I am pleased to serve as settled minister for UUMAN. My call to the ministry remains strong.

Let me share a part of my story. I was born in Connecticut in 1945, the second child of four who are Alan, age 66, Marc, age 57 and Robyn 54. My father died in 2003 at the age of 86 and my mother died at the age of 94 in December, 2008.

My dad, Jonas, was both a professional and a laborer. He worked until he was 83. He imparted to his children a strong work ethic. Because of his long hours he was mostly an absent presence. My mother, Alice, was a stay-at-home mom.

I was raised in a moderately observant Jewish household that included my paternal grandparents. I loved the Friday night ritual of my grandmother lighting the Sabbath candles.

After my Bar Mitzvah, I lapsed in active observance until I became a Unitarian Universalist in 1968, I still maintain a love of my religious heritage and have found new and meaningful ways to honor those traditions.

As a second generation American, I had little connection to my Eastern European (Russian and Romanian) roots. With some research I have uncovered some of my Eastern European origins that provide me some understanding of the family dynamics and the struggles embedded in their emigrant experience.

Literacy and education were important to my parents as the portal to living the “American Dream”. My father received a Master’s degree and my mother was educated through high school. I was a serious student in high school, participated in sports (never a good athlete) and served the student council.

I attended Rutgers University 1964-1968 and received a BS degree in history and education. During college I worked full time, yet made time to be politically active for justice and to end the Vietnam War.

During college I received my draft notice. My strong sense of responsibility led me to undergo the physical, but did not pass the vision exam.

On graduation in 1968 my Methodist fiancée Jane and I were married in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, NJ. We have two great sons, David, and Peter, and have two grandchildren, Graham and Lisette.

Following my father’s example, I became a schoolteacher. I also maintained a second job as a salesman. Sales quickly became my life-long work. I sold business products and for almost 20 years I was a mortgage loan officer. The many interpersonal, financial, managerial, communication and leadership skills that I have developed, plus twenty years of UU lay leadership, have enriched and broadened my understanding of church life and organization.

I was ordained in 2001 in New Jersey, with my former wife and son as guest speakers. At that time I was serving as an interim ministry in Madison Wisconsin.

I felt the call to ministry starting in high school. My interest became stronger throughout my marriage, as I involved myself as a lay leader, doing community service and experiencing a growing sense of outrage over the injustice I saw.

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My decision to finally enter the ministry followed a sequence of events. I joined a men’s support group dealing with life passages issues. With their help, I finally began to come to terms with being gay and my subsequent separation and divorce in 1991. l am pleased to say that my former wife and her husband remained friendly during that difficult time, my sons were supportive and remain very important in my life.

Four Years after my marriage ended I entered a six-year committed relationship. Years later I had a three year partnership.

After some surgery I decided to change my career, and became a volunteer chaplain at Cooper Hospital, Camden, New Jersey. During those three months I experienced an unavoidable call to continue that work.

I entered a one year residency program at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, I was one of a very few non-seminary students admitted into this or any other program. I ministered to women in labor and delivery and infants in the intensive care pediatric ward. In this capacity, officiated over many fetal demises and infant deaths. In so doing, I developed a new respect for the fragile and tenacious nature of life. I was profoundly changed by this experience.

My experience in Raleigh prompted me to apply to seminary and chose the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. These years were some of the best in my life. I graduated in May 2000 with a Master of Divinity degree. I have never looked back on my decision to enter the seminary or the ministry. I feel blessed by the opportunity to do meaningful work that I love. I feel great joy and dedication to my ministry. After serving a one year interim ministry at the James Reed Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Madison, Wisconsin, I was called to the UU Congregation of Las Vegas, Nevada where I was the settled minister for almost 5 years. Until relocating to Roswell, I served as the minister of the UU Church of the Desert in Rancho Mirage, California.

I have successfully served in both an internship at the large UU Church in Palo Alto, California and a summer ministry at the large First Unitarian Church in Rochester New York. As part of those experiences, I provided all the services of a full time settled minister. I was particularly proud of my early experience of ministering to a family whose unborn child died. I was able to help this family overcome its grief. A year later, I was called on by the same family to help the parents and grandparents reconcile a family dispute that erupted the night after the baby’s funeral. They had not communicated for an entire year. The disputants asked me to mediate their conflict, and my help moved them into a renewed dialogue.

I enjoy my busy life, but manage to take the time to regenerate. I am energized by people and my relationships. I cherish my quiet time listening to music, reading, experiencing the arts and spending time in nature. These are the things that nourish my spiritual life.

The joy of my current life is the realization that the risks I have taken to change and grow have enriched me beyond expectation. I bring that same sense of commitment and joy to this congregation. The road that takes me to ministry feels like the journey home to my truest self.