Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley

Had a magical night hearing some beautiful renditions of the Broadway music I’ve always loved. The conductor was fun and full of life. The Berkeley Broadway Singers packed a nearly full house of people of all ages and ethnicity and it was beautiful! The even did a song-​a-​long section where we got to join in. The 3 person band was awesome! Each doing their part to blend with the singers. A super fun night. It was free and they asked for a donation by passing baskets for us to contribute. I’ll be back with granny in toe.

Unitarian Universalism in general and UUCB in particular have been an incredible find in my adult years. Raised in a very insular and narrow minded Christian religion, Unitarian Universalism has confirmed what I’ve always believed all along: that we’re all connected and we need each other more than we know. UUCB, for me, is a place for learning and for becoming my best self. I came for myself as a single 20 something and now, nearly a decade later, marvel at the religious education my 5 year old son is getting. And yes, the view from up there is incredible.

I never thought of myself as a church-​goer, but UUCB makes me feel like a better version of myself. Our lives are inundated with corporate messages of inadequacy for profit. My Berkeley course on the scientific study of happiness taught me that it’s important and timely to counter trends toward narcissism, entitlement, inequality, and materialism. I’ve been grateful to find a community of diverse people with a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and perspectives different from mine; however, we share the same values of inherent worth and dignity of ourselves, of others, and of our planet. Check it out on

Tonight Alan and I came here for a performance by the Berkeley Broadway Singers. I knew it had been a long time since I was last here, but until Alan said he had never been here I hadn’t realized how long it had been. More than 35 years. Maybe in the late 60s or early 70s, long enough ago that most of my associations have gotten lost in the mists of memory. It’s a large and lovely church at the top of the hill. I remember the views as being stunning. It used to be called the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley because if it had been called the First Unitarian Church of Kensington the acronym would have been unfortunate. Now it’s called the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, so they could have reclaimed the Kensington part while they were at it.
You enter into a spacious lobby w/​high ceilings. Three or four gracefully spreading trees grow inside and almost reach the ceiling. To the right as you enter is a theatre. Years ago I saw theatrical productions there. To the left is the sanctuary and this was where the concert was held this afternoon. The sanctuary has the same high ceilings as the lobby and narrow vertical windows bring in glimpses of the trees outside. There is a sense of light and space. Being Unitarian there are no crosses or other traditional religious symbols. There is a large pipe organ which must sound wonderful when played. The acoustics were fantastic and the concert was wonderful. I was surprised at how many people were in attendance. The pews were comfortable, though close together. My parents became involved w/​the Unitarian Church in Walnut Creek when I was a teen, although my father could never bring himself to join anything called a church. I considered the Unitarians more a philosophical group than a religious one. Being here today gave me a sense of the building as a concert venue more than a spiritual one and it was lovely.

Wow I’m so glad I found this place … it’s close to my home, too. My little boy LOVED the Sunday School part of it too at the 11 a.m. service.
We arrived as newbies and were totally impressed with how they welcomed us. It was super nice and the people were all lovely.
My personal theology is a bit more «bhakti» than what they generally offer at UU, but I totally appreciate what they’re all about and I have a lot of lessons to learn that I think they can teach.
It was a funny coincidence too … as I’m approaching my 28^th year of sobriety I’ve been looking for a bit of local recovery fellowship, and by coincidence the talk just happened to be all about addiction and recovery. Very cool.
Go Unitarian Universalists! :-)

This review is only for the church as a venue. We had our wedding here last summer. For the most part, it was absolutely wonderful: the day went beautifully, the staff who helped us set up were professional, meticulous, and did a lovely job with our décor, and the price was extremely reasonable. The views during the patio ceremony were beautiful and everything was clean and ready for us to use. They allowed us to bring in an alternate caterer, who worked with them to ensure he followed all the kitchen guidelines. However, minus one star because their poor coordinator was carrying the work of two people and as a result, was a bit disorganized (missing meetings, taking weeks to reply to email), which in turn was quite stressful because I had a very heavy schedule, my fiancé was only in town a few weekends, and time was precious. On the other hand, she was very kind and supportive about our interfaith ceremony. I think they have additional help now, so hopefully she now has a more manageable workload. Anyway, the atrium with its live trees wowed our guests as they ate lunch and mingled. It was a simply lovely venue for our wedding, giving the whole party a joyful vibe. I was a former member and I know that the coordinator and her team do work really hard behind the scenes to make the day go smoothly. Ours did. Thank you!

