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The Search for Our New Minister |
Meet Our Ministerial Search Team
Roles and Responsibilities of Search Team Members
The seven-member Ministerial Search Team leads a months-long discernment process that, while demanding, is deeply meaningful. The search team decides who will hold certain roles and have oversight over certain tasks, such as chairing the committee, leading the communications effort, overseeing the small group/focus group discussions, ensuring that the church’s search website pages contain current and relevant information, compiling the congregational record, etc.
The seven-member Ministerial Search Team leads a months-long discernment process that, while demanding, is deeply meaningful. The search team decides who will hold certain roles and have oversight over certain tasks, such as chairing the committee, leading the communications effort, overseeing the small group/focus group discussions, ensuring that the church’s search website pages contain current and relevant information, compiling the congregational record, etc.
Laura Ball:
I'm fortunate to have grown up at First UU SD. I have lots of memories from RE to youth group, and the first Looking Glass Theater productions. It was enough of a force in my life that I came back after college and post college years in Minnesota, joining the young adults and finally becoming a member. SOLACE, Wisdom Circles, teaching OWL, being on the Board, Dining4$ and services have all kept me busy and coming back.
Recently I have been on the Outreach and Growth Fund Committee. What a joy that is bringing people and performances to campus. And as a semi regular at the pantry on Saturdays I feel the joy in being in community there.
I split my Sunday mornings between worshipping at church and worshipping in the ocean (aka swimming). Outside of church, I get to work on land management stuff for the City's Parks and Recreation Open Space Division. Lucky to have family, friends, and a chinchilla nearby too.
I'm fortunate to have grown up at First UU SD. I have lots of memories from RE to youth group, and the first Looking Glass Theater productions. It was enough of a force in my life that I came back after college and post college years in Minnesota, joining the young adults and finally becoming a member. SOLACE, Wisdom Circles, teaching OWL, being on the Board, Dining4$ and services have all kept me busy and coming back.
Recently I have been on the Outreach and Growth Fund Committee. What a joy that is bringing people and performances to campus. And as a semi regular at the pantry on Saturdays I feel the joy in being in community there.
I split my Sunday mornings between worshipping at church and worshipping in the ocean (aka swimming). Outside of church, I get to work on land management stuff for the City's Parks and Recreation Open Space Division. Lucky to have family, friends, and a chinchilla nearby too.
Leland Beck:
A member since 1980, I was first a Carpenter, then a Walrus, then Tweedle-dum in Alice in Blunderland. I joined the Chalice Choir and have grown musically under the tutelage of so many valued directors. My wife Marla and I were married in the church in 1990 and have found that the ideals and fellowship that the church has provided has become the guiding force in our lives. Since we don’t have much biological family, the church has been the place that our most important connections have been made and our life dreams have been nourished.
I have always wanted to do things that felt meaningful and important in the world. My work as a professor in computer science allowed me to serve students for many years. I am technically retired but go back to volunteer my time whenever I can (yes, I failed retirement more than once).
It is an exciting time here at First Church. Serving on the Church Board, on Rev. Kristen’s Discernment Team and on the Governance Committee has been both a challenge and a joy.
Now, I am honored and excited to be considered as part of the Search Committee that will call our next Lead Minister. I view this as important service work for the future of our children, our congregation and for the vision we all have as Unitarian Universalists.
I want to use this opportunity to thank the ministers, the staff, other committee members, congregants and my circle of friends that made my contribution to First Church possible. Whatever comes of this committee will be part of my legacy and I want to serve with grace and commitment.
A member since 1980, I was first a Carpenter, then a Walrus, then Tweedle-dum in Alice in Blunderland. I joined the Chalice Choir and have grown musically under the tutelage of so many valued directors. My wife Marla and I were married in the church in 1990 and have found that the ideals and fellowship that the church has provided has become the guiding force in our lives. Since we don’t have much biological family, the church has been the place that our most important connections have been made and our life dreams have been nourished.
I have always wanted to do things that felt meaningful and important in the world. My work as a professor in computer science allowed me to serve students for many years. I am technically retired but go back to volunteer my time whenever I can (yes, I failed retirement more than once).
It is an exciting time here at First Church. Serving on the Church Board, on Rev. Kristen’s Discernment Team and on the Governance Committee has been both a challenge and a joy.
Now, I am honored and excited to be considered as part of the Search Committee that will call our next Lead Minister. I view this as important service work for the future of our children, our congregation and for the vision we all have as Unitarian Universalists.
I want to use this opportunity to thank the ministers, the staff, other committee members, congregants and my circle of friends that made my contribution to First Church possible. Whatever comes of this committee will be part of my legacy and I want to serve with grace and commitment.
Sara Ferguson:
In 1998, with an infant and toddler at home, I was searching for a source of music and community in San Diego. I had just moved from my home state, Colorado, and as a new mother I was feeling isolated and alone in this big impersonal city. Somehow (maybe the website? Or providence?) I found the Chalice Choir, and shortly thereafter, I joined the church, happy to have found my home. In early years, my whole family participated in Looking Glass Theater productions including The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, and Oklahoma! My kids attended R.E, including OWL and Coming of Age, and I helped lead Sunday RE sessions. Later, I joined the JUULtones, which became a second family for me. And, to my delight and lifelong gratitude, I met my husband, Jim Ferguson, during a service on the topic of “The Parable of the Trapeze” (a wonderful parable about leaps of faith). We were married in the chapel in 2004 and continued to raise my two children and his daughter in the church. My current passion with First UU is the South Bay Food Pantry, where I volunteer every Saturday and have the privilege of working with the finest volunteers in our church and the Chula Vista community. I am the daughter of an anthropologist and a country veterinarian, and I am a recently retired ESL professor (Grossmont College). And so? I have an itch to travel, to be around people from cultures other than my own, to hear languages other than English, to hang out with my pets (Ruby and The Cat), and to read as many novels as one woman can read in a lifetime.
In 1998, with an infant and toddler