowledging that at times we have been negligent, indifferent, or silent in the face of injustice.
Our love for God and for one another compels us to embrace, honor, and rejoice in every person as they are—valued and cherished regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, income, struggles, abilities, education, culture, nationality, or beliefs. Just as God’s love reaches beyond all limits, so too does our love.
At the heart of our community, we are people who truly care for one another—bringing our whole selves, noticing and embracing each other fully, breaking down walls that would divide us, and discovering grace along the way. Yes, it can get messy, and yes, we sometimes let each other down. But having felt both the pain of isolation and the healing of belonging, we choose, again and again, to weave our lives together.
Our love for God and for one another compels us to embrace, honor, and rejoice in every person as they are—valued and cherished regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, income, struggles, abilities, education, culture, nationality, or beliefs. Just as God’s love reaches beyond all limits, so too does our love.
At the heart of our community, we are people who truly care for one another—bringing our whole selves, noticing and embracing each other fully, breaking down walls that would divide us, and discovering grace along the way. Yes, it can get messy, and yes, we sometimes let each other down. But having felt both the pain of isolation and the healing of belonging, we choose, again and again, to weave our lives together.