About us
THE BELOVED COMMUNITY
We are ASBC, the little house church in Brooklyn. Open and affirming, we are a friendly congregation with a big heart, a sense of humor, and passion for the sacred, the arts and social justice. At ASBC, we value the worth and dignity of all God’s people and each person’s unique search for truth and meaning. Our community is the merging of three historic Brooklyn congregations, representing three progressive denominations in the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Disciples of Christ. We’ve been a house church since 1998.
Rooted in the Hebrew scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, we incorporate other faith traditions and the wisdom of prophetic voices from psychology, science, Womanist and Black Liberation Theology, Buddhism, Native American and earth centered spirituality. Experience ASBC’s raucous and fun Passing of the Peace and our heartfelt sharing of Joys and Concerns followed by a pastoral prayer.
Once a month, we celebrate the Christian tradition of Communion, open to all, as a ritual remembrance of our covenant that all are welcome at our table.
​
Who We Are
We are single, married, widowed, straight, gay, black, brown, white, young, old - we have traditional and nontraditional families. Some of us live in the neighborhood, others come from farther away. We are multilingual and multicultural. Some of us were raised with religion, others were not. Collectively, we identify as a wide variety of religious traditions.
Yet something connects us.
Together we pray, we sing, we laugh and cry. We gather for reflection, music, insight, a chance to slow down and breathe, a connection with the sacred. We catch up at our Sunday coffee hour and share a meal at our monthly potluck (the second Sunday of every month after services), and then we take our call to justice into the new week!
We are ASBC, the little house church in Brooklyn.
-
How do I find you?ASBC is located at 566 East 7th Street (between Cortelyou and Ditmas) in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn. You can take the Q train to Cortelyou or the F train to Ditmas Ave. Street parking is available. Don't be fooled by the large church on the corner of Cortelyou and E. 7th Street; we’re a house church midway down the block. We begin at 10:30 am. And please note: supervised children's activities are available.
-
What time do you gather?Worship on Sundays with us from 10:45am until 11:45am or so. Stay for coffee, food and conversation. Running late? Come anyway! We gather in other ways, too. Check out the events section of this website for weekly events including Bible study, Game Day and Movie Night.
-
Do you provide childcare?Supervised creative activities are provided for children unless your child wants to participate in worship and that’s just fine.
-
What’s your history?Our community is the merging of three historic Brooklyn congregations, representing three progressive denominations in the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Disciples of Christ. We’ve been a house church since 1998. Here's how it happened: The First Universalist Church of Williamsburg (later called All Souls Universalist Church) was founded in 1845. The Flatbush Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation was formed in Park Slope in 1900 and later moved to Flatbush. Bethlehem Evangelical Church was founded in 1906. The latter two merged to form Bethlehem United Church and later merged with All Souls Universalist Church in 1998 to form All Souls Bethlehem Church. In 1998, we moved into the house on East 7th Street, which is now our home.
-
Are you denominational?:We are affiliated with The United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association, and The Christian Church - Disciples of Christ.
-
How many people do you have?We are an intimate community of 50 people, members and nonmembers! If you are interested in membership, we have periodic membership meetings that you are welcome to attend. For more information, email info@allsoulsbethlehem.org
-
What about music?We love music at ASBC and we love to sing! We feature traditional hymns and spirituals to blues, jazz, gospel, classical, and contemporary music with Debbie Deane, Richard Harper and special guests. Our musicians and special guests are awesome.
-
So...what if I hate church?Try us out! We're doing things a little differently.
-
What kind of social justice work do you do?Social justice is very important at ASBC. Recent initiatives include hurricane relief for Puerto Rico, including work with Collective Action for Puerto Rico, The New Sanctuary Coalitoin, food for the hungry in Times Square, the NY Cares Coat Drive, incarceration work including Raise the Age and Close Rikers Island, the continuing fight for affordable housing in the face of gentrification, and help for those struggling with mental illness and poverty.