| September 6, 2020
Dear Pacific Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Friends:
I have been dreaming of our new ministry as I walk by the river and sit by Lake Michigan. Getting to know some of your leaders and members has been a delight. It was a blessing for me, to travel and meet so many PUUF members from all over your costal region in August. Since signing the contract last week, I have been meeting with your board, regional and national leaders at the UUA to be ready to both hold your history and execute your ideas to make beautiful ministry. Your Board of Trustees is working hard with setting up lots of new systems to have a part-time employee and guiding me.
I am a collaborative strategic leader. I am here to help you build capacity, expand your hearts, and connect you with one another through Sunday services, pastoral care, and social justice. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you as we jump into the 2020-21 church year. I will be offering a weekly Tea with Rev. Denise to get to know you all and offer a question of the week. (watch your newsletter).
I believe spiritual practice is integral to living. I care about using worship and ritual to center ourselves. I am an artist and I use visuals in ministry to meditate and communicate. (Watch a great example of how I do that in my ordination video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN05hLJbpaw&t=178s – if you want to skip to the part where they address the congregation that hires me, Rev. Erik has a special message at the 1:30 mark. That video includes lots of my artwork too.)
I come to you at a time of great change both in the congregation and in the world. Following a minister was beloved like Rev. Kit was might bring excitement and worry. I get that. Plus, I am aware some of you wish a new minister would have been hired or started working sooner. Let’s move forward in love. Pandemic makes life more complicated. Rev. Kit has offered to be a resource to me. I am interested in learning your stories, hearing about how you interpret your personal theology and discovering how you put your faith in action.
Many of you expressed a desire to grow as a congregation and you have desires for members of many diverse backgrounds to join us. Growth means change. I hope we can all be loving and gentle with one another through this time of change. Unitarian Universalists are polytheistic and united in our principles.
I live in Milwaukee, WI with my thirteen-year-old son Aidan and my two fluffy dogs Henry the Bearded Collie and Teddy the Havanese. I am also the part-time minister for UUCCWC in Hillsboro, OR. Sometimes we will be able to share Sunday services with Hillsboro. We have much to offer one another.
I will be serving you virtually. I have experience doing that, as the UU congregation I have served for two years in Kenosha, Wisconsin also did all ministry virtually since Covid-19 shut-downs plus the seminary I attended had students all over the world. That gave me many opportunities to share work groups, meetings and worship in time zones across the globe.
My history includes providing spiritual and emotional care chaplaincy at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. I have been a pivotal player in diversity, inclusion, marriage equality and voting rights for three decades. Ask me about working with the ACLU on landmark marriage equality cases. I support transgender and gender non-binary victims of violence through my relationship with FORGE and I created a transgender ministry at Bradford UU in Kenosha, WI. I identify as queer and started one of the first and largest LGBT community centers in the country over 20 years ago. I also returned there to do turn-around public relations, capacity building and fundraising when that center was in trouble seven years ago. I trained lay leaders and ministers at The Salvation Army in a 13-state region in issues of anti-racism and LGBT equality, helping them to create more inclusive ministries. I have worked on justice issues in both rural and metropolitan communities, working with business, government and non-profit leaders.
Whether I was holding the hand of an un-homed young mom, teaching interview skills to a Black transgender youth or helping an unemployed former executive access health-care, all the resources I could connect them to meant nothing if the person didn’t feel loved or like they were part of a vital community. Frequently, trauma from their faith of origin prevented them from feeling worthy. I went to seminary because accompanying people through their darkest hours was a wakeup call to my soul. I was a long-time Unitarian Universalist and a lay leader. My call to become a fellowshipped UU minister went from a persistent whisper to a howling demand. I was credentialed by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee last year. I graduated with a Master of Divinity from our largest UU seminary – Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, Illinois where I studied subjects like Humanism, Buddhism, Queer and Feminist Theologies, trauma response, pastoral care, ministerial arts, Christian History, Biblical Studies and UU History.
I love walking by big bodies of water. My art is a vivid part of my spiritual practice. I am also a renowned fiber artist in the Midwest. Here are a few examples: |
