Rev. Abbey Tennis 
​Unitarian Universalist Minister
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Denominational Work


PictureThe early days - chairing the Mass Bay District Youth Steering Committee as a teenager
I have been active in Unitarian Universalist Denominational work for 20 years. It has been some of the most significant and meaningful work of my life, offering me an opportunity to transform the faith and the world while forming me into a leader of integrity, skill, and heart. Much of my denominational service has fallen into three categories:
  • Youth Ministry
  • Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression/Multiculturalism
  • Ministerial Formation

PictureMinisterial Fellowship Committee
My experience and expertise in these areas offer several important gifts to my congregational ministry.

The first is deep knowledge of best practices and growth trends in UU congregational life. The ten years I spent between the UUA board, staff, and Ministerial Fellowship Committee have given me a great deal more knowledge of the workings (and pitfalls) of congregational life than most early-career ministers.

PictureUUA, Starr King, and Meadville fundraising leaders
Second, my denominational service has acquainted me with many of the top leaders in the faith – from the wise, long-time institutional hands to those on the cutting edge of new ways of engaging in UU religious life. I am part of an extensive network of national leaders that support each other's ministries and the congregations we serve.

PictureFirst Unitarian Church of Oakland
Third, my heart has been broken and made whole again and again in my denominational service to this faith. I have led through times when we have failed spectacularly to live up to our ideals, and times when we have acted with a bold integrity that I wouldn’t have thought possible. This may seem inconsequential, but the cycle of heartbreak and heart-healing is what makes me a resilient religious leader. I am not a naïve idealist, I am not a fair-weather Unitarian Universalist, I am not caught by surprise when we, as a people, fall short. And yet my love of, and commitment to, this faith runs in my veins and rests in my bones.

​Congregational ministry is hard work, it can be lonely work, and rocky times are inevitable if we are reaching for that which is worthy of our grasp. I am a minister who leads with a steady hand in the rough waters and the smooth. Denominational service has built deep reserves to sustain me for the journey.

PictureSpeaking at the Service of the Living Tradition at the UUA General Assembly, 2013
​Finally, our denomination is only as strong as its member congregations. Most innovations that have transformed national Unitarian Universalism in the past decades began with a small group of creative leaders trying something new in their congregation. This is how our hymnals are born, how we as a faith become a national force for justice, how we create new curricula, and develop new rituals. When we create something new and exciting in our congregation, I am skilled at finding the right way for us to share it with the wider movement. 

Denominational Activities

  • ​​Member, Nominating Committee, Pacific Central District UU Ministers Association; Date: 04/15-present
  • Leader, Starr King Singers (Created and lead Starr King community singing group), Starr King School for the Ministry; Berkeley, CA; Date: 09/13-05/14
  • Member, Presidential Search Committee (Served as member of Search Committee that brought Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt to be President of Starr King), Starr King School for the Ministry; Berkeley, CA; Date: 09/13-03/14
  • Trustee, Board, Starr King School for the Ministry; Berkeley, CA; Date: 06/12-05/14       
  • Member, Ministerial Fellowship Committee (Youngest member in committee history; interviewed and evaluated candidates for Fellowship, led strategic anti-oppression and organizational change efforts. Member, Executive Committee; Chair, Candidacy and Process Working Groups), UUA; Date: 01/01-12/09
  • Keynote Speaker, UU “Allies for Racial Equity” Annual Conference; Date: 02/08
  • Worship Coordinator, Young Adult Caucus, UU General Assembly; Date: 06/04 
  • Theme speaker (Led week-long anti-oppression series), Southwest UU Summer Institute (SWUUSI) Youth Camp; Date: 07/02           
  • Founder/Chair, Liberated UU Voices Campus Group; Oberlin, OH; Date: 99-02  
  • Youth Programs Specialist, (staff) UUA, Boston, MA; Date: 00-01
  • Youth Observer, Board of Trustees (Led successful effort to gain a voting youth trustee; served as first non-voting youth trustee), UUA; Date: 09/99-09/00  
  • Director, Board of Directors, Ferry Beach; Saco, ME; Date: 08/98-08/99  
  • District Representative, Mass Bay District, UU Youth Council; Date: 09/97-08/99
  • Chair, Mass Bay District Youth Steering Committee; Boston, MA; Date: 05/97-05/99       
  • Member, Denominational Affairs Committee, First Parish; Arlington, MA; Date: 96-98
  • Member, Teen Life Issues Leadership Team, Ferry Beach; Saco, ME; Date: 08/95-08/98   
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© 2016 by Reverend Abbey Tennis