This is absolutely one of the most wonderful venues that I have been in for a private party. The view is breathtaking when you see it from the moment you walk onto the patio. When you look at the room empty it does not look so great but once you dress it up it is beautiful. And we saved so much on the rental of the space we were able to spend more on linens and flowers. We looked and looked for a space big enough for 200 people and this place was perfect. We had 200 people and all of the guests would have fit inside but it was such a lovely day we put some of the tables on the side patio.
Lisa who helps with the events was great at answering all of our questions. The only thing that was strange was the list of caterers that the recommend. They were either deli type catering or one that I called was 200.00 per plate. A couple of others were totally unprofessional and were located very far from the location. Luckily we were able to use Serves You Right Catering. They are located in Berkeley and are very close to the location and I am not sure why they are not on the list. My friend used them for her wedding and their food is so good. They have a chef that comes to the event and cooks the food at the kitchen. So everything tastes really good and very fresh. And the service is top notch too. If we had not found them we would have gone someplace else for our event as we were disliked every one of their preferred caterers.
If you are looking for a great place for an event you must check this place out!

My husband and I got married at UUCB this past September, and it was my dream wedding! It is so nice to find a reasonably priced venue in the bay area where you can have both the ceremony and the reception at the same place. Our ceremony was on their outdoor terrace overlooking the entire bay — truly breathtaking at sunset. They have a lovely Sanctuary if you prefer an indoor, more traditional, religious ceremony. For our ceremony, we had 13 tables set up for our 110 guests in their lovely Atrium, a room with high ceilings, skylights, and mature rubber trees. UUCB was kind enough to approve a wonderful and affordable caterer — Serves You Right Catering — for the reception. After dinner we gathered in the adjoining Social Hall for dj and dancing.
As other reviews have mentioned, we were able to have a friend marry us at UUCB. They provided a day-​of coordinator who set up the speaker/​sound system for the ceremony, and a facilities person to oversee and clean everything. They let us hire a babysitter to watch small kids in their playground. There are two good sized rooms that can serve as bride and groom changing rooms. Lisa, the church coordinator, was a big help and very accommodating with all of our requests.
UUCB is a wonderful wedding venue if you’re looking for some of the ingredients listed above!

Many excellent activities. :-))

This review is also of the church in the context of a wedding venue.
I recently had my wedding here and overall was satisfied with the church. It’s beautiful, not too expensive, and they were able to accommodate many of my requests such as setting up a sound system in the atrium so my brother could DJ with his iPod. Don the facilities manager is great. I took off a star mostly because the coordinator there (Marilyn) was difficult to get in touch with (ignored emails, didn’t return phone calls). However about a week before my wedding Marilyn was replaced with a new coordinator who seemed to be easier to get a hold of.

This is a review of the church and reception hall for a wedding venue.
My husband and I got married at the UUCB in August. They were very accommodating and laid-​back, and had no concerns at all about the fact that we are not religious. We got to bring in a friend to marry us (he was ordained online by the Universal Life Church) and there was not a word about God in the whole ceremony.
The Sanctuary, atrium, fireside room, reception hall, and outdoor patio are gorgeous and we had it all to ourselves all night. There was plenty of room for our 200 guests, we used their sound system and our i-​pod instead of a dj, and took our pictures outside with trees and the bay view as a background.
Best of all, they had a sign that said «Civil Marriage is a Civil Right» hanging above the entry way, and we asked them to leave it up for the wedding (I assume it can be taken down at your request). Because we mentioned equal rights for same-​sex couples in our ceremony, it was perfect for us.
I couldn’t have been happier with my experience renting the UUCB facilities and highly recommend it to other couples looking for a beautiful, laid-​back setting for their wedding.

