Our Ministers
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Justin and his wife, Juliana Keen, were both raised Unitarian Universalist - she in New Jersey and he in Colorado, where the seeds of his ministry were planted while looking up at the mountains and the Milky Way. He earned his Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 2007; his undergraduate is in English with a creative writing emphasis.
Justin Schroeder’s vision for ministry has been shaped and formed by twelve years of experience working in UU congregations, eight of which were at two of the largest congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association. (All Souls Church in Tulsa, OK, and Unity Church, in Saint Paul).
Justin's wife, Juliana, has worked at interfaith organizations as a community organizer and program director. She received her Masters of Social Work and Masters of Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota in May, 2009. Together, they are the proud new parents of Tucker Robert Keen Schroeder, born Dec, 2008.
Kathleen (Kate) Tucker was called as Associate Minister in September, 1998, after serving the previous year on a contract basis. She earned her Master of Divinity degree at the Earlham School of Divinity where she had earlier completed a baccalaureate degree. She also holds an MFA degree from the University of Minnesota. Before coming to First Universalist in 1997, she held interim positions with the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Kent, Washington, and the First Unitarian Church in Portland, Oregon.
In a sermon Kate has commented: "Our individual experiences, powerful as they are, need a language to live in. Our individual experiences, intense as they are, can still seem random, isolating, disconnected from the web of life. This is what religious community is for: to give us a language. To give us a way to see our experience within a larger pattern of meaning and beauty."
Justin Schroeder and Rev. Tucker share the parish ministry, including the conduct of Sunday services, rites such as wedding and commitment ceremonies, child dedications and memorial services, and pastoral care. They are supported by lay members through the Worship Associates program.
Rev. John Cummins, Minister Emeritus
With his wife, Drusilla, Dr. Cummins served First Universalist from 1961 to 1986.