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Description
The South Campus Community Ministry (SCCM) was formed in May 1967 as an experimental ministry to help manage the expected influx of teenagers and young adults into Berkeley during the summer. Richard Buteyn, Presbyterian minister of outreach, coordinated its establishment. He received support from other ministers in the area: Brad Brown, All Souls Episcopal; Bill Pothier, Presbyterian; Robert McKenzie, St. John's Presbyterian Church; and George Tittman, St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Merchants supporting the organization included John Alsberg, Nicoles Clothing Store; Fred Cody, Cody's Books; Eric Goodman, Eclair Bakery; Ove Wittstock of Laton's Shoes; and Larry Blake, Larry Blake's Restaurant. The organization quickly became known as the "Free Church." York recalls that a woman named Anne, one of the first people who volunteered to help at the SCCM, envisioned the organization as a "Free Church" on 2200 Parker Street providing many of the services that they would later offer at that location. The new name worked following the tradition of "free churches," borrowed from an idea under consideration by the San Francisco Diggers in the Haight-Ashbury, and worked as "free" was synonymous with "hippie," the target group.
Berkeley Free Church (Berkeley, Calif.) South Campus Christian Ministry Berkeley Area Council of Churches Non-institutional churches--California--Berkeley (Calif.) Interdenominational cooperation--California--Berkeley (Calif.) Nineteen sixties
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