My husband and I joined UUCB several years ago and are glad we did. We married and had our son blessed there. Before visiting, I too thought I had sworn off church as an ex-​Catholic who attended Catholic schools K-​12. But UUCB immediately felt like home the first time I attended. Services are engaging and enlightening and refreshingly free of dogma, the members are friendly, the music is beautiful, and the view stunning. Even as an almost-​atheist, it’s hard not to like it! It is a place to take time out of the week to reflect on your bigger picture, whatever that might mean for you. So much of the week is consumed with the day-​to-​day juggling, it is nice to know I have a place to go to get beyond that.

As a refugee from a fundamentalist Christian sect, I had sworn off «church» attendance for 35 years. I originally came to this church (which IS hard to find — use the website directions, NOT Google or Mapquest) for one of the excellent seminars, stayed for the service, and was shocked to find a «church» so absent of dogma and one-​right-​way, and still a strong spiritual community with a long history (including several of the US Constitution signers and a long line of social activists). I find the community supportive and friendly with lots more activities than I could ever attend.
The services and music are inspiring — there are three full time ministers with very different styles, a 50 member choir and major pipe organ (at the 11:00 service). This is the largest UU church in the Bay Area, so those interested in a more intimate experience should try the service at 9, which has a very different feel. There is a very good religious education program for children («we teach religion, not A religion») and childcare is available at all services and major events. My experiences with all three ministers has been excellent.

INTOLERANT TOLERANCE
The view from the Church is stunning and the congregation is a really interesting and diverse bunch and with a plethora of activities to choose from. As a 3^rd generation Unitarian raised in the Midwest, I find the place a little too PC and elitist and somewhat intolerant of alternative views that don’t match their idea of «diversity». Some folks here really do believe they are better than anyone else who doesn’t share their «progressive» attitudes and «banishment» is measured out accordingly. Equal rights is definitely not for all at this congregation.
Although this congregation has a significant Jewish component, there is significant antisemitic undertow here starting right at the ministerial staff. The self-​righteous and sometimes insufferable pedantic psychobabble also runs thick and over-​the-​top at times.
I also had an unfortunate and painful experience with one of the current co-​ministers. He invited me in for a counseling session regarding issues with my marriage and promised confidentiality. He then turned around and later he told my wife about the session and many of the intimate details regarding our conversation. His unapologetic and verbally abusive response was basically «You messed up, you trusted me». He then went on to say that since I was a «Friend», but not a full member of the church, the confidentiality section of the ministerial code of ethics did not apply anyway and he really didn’t give a damn about what anybody else thought. He had special scorn and dismissiveness for the UUA Staff to which I discussed his behaviour. He also added that my extensive Unitarian background was irrelevant and that I should best go elsewhere. So much for UUCB’s representation as a «Welcoming Congregation».
I did discuss the entire conversation with a representative of the UUA in Boston, who confirmed that the ministerial code did indeed apply and that he most probably violated it. She went on to emphasize that his alleged behaviour was not representative of Unitarian values or good professional ethics.

Attended a wedding at this large church in the hills. It was hard to find so be sure to get directions off their website! They are a very open minded with a strong supportive congregation and as I have attended a few of their services too. Same sex couples can be married there as well. It’s really reasonably priced for any couple looking to get married and you can have the reception on site too. They do have a rule about no rice tossing, or blowing bubbles after the ceremony. They have an amazing view of the entire San Francisco bay from their location in the hills, which resulted in some great wedding photos! I also really like the arboretum they have in the entryway; there are indoor plants and a large fountain. They have one of the best organists in the Bay Area and an impressive set of pipes for her to play so the music is fantastic! It’s an older church, it was built in the 60’s there’s a lot of cement and skinny windows. The chapel is emense; it has tall ceilings and tons of pews so it can seat hundreds of people. A really nice spot to get married and one of the cheapest churches to have your wedding in the Bay Area.