I arrived on this earth in August of 1972, and was raised for most of my young years in Fitchburg in North Central Massachusetts. I grew up in the Roman Catholic church, and received a parochial education from Kindergarten through High School. Our parish was ethnically Italian-American, built by Italian immigrants in the early years of the Twentieth Century. My main memories of the church of my childhood were of a close-knit family institution (I was related in some way or another to a healthy percentage of parishioners), and of a church that put faith into the practice of service. It was here where I first experienced a call to ministry at a very young age.
I continued my Catholic education through my undergraduate degree, receiving a BA in Theatre Arts in 1994 from Marquette University in Milwaukee (along with a minor in Theology). It was during my time here, though, that my personal faith started to shift. The Catholics of Milwaukee were a far more conservative bunch, and I found the faith I was raised in was no longer squaring with my personal ideals, especially where it came to the unconditional love and acceptance of others. By graduation, I’d essentially left the church behind. But my faith was still important to me.
I met Jess Morgan in 1994 through a mutual friend. She was a freshman in the theatre department at Marquette while I was working day jobs and struggling to develop an acting career. Our relationship developed quickly. We welcomed our son, Brandon, into the world in 1997 during Jess’ senior year. We married in 1999 and welcomed our second child, Nora, in 2000. As is the case with many UUs, it was the presence of our children that led us in search of a church community. Jess and I each had our own faith journeys filled with disappointment, so finding a home we could agree on was difficult. I was somewhat familiar with Unitarian Universalism, having spent much time in the basement of First Parish in Fitchburg, attending concerts at the Northern Lights Folk Arts Society coffee houses. Meanwhile, my bus route to work took me past the the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee and the signboard outside the front door. The weekly display of intriguing sermon titles had me curious to see what happened inside. And it turned out to be a church that maybe Jess and I could agree on. We began attending in September of 1999 and have remained UUs ever since.
In Milwaukee, I rediscovered my sense of call to the ministry. Working with the Youth Group there, and meeting and hearing from intern ministers and professors from Meadville Lombard Theological School helped to solidify that call. I entered Meadville in 2003 and received my MDiv in 2007 after completion of classes and an internship at Unity Temple UU Congregation in Oak Park, IL. In 2007, I was called to serve the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, NM, where I have served my entire career to date while raising our kids in the Los Alamos Public Schools and through college.
In my time in Los Alamos, I have shepherded a redrafting of our Mission and Vision, and a new building project including a $4 million capital campaign. I have built a talented and beloved staff team, led the memorials of the many of the founders of the congregation, and welcomed many new families into the fold, especially since the election of 2020.
Through our COVID lockdown years, I led a successful shift to online worship, kept our operating budget at a consistent level, and, as we lost elders to death and relocation, brought in enough new members to keep our membership rolls even from lockdown until today.
During my time in Los Alamos, I served locally on the boards of the Los Alamos Family Council (a mental health provider for low-income patients) and the local community theatre, as well as serving as organizer of the Ministerial Alliance, the local interfaith group. On a national level, I’ve served the the UUA as a member of the Commission on Appraisal, as an officer of the Mountain Desert chapter of the UUMA, and as a chapter Good Officer. I am now on the Good Offices specialized team for Call Contracts and Negotiated Resignations.
Since 2016, I found my own home for creative spirituality with Santa Fe Improv. In my time there, I moved from student to performer to faculty, and served for a time as the volunteer interim Managing Director. My improvisation work has fed back into my congregational work, informing my pastoral and leadership work, as well as developing into practical workshops for mindfulness and leadership with adults and youth.
In June of 2024, I was called to serve as settled minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Chruch of Berks County, in Reading PA.
I continue my improv practice at Lancaster Improv Players.