It's that time of year again, when we welcome students new to our Residential program and welcome back students returning from Ministerial Internships or Clinical Pastoral Education. We are delighted to welcome a dozen new students and wish to take a moment to introduce them to you:
Elaine Aron has most recently called Minneapolis, Minnesota home. There, she coordinated the social justice program of the Jewish Community Relations Council and thoroughly enjoyed her involvement at Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul. Prior to the long winters of the upper Midwest, she lived on a sunny, dusty mountain in the Cape Verde Islands and volunteered with the U.S. Peace Corps.
Tim Barger moved to Chicago to attend Meadville Lombard after nine years in Brooklyn, New York; his home congregation is First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn. He grew up in Arkansas and lived in Austin, Texas, for fifteen years. His previous career was in publishing as a writer and editor, and he has degrees in humanities, journalism, library science, and communications.
Sarah Gettie Burks-Anderson comes from Solsberry, Indiana where she participates in the nearby Bloomington congregation. A recent graduate from Carleton College, Sarah Gettie studied Religion, South Asia and Cross-Cultural Studies. After working and traveling in Sri Lanka for a semester, Sarah Gettie married Christopher Anderson on August 12, 2006.
Erin Gingrich joins us from Burlington, Vermont, where she and her partner actively worshipped on the dance floor each week and occasionally at the First UU Society of Burlington. Her background is in leadership development and teambuilding, as well as massage therapy. Her partner Seth Whittier is a musician and is excited to share his passion with this community. Together, they are working to bring dance as spiritual practice/moving meditation to this community.
Nancy Hickman calls her home church The First Congregational Meeting House Society UU of Nantucket, Massachusetts where she grew up. As a military spouse, she has also called home: the Kitsap UU Fellowship in Bremerton, Washington and the Coronado UU Church in Coronado, California. At the 2005 Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly, Nancy was a panelist in the "UUs and The Military" session. Her background is in the hospitality and food service industry and she is a certified pastry chef. She has also held the Head Chef's position at Rowe Camp & Conference Center in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
Beth Lefever is a member of UU Fellowship of Elkhart, and is the half-time Religious Leader at Berrien UU Fellowship of St. Joseph, Michigan.
Michael Leuchtenberger is a member of the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Germany before moving to the United States for college. For the past 13 years he has worked as a consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and The World Bank as an environmental analyst, programmer, and designer. He came to Chicago with his wife Cara who works as an oncology nurse and his sons, Daniel, 4 and Noah, 2.
Scott McNeill comes from North Carolina with a background in Race and Gender studies. He is involved with campus ministry, anti-racism and the bi, gay, lesbian and transgender communities, as well as political action and community activism.
Karen Mooney has lived in Chicago for the last 20 years. Karen says she is "an avid singer and songwriter, corporate geek (specifically IT and marketing/ communications), bacteriology and acting major-way too long ago-and a lover of all questions." She is an active member of Second Unitarian Church of Chicago.
Katie Norris comes from Rocky River, Ohio where she was an active member of West Shore UU Church. Some of her recent church activities included Worship Associate, Pastoral Associate, and member of the Adult Programs Committee. Katie has a BA in Communications and has worked as a Stage Manager, Professional Scrapbook Artist, and a Stay-at-Home Mom. Katie's husband is a Software Architect for ThoughtWorks in Chicago and their son, Jeffrey, is 2 1/2.
Beverly Seese is a native of Modesto, California. A life-long member of the Church of the Brethren, she is an active member of the Lafayette, Indiana, Unitarian Universalist Church since 2000, having held positions of choir director, Worship and Ministry Committee chair, Committee on Ministry member, and currently as board president-elect. She commutes to Chicago for classes two days a week and lives in Delphi, Indiana, working part-time at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation in Lafayette.
Jason Tenbrink is from Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he attended the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos for 22 years. While there he was active in the church youth group and was a mentor for the Coming of Age program. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He spent one year working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
