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About My Background, Spiritual Development, and Ministerial Journey This photo shows me on my ordination day with my siblings and friends. At the bottom is a slideshow illustrating my service in three of four chaplaincy sites, and travel to religious sites in other cultures.
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A Life Long Spiritual Calling
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CHILDHOOD
A calling to ministry has woven through my life, always bringing me to service and the sacred, but did not take the form of ordination for many decades. At church camp in 8th grade, by a sunlit lake, I felt that I would always have a special way of being connected to the holy. By 10th grade, our female minister had taken me under her wing to let me accompany her on a hospital visit and during a worship preparation session. She asked me to think ahead about college choices to lead to divinity school. But, once I got to college, I seemed to find ways of ministering without formally being called a minister. I received lifelong sustenance from my Presbyterian upbringing, which gave me the assurance that God loved me. In that congregation, all ages were active together in church life, showing me the many gifts in a faith community. Two service trips to Tijuana, Mexico in my teens showed me the dignity of people living in poverty and the cost of “first world” over-consumption. Living in Salt Lake City with Latter Days Saints (Mormons), I experienced being a religious minority, which led to sometimes feeling frustration and amusement because of stereotypes made by other people. YOUNG ADULTHOOD I picked Carleton College in Minnesota because of its emphasis on character and rigorous cultivation of intelligence to serve the common good. I loved the prairies and woods there. I tried out the Pagan group, Quaker worship, and Buddhist meditation. During a semester abroad, I lived in Sri Lanka with a Hindu family and in a Buddhist convent. The civil war that was going on in Sri Lanka taught me that real humans go through daily life even while the fabric of society is being slowly torn apart by violence. In my ministry today, this awareness of war makes me sober about how we as UUs try to contribute aid during overseas conflicts. The yoga practice that I began in Sri Lanka during that semester has given me a lifelong method for integrating my physical, spiritual, and mental health. I later sought yoga teacher training, took extra anatomy classes at the community college, and developed special workshops for teaching people to do their own daily practice. When I got to seminary, I took one year of courses in theology of yoga and two years of Sanskrit. Unitarian Universalism is compatible with my study and practice of the yogic texts, which believe that all of us have a divine spark, and that our intelligent, patient reflection leads to wise action. After college I committed to one year in a social service program called Jesuit Volunteer Corps, which is grounded in four values: simple living, spirituality, community living, and social justice. I was assigned to work in a homeless shelter and food pantry operated by a Catholic organization in Des Moines, Iowa. We learned that spiritual practice is an essential wellspring for the long road of social change --- a theme that can be heard ringing through many of my sermons. As a result, since then I have made a point to regularly participate in group prayer and to talk regularly with a spiritual director. Having completed my volunteer year working in direct services, I sought work that addressed policy change. The Center for Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence (now called the Faith Trust Institute) in Seattle is a multi-faith, multi-cultural group of clergy women educating about sexual health and clergy boundaries in spiritual communities. The frameworks I learned there have given me astute eyes and ears to many dynamics since then. I have used many tools to quickly steer situations to safer, clearer interactions in church and chaplaincy settings. At the FaithTrust Institute, I was surrounded by women clergy of Christian and Jewish heritage who were developing multi-media curricula for religious institutions to educate to end sexual violence and promote healthy clergy boundaries. Their cutting edge models of reconciliation taught me to think creatively about theology in action. For this reason, faith-based, justice-seeking work has filled much of my life. My role models are clergy who are also community leaders, social servants, educators, counselors, ethicists, and spiritual directors. Although that agency was meaningful and living in a group house was supportive and fun, I longed to see what would be possible if a large group of people pooled resources. I went on a three-month road trip to explore intentional communities and attended two conferences on cooperative living. In my twenties, I moved to Twin Oaks Community, an ecovillage in Louisa County, Virgnia. During my six years there, I learned to observe Solstices and Equinoxes, giving me a very tangible connection to the nature of season and cycle. My ministry today is still influenced by these rituals. Part of my daily work focused on organizing national conferences on intentional community. The other part of my work focused on the functions of farm life: managing the sewage treatment plant, taking care of children, gardening, woodworking, and baking. I also taught yoga in the ecovillage and local town. Eventually I longed to grow in my ability to share my love of yoga more widely, but wanted to be near my close friends. So, I moved 30 miles to Charlottesville, Virginia, where I lived on a farm with an elderly woman and built up a yoga business teaching at local corporations, a prison, gyms, country clubs, and the Salvation Army. During this time, you might say I was doing a ministry of helping people be more at home in their bodies and take time for their spirit. I became involved in the local Unitarian Universalist church and was honored to serve as a Worship Associate. My three years as a lay leader in a UU congregation allowed me to be emotionally strengthened while also sharing my gifts of worship leadership. |
Entering Seminary and Formal Ministry
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 This is the altar I set up for my ordination, representing the many mentors and spiritual friends for whom I am grateful.
SEMINARY
In 2005, I decided to pursue a Masters in Divinity. My three years at a UU seminary showed me the power of our denomination as a voice for civil dialogue and liberal religion’s “protest-ant” roots. I am drawn to uphold the Unitarian Universalist faith because I believe it provides a crucial place in our society for people to ground their spirits and engage in social good. We offer a safe space to people who are not welcome in orthodox groups, and to people who think creatively outside the box, and yet value being part of a healthy container. I chose to attend Starr King in Berkeley, because of the other seminaries in the Graduate Theological Union there on “Holy Hill.” Next door, at the Pacific School of Religion, I worked to help pay my tuition by assisting in public relations promoting the seminary’s leadership in Pan-Pacific dialogue, inclusion of LBGTQ persons, and immigration justice. Another reason I chose Starr King was because the San Francisco Bay Area could show me diversity of human experience and culture. While there, I studied Sanskrit at UC Berkeley and learned Spanish by meeting once a week with new friends from Mexico to exchange language lessons. Each summer of seminary, I sought out experience in chaplaincy. One summer, I served as an intern at University of Virginia hospital, where I got intense experience about staying calm during tragic losses of life. Another summer, I served as chaplain to the staff at Ferry Beach Unitarian Universalist Camp and Conference Center in Maine, where I joyfully journeyed with inquisitive college students and saw the many ways UUs worship together. After graduating seminary, I began a year-long residency as a chaplain at a hospital in San Francisco. From that experience, my ministry is enriched with skills for communicating concisely in teams about caring for others. I also learned to steward my energy, so that I stay connected to the vibrancy of Spirit, even while pastoring to people who are exhausted and scared. CHAPLAINCY AND CONGREGATIONAL LEADERSHIP I returned to Charlottesville to be near close friends and community. I began working as a chaplain at Hospice of the Piedmont two days a week. During this time of service, I saw the diverse living conditions among people in the same community, and honed a sensitivity to poverty, discrimination, and privilege. I also continued to deepen and expand my capacity for being present to the many different ways that people feel about dying. My colleagues were of five faiths and we pastored to people of many religious convictions. We stayed grounded in our own beliefs to give us the strength to reach out to people of differing beliefs. In 2010, the two-year interim at the local congregation moved on, and a second interim minister came. At his recommendation, she asked me to work 10 hours/week helping with pastoral care. In 2011, a new settled minister arrived, and upon hearing good reports about my service, asked me to continue. In 2012, the board asked me to expand my time to 20/hours per week. In 2015, the congregation ordained me, and I continued to serve half time as Assistant Minister until 2021. The insights that I bring forward from serving in that role are about staff teamwork, board health, and growing leaders. I got very good feedback about my preaching, teaching, and pastoral care. I coordinated the founding of a Young Adult ministry. I ministered to the Pastoral Visitors chairs and team. I identified a member willing to restart our Care-net ministry in a new way appropriate to current technology. The members were already involved in social justice work and I followed their lead. In 2019, as the congregation when through significant change, I journeyed with them. The Lead Minister left and there was not an interim until a year later. As the congregation dealt with many emotions, I pastored to them through sermons, finding appropriate guest speakers, individual listening, coordinating new systems, and helping the board reflect on priorities. When the pandemic led to the shut down of in-person church functions, I again journeyed through uncertain waters with the congregation, providing a non-anxious presence and leadership for changing systems yet again. I led a small committee that designed our structure for online worship and then trained a new team. I helped with pastoral care and funerals through new means, such as phone trees, zoom memorials, and outdoor ceremonies. I worked with the Committee on Ministry to make recommendations for a safe re-opening plan. An interim arrived in summer of 2020. I attended the UUA's one week Interim Training, which deepened my understanding of congregational dynamics. The board worked hard on budget plans, but due to many factors, they needed to reduce staff positions, meaning that I would no longer be serving as Assistant Minister. With great respect and intention, the board president, interim minister and I worked together during the summer of 2021 to pastor to the congregation as they adapted to this change. Many people commented that the way I said goodbye to the congregation gave them an excellent model for their life situations. I was very grateful for their messages and gifts of appreciation at the send off party in September of 2021. Below is a photo of the wall plaque they gave me. (Served July 2010-Sept 2021) Because the congregational job had been half time, I was able to begin working half time at our community hospital in 2017. I am still on staff there. In this role, I receive appreciative feedback for being a calming presence, excellent listener, and adapting quickly to many situations. I enjoy learning about people from the many different sub-cultures in our area, and ministering to their inner light, supporting them as they use their own theological language. In the hospital, I have developed deep compassion for employees of large, multi-state institutions, and this awareness will help me when I serve a congregation as I minister to people who work in such settings. Working at the hospital during the pandemic taught me a very practical attitude and composure during crises. I serve on the Resiliency Committee and have been through multiple trainings on helping organizations understand stress injuries and supporting teams in caring for one another. (Spring 2017- Summer 2025 at hospital). As I said in my opening, the sacred and service have always called me, and I trust they will continue to. I look forward to meeting the new community in which this will happen and to supporting you as you support each other. 
Above is a wall plaque given to me by the congregation that I served for 11 years.
Below is a slideshow of my ministerial formation with a bit more background...a picture is worth a thousand words... |