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At an hour when many of their friends are sitting down to Sunday brunch, the congregates of Berkeley’s New Spirit Community Church hunt for spiritual nourishment. 

With the choir pumping out upbeat songs and the casually dressed congregates bouncing along, the hour-and-a-half service stylistically resembles those of other small upstart Protestant denominations leading a nationwide religious revival. 

But New Spirit is a different breed. Many of those swaying arm-in-arm to the songs are same-sex couples. One lesbian pair slow danced in the aisle as the pianist played “From A Distance,” a song made famous by Bette Midler. 

“The whole point is to have folks leave here feeling joy,” said Karen Foster, who has served as the church’s pastor since its founding in 2000.  

New Spirit grew out of San Francisco’s Metropolitan Community Church, a predominantly gay Protestant denomination. For the church’s founders, building New Spirit wasn’t just a means to cut down on church commutes for East Bay residents, but a project to create a church where everyone—not just gays—felt at home. 

“We’re not a gay and lesbian church, we’re a Christian church,” said founding member Sylvia Perez. “No one is checking credentials at the door.”  

New Spirit is the only church to affi liate with three of the nation’s most progressive mainline Protestant denominations, Metropolitan Community, United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ. Since its inception, the congregation has doubled to 160 members, about one-third of whom identify as straight.  

“If there’s a common thread it’s that most people have felt disillusioned with churches in the past,” said Foster, a former Southern Methodist from South Carolina, and graduate of Berkeley’s Pacific School of Religion. “They come here as one last chance to see if church can be what it should be.” 

Among Sunday’s first-time congregates was Rosie, a former nun, who left the convent 13 years ago after coming to grips with her sexuality. 

“Since then I’ve felt spiritually homeless,” she said. After years of studying Buddhism, Rosie expects to return to New Spirit next week. 

“I love church. The music, the holidays, it’s all part of the rhythm of my life that was missing,” she said. 

For Richard Brabham, who grew up in a devout Methodist home, accepting his sexuality never imperiled his faith. “Even as I came out as a gay man, and other churches didn’t want me, God was still a presence in my life,” he said. “Now I can celebrate every part of who I am.” 

New Spirit attracts congregates as much by offering a sense of community as with religious ritual, members said. The church sponsors social events and helped form YEAH, Berkeley’s winter-time youth shelter, which 20 members help staff. Last week, the congregation raised $3,700 to help Tsunami v ictims. 

“If people say we’re supposed to love one another and we just sit here in the church, then we’re just talking bullshit,” said Michael Mansfield, a church member. 

Sandra Meucci, one the church’s first straight members, said politics initially bro ught her into the fold, but a renewed faith keeps her coming every Sunday. 

“Originally I thought it was important that gay and lesbian people wanted to form a church that moved beyond the confines of just gays and lesbians,” said Meucci, a sociologist and lapsed Methodist. “Then I attended the service and I was kind of surprised that I was so moved by it. I didn’t even recognize that there was a part of my life missing until I started up again. Now I feel a more personal relationship with God.” 

With a congregation that is all over the spiritual map, New Spirit doesn’t push Christian dogma. At Sunday’s service, the emphasis was on music and the offering of communion. Pastor Foster never referred to Jesus, an omission she said was unintentional.  

“We take the bible seriously, just not literally,” she said. Foster said the church holds study sessions both on social justice icons and Christian texts and also offers religious instruction to members’ children. 

While congregates feel accepted in the church, several said their gay friends didn’t quite know what to make of their new Sunday pastime.  

“It was a little bit like coming out,” Perez said. “When I told people I was going to church they’d be like, ‘Oh my God are you kidding?’ They don’t frown on it, but they don’t necessarily understand it either.” 

After five years, New Spirit’s congregation can nearly fill the Pacific School of Religion’s chapel on Holy Hill, which it rents. Still, it is not yet large enough to get them a church of their own. The church is hoping to expand its base and find more success in reaching out to minorities. 

Carl Lawrence, one of New Spirit’s three African American members, said attracting other gay African Americans is a challenge. “Many black people are still in the closet,” he said. “And many of the black churches aren’t comfortable having gays in the congregation.” 

Lawrence’s spiritual journey has come a long way from the Baptist church he attended as a child in New York. “At times I like to hear good gospel music,” he said. “But to me it’s more important to be in a place that’s welcoming and accepts you for who you are.” 

New Spirit Community Church holds Sunday service at 11 a.m. at the Pacific School of Religion’s chapel, 1798 Scenic Ave. 

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