Ministerial Search
At this time, our congregation is in search of a settled Senior Minister. Our current minister, Rev. David Keyes, is an interim minister and will be with us through May 2010. The congregation is following the ministerial search process recommended by the Unitarian Universalist Association. A Search Committee, carefully chosen by the Leadership Development Team, was elected by the congregation in March 2009. To learn more about the members of the Search committee, please see the photos and biographies below.
The process includes gathering information on our congregation and needs from a minister, putting together an informational packet to share with prospective ministers, interviewing potential ministers on the phone and in person, experiencing a Sunday morning service by each of three pre-candidates and choosing one candidate to bring to our congregation for a vote.
Using information from Table Talks, Focus Groups, First Church’s Provocative Proposals and a Ministerial Search survey to inform the search, the committee will move forward to find a Senior Minister who is a good fit for our congregation.
First Church Ministerial Search Committee Members:
Lucy Anderson
When I was young, I lived with my family in Tanzania and Congo while my father completed his internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology. Although he is Jewish, he worked for the Catholic Mission. My memories of that time are very selective - going to the market, swimming in the river, being taught by my mother in school with other missionary children. We finally settled in Minnesota when we returned to the States. As a youth, I did not attend any type of church or synagogue regularly and never felt connected to any religious community. I began attending First Unitarian Universalist Church when my first child was born because I wanted my children to grow up and make connections with a liberal community that embraces people from all faiths.
As a church member, I have mostly worked with children's Religious Education. I have taught 2nd through 8th grades at the church. I have served on the RE committee for the past 3 years. I love teaching the children at church. The conversations that we have are so lively and different from those that I deal with every day.
I began my career as an educator with the Houston Independent School District 19 years ago. I taught 3rd, 8th, and 9th grades, but spent most of my time as a 6th grade ESL reading teacher at Jackson and Hogg Middle Schools. During my teaching career, I wrote and received numerous grants from governmental and non-governmental organizations. In 2000, I entered the HISD Principalship Academy and received my Masters from the University of Houston. I then worked as an assistant principal and in central administration. I spent two years as principal of Scarborough HS and am now in my 4th year as principal of Stevens Elementary School.
Much of the volunteer work that I do revolves around my children. I am involved with Girls Scouts - selling cookies, hosting meetings, and being a dorm mom at Casa Mare. I also volunteer at the Dad's Club, where my children swim every day. I live in a bright red little house in the Heights area of Houston with my husband John, my daughters Addie and Sophie, and my dogs Biscuit, Jane, and Soda. Our house has an iron man, his dog, and his spear in front. In my free time, I read, hang out with my family, watch TV, eat, talk, and generally avoid housework.
Carol Burrus
First Church has been my spiritual home since the mid 1980's. I came to this faith from a satisfying Methodist upbringing, followed by a college-era emergence of doubt. I'm a native Houstonian. My family was part of the move from rural Texas to the city two generations ago. Trained as a social worker, I worked as a family therapist before having children. I worked at First Church for 7 years as the Director of Religious Education; then after working at a non-profit for a couple of years became a music teacher in the public schools.
In the First Church community, I've volunteered in RE, membership, PR, web, Transition Team, and the Board, among other things. I am a singer-songwriter and my band plays a few times a year for the Sunday services and for First Church fund-raisers, at which funds are often shared with outside organizations.
My husband and I were married at First UU. My children, who are now teenagers, were dedicated and have grown up in the church. My son is involved in our high school youth program and my daughter in youth choir and the middle school program.
I love being engaged in a project. I enjoy cooking especially for people I love. My joy is often found in singing, writing songs and playing the piano. I am grateful to have found a place like First Church where I've had the opportunity to learn and grow and meet so many wonderful people.
Peter Durkin
While I was raised the fourth of five children in an Irish Catholic family and also attended twelve years of Catholic grade and high school - I sincerely regret not having been born a UU.
I originally attended First Church when Rev. Webster Kitchell was minister in the 70's. After a move to Simonton (45 miles west of Houston) and the birth of twins, we attended Emerson Church - mostly for the Religious Education program and fewer miles to drive. Rev. Frank Shulman was then minister at Emerson. After a divorce and relocating back to Houston, I rejoined First Church, with Rev. Bob Schaibly. I was a member of the Personnel Committee and have served on the First Church Board of Trustees for almost three years. I taught two sessions of Our Whole Lives (OWL) to Middle School students at First Church. This curriculum is an excellent sex education program that has lasting, life-long benefits. I also am a card-carrying member of the Men's Group.
In my role of President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Houston, Southeast Texas and Louisiana, I am familiar with the Carver Policy Governance model. This leadership model has really benefited the partnership between our staff and Board and contributed to our improved organizational effectiveness.
Liz Gilbert
Before becoming a member in 1997, I tested the waters at First UU by participating in the Women's Group. I was raised a Roman Catholic and left the church in my early twenties. Serious self-study in feminist theology directed me towards a spiritual path unfulfilled until I discovered the principles of Unitarian Universalism. After joining the church I became a worship associate and more recently a member of the Dinners for Eight and Stewardship Committee.
I am a playwright and founder of Women's Works, dedicated to developing the voices of women in the Houston community. My plays have been produced in Houston, Austin, New York City and Athens, Greece. I have received several grants from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County, including a 1995 individual Arts Grant for excellence in playwriting. In 1996, was a finalist for the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and in 1998 was awarded an International Artist Foundation Grant from the Fundacion Valparaiso in Mojacar, Spain. In 2000 -2001, I was awarded an Artist Performance Residency at Diverse Works Arts Space to develop a play based on visits to Todd Willingham, an inmate awaiting execution on Texas' Death Row.
Before becoming a playwright, I was an educator. I taught French, History and English as a Second Language to elementary, high school and adult students, and received three grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship in Istanbul, Turkey.
I am a mother and grandmother and enjoy gardening, film and dance. In November 2003, a car accident left me with a spinal cord injury and I am grateful for my second opportunity to live, love and write.
Mary Koch
I grew up in the Congregational Church before it merged with the United Church of Christ. Living on a farm in North Dakota fifteen miles from any town, our family was pretty much "Easter and Christmas Eve" church participants, but I became very active in the local and state Congregational youth movement during high school, and then in college fell away from any church for many years.
Soon after we married in 1979, my husband Ron and I joined Jefferson Unitarian Church in Fort Worth (now First Jefferson Unitarian Universalist). We both were un-churched-me longer than Ron-and were parenting Ron's son, Jeff. We found "First J" a church where we all fit-theologically, politically, emotionally and socially.
Ron and I moved from Fort Worth to Longview, Texas in 1980 and our son, Emery, was born there. There was not a UU congregation in Longview, so after a few years of re-entry into mainstream Protestantism, we gathered some others of like mind and started the UU Fellowship of Longview. It was an oasis for us and we are pleased that the Fellowship continues to exist and thrive.
Another move brought us to Houston in 1990 and Ron, Emery and I joined Emerson Unitarian Universalist congregation. In Emerson, I was active in religious education, adult programs, long range planning, the committee on ministry and Dinners for 8. In the meantime, we had moved closer to First Church and Emery had graduated and left home. In 2002, we joined First Church. Here, I have been on the Board where I served as vice president and president. I have been on the community involvement and finance committees and have chaired both. During our transition, I have helped organize Dinners for 8, served on the Next Steps committee, the writing group for the Appreciative Inquiry committee and now the Search Committee.
First Church is our church home. Like family, we have our ups and down and, again like family, we work together to learn how to cope, change and grow. Commitment to social justice, theological diversity, spiritual growth and religious education for youth were characteristics that initially attracted us to the UU community-these and the community are what keep us here. I look forward to the next chapter in the life of First Church.
Evan Michaelides
I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, spent my early adult years in the Northeast, and moved to Houston with my family for job-related reasons in late 1998. My wife Laura and I - neither of whom had any significant previous involvement with organized religion - were introduced to First UU Church by friends a little over two years later. Better late than never - much, much better, in fact. The church and the people we met here immeasurably eased our adjustment to our new life in Houston, and have provided a wonderful support system for us and our kids, Matthew, now 16, and Sofia, 12. If we ever move again, we now know to make a beeline for the local UU church!
When my children were younger, I taught grade school Religious Education classes. In the last year or so, I've become more active in church affairs, serving on the Leadership Development Team, Personnel Advisory Team, Appreciative Inquiry Writing Team and Spring Retreat Committee. I feel that First Church is at an inflection point right now. It's an exciting time to be involved, and I welcome the opportunity to give something back to the church that has meant so much to me and my family.
In my professional life, I am a software designer and development manager. As a child of Greek immigrants, I am pleased that my career has afforded me opportunities to travel around the world and indulge my interest in foreign languages and cultures. I've been a Chess Master since my teenage years and am a former Missouri State chess champion. I enjoy well-crafted humor and believe in the restorative, energizing and bonding powers of a good laugh.
Sheila Whitford
Eleven years ago, my partner Anne and I began discussing the possibility of finding a church that welcomed us as a couple. We had raised two sons in Anne's church without me being a participant , and that left an empty space in me even though I was not comfortable with the thought of organized religion. We had been told by friends about the First Unitarian Universalist Church and decided to attend. My first experience in the church was being welcomed by the then President of PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. My second experience was realizing that all faiths were welcomed here including my humanism beliefs that aligned almost perfectly with the UU principles. It seemed as though I had found a home not only as an individual but also with Anne, my partner of thirty three years. We quickly became engaged with the other gay and lesbian members. I joined a "Living Your UU Principles" chalice circle, and volunteered on the Care Team, eventually becoming one of the coordinators for over a year. Through my Care Team work with First UU elders, I learned and came to admire the history and vision of First UU.
I have just recently retired from the Houston Independent School District after spending thirty- one years working passionately to improve the lives of adolescents through making education more than a dream for them. I most recently worked coaching teachers, working with individual students on academics, and writing and managing grants as a School Improvement Facilitator. For three or four years, my professional work life interfered with my time to give the church. I found myself having to make limitations on my time. Yet, the church gave back to me by giving me the place to search for my own personal truth and meaning as I decided the direction my life should take. I missed the time that I gave to the church and in the last year decided that First UU and my UU principles are a priority.
Retirement has given me the time to replenish myself spiritually and to begin accomplishing the goals that I had dreamed about for myself. I now have the time and energy to commit to my upholstery projects, my two Weimaraners, our two grandchildren, my volunteer projects such as a ground crew for Grace / Angel Flight ( a volunteer organization that flies medical patients into the Houston Medical Center), First UU Church, and especially to enjoy my relationship with my family.