Message from our Minister

Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills on-line!  Our church is a wonderful community of about 200 adult members and friends, plus about 80 children and youth.  We have diverse beliefs about matters theological, religious, and spiritual, yet share common principles and values that allow us to journey together as a vibrant people of faith.

My own story is not unusual.  I was raised Lutheran in a very active, church-going family.  In fact, my parents were “pillars” of the church, and I sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, was President of the youth group, and so forth.  Church was central in my life, but my doubts grew as I matured and increasingly questioned traditional Lutheran teachings about God, Jesus, and vicarious salvation.  In my freshman year of college, I lost my faith altogether and began a 15-year hiatus from religious life.  Then, in my early thirties, I inadvertently heard a sermon on the radio that moved me to realize how angry with God I had been all those years, and how much I missed being part of religious community.  So I began church shopping and quickly discovered that the Protestant churches in my town were not right for me because I could not with integrity affirm the beliefs articulated in their creeds.  What a thrill it was when I walked into my first Unitarian Universalist church and discovered a community grounded in principles rather than doctrinal beliefs!  I felt at home right away, yet was not pressured to join until I felt ready—several years later.  Then I got active on the Worship Committee and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for several years before feeling called to our professional ministry in my early forties. 

Ministry is my third career.  First I was a chemistry professor.  Then I was a businesswoman doing instructional design and development of employee training programs.  Then I went to Harvard Divinity School for three years, got my Masters of Divinity, and completed all the requirements for being credentialed as a minister by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations—the UUA.  I was ordained by the First Parish of Cambridge, MA in 1994, and served a small congregation in Kingston, Ontario for five years before being called by the members of  UUCNH to be their minister beginning in the fall of 1999.