Kensington Community Church was founded by residents of the “Kensington Park” neighborhood in 1929 with the help of the Southern California Conference of the Congregational Church. For the past 95 years, we’ve been deeply rooted in this community. The church has grown and changed with the surrounding neighborhood, experiencing hard times during the Great Depression and rapid growth in the post-war economy, and growing in diversity and faith with the surrounding community.

We are a congregationalist church in covenant with the Southern California-Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC). The UCC was founded in 1957 as a merger of Congregationalist, Reformed, Evangelical, and Lutheran churches who had a shared commitment to unity in diversity and an inclusive Christian faith. Our predecessors include some of the nation’s first abolitionists, the first woman and the first African American to be ordained as a minister in North America, and advocates for LGBT inclusion in the church whose work predates even the Stonewall uprising.

While there are beliefs many of us hold in common, we do not keep a creed as a test of faith or a measure of who is “in” and who is “out.”

Formally, we recognize the Bible as the rule of faith and practice and hold that living in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ is the true test of Christian fellowship. Each member has the undisputed right to follow the Word of God according to the dictates of their own conscience, under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

Our doctrinal statements are centers of gravity around which we gather, not boundaries that determine who is or is not welcome to participate in the life, worship and leadership of our church. Our membership includes people who practice a historical, orthodox Christian faith as well as people who aren’t sure they believe in God at all, or who believe very different things about God than you may find in creedal churches.

Open and affirming

In October 2011, we declared ourselves “Open and Affirming,” or welcoming to members of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as to people from all walks of life.

In this way, we seek to include and embrace people of any creed, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identification, political view, military status, mental or physical ability, age, economic situation, or family circumstance. We invite all to share in the life, leadership, ministry, fellowship, worship, and blessings of Kensington Community Church.

Our spiritual foundations support peace, justice, and equality as part of God’s unconditional love. We pledge to continue expanding our views and attitudes of what it means to share with God in the unfolding of being Open and Affirming.

As a Congregationalist church, Kensington Community Church is governed by its members.

Each year, the church membership elects a Church Council that serve as the church’s Board of Directors, prayerfully leading the ministry and work of the church. This means that important decisions about our church’s direction, mission, and operations are made with input and guidance from the congregation. Our Church Council serves as a representative body, helping to ensure that our values and vision remain aligned with God’s calling and the needs of our church family.

We also elect ministry committees who are responsible for running the vast majority of our ministry activities. Our ministry committees provide hands-on leadership to the day-to-day activities of the church: they’re responsible for things like leading our relationships with mission partners, planning special worship activities, managing the church’s investment properties, overseeing the activities of the preschool, and crafting personnel policies.

The Senior or Bridge Minister reports to Church Council and, in addition to pastoral responsibilities like leading worship and caring for the congregation, serves as the church’s chief executive and chief of staff. The Bridge Minister supports the Church Council as it discerns God’s call for the future of the church and ensures the church staff are faithfully following the direction of Church Council in the administrative leadership of the church.

If you’d like to get in touch with a member of the Church Council, please contact the front office at office@kensingtonucc.com. If you would like to explore becoming a church member, contact one of the pastors below.

Church Council

Scot Gentry, Moderator
Molly Gee, Vice Moderator
Penny Ward, Clerk
Mike Kerr & Brian Gee, Co-Treasurers
Jim Veskerna, Finance & Stewardship Chair
Donna Potter, Kensington Preschool Chair
Jackie Trischman, Personnel & Resources Chair
Sharon Young, Worship & Nurture Chair
Sheryl Wohl Chaffee, Missions & Outreach Chair