Denominational Work
 The 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:
 Ministerial 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.  UUA, 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.
 First 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.  Speaking 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.
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Denominational Activities
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