Join us for Prayer: The Power of the Spoken Word with Rev. Carlton Teabout, beginning Monday evening February 23, 2026 at 6pm.
Welcome to Agape Bay Area!
We value and celebrate diversity. We welcome, cherish, and embrace everyone and all forms of expression. We know and affirm the One Life that expresses in infinitely diverse forms. We are a safe, empowering environment for all.
We value and celebrate diversity. We welcome, cherish, and embrace everyone and all forms of expression. We know and affirm the One Life that expresses in infinitely diverse forms. We are a safe, empowering environment for all.
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John Chastain, ALSP
A Message From Our President
Welcome to March!
Compassion is our theme for March and we have really put together some deep dives into what it means and how we can embody it in our lives and towards our selves as well as to all other living beings.
What is compassion? Drawing from the ancient wisdom teachings of the Buddha: “Compassion in Buddhism, known as kaduna, is the profound, active desire for all beings to be free from suffering, rather than just a passive emotion. It is a central, cultivated value paired with wisdom, aiming to eliminate selfishness and foster interconnectedness, extending universally to all beings.”
And compassion for ourselves, for any difficulties we face in our own individual lives, is the first place we must practice loving kindness and gentleness as we work to release patterns in consciousness that are no longer serving us. Seeing my own mental patterns and how deeply they can be rooted in my consciousness and doing the work of transformation has grown my compassion for myself enormously and thus created enormous compassion for all beings in the planet who are on the same journey. A great book for this journey is Self Compassion by Kristen Neff.
We are blessed to welcome Reverend Joan Steadman, Emerita back on March 8 to explore compassion with us. We have a special potluck that day after service… bring your favorite vegetarian dish to share. On March 15 we will welcome Eve Decker, a Buddhist Master Teacher who is also a well known singer songwriter and I recommend you look at her sangha talks at https://www.insightberkeley.org for your own awakening and enlightenment. You may hear her music at https://evedecker.com/ She is a compassionate and wise teacher who has been teaching for over 20 years and her music will touch your heart.
This exploration of the Ancient Wisdom of Buddhism was inspired by Reverend Michael Beckwith’s Visioning CD series and his recent mentions of the Buddha, where he said “let this mind be in you that was in Buddha…” so the next four months we will explore the Buddha’s four energetic pathways of the heart which he stated if practiced can and do lead to enlightenment. They are known as the brahmaviharas: compassion, loving-kindness, sympathetic joy and equanimity.
John Chastain, ALSP and ABA Board President for 2026
View Our Sunday Services
Our Minister
Rev. Dr. Joan Steadman, Emerita
Senior Minister
Rev. Dr. Joan Steadman, Emerita, has been an ordained Agape and Centers for Spiritual Living minister for since 1998. She has served as the Senior Minister of our beloved community from January 2019 to October 2025. The Board of Agape Bay Area is providing Ministers and Practitioners of high consciousness every Sunday and creating a Ministerial search team to provide. A new Senior Minister for our congregation.