As a minister, my calling is to cultivate collective joy.

Together, we create sacred spaces where healing and growth are possible.

In my parish service to date, I worked alongside the wonderful folks at the UU Fellowship of Fairbanks to grow their vibrant congregation. They had been lay led since their founding in the mid 1950s — I was their first settled minister, and they were my first congregation. For eight years we laughed and cried together, fought hard for a city-wide Equal Rights Ordinance, proclaimed the truth that Black Lives Matter, and showed up as a force for love and justice for the LGBTQIA+ community in Fairbanks. We weathered the coronavirus pandemic by building systems of mutual aid and relying on our (VERY) stubborn sense of humor.

UUFF and I said a joyful, tearful goodbye to one another in June 2023. That summer I began studying for a Masters in Social Work. During the pandemic I saw firsthand the deep well of need in our community’s for trauma-informed counseling. I resolved to work toward social worker licensure in order to help meet that need.

In my clinical work, I integrate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and somatic modalities such as Brainspotting to help my clients address the long-term physical and emotional impacts of trauma. I am currently serving as a substance use counselor at a medication assisted treatment center that primarily serves clients recovering from opioid use disorder. Here I have witnessed the transformative power of unconditional positive regard, which I believe to be the therapeutic manifestation of our first principle — the belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all people.

Both my congregational and community ministries are based on a commitment to social justice, rooted in Unitarian Universalist values. I learned from my teachers — ministers and social workers alike — that fulfilling spiritual practice must reach beyond the walls of the sanctuary or clinic, and into the wider world. To take part in that practice while in relationship with a congregation has been among the greatest privileges of my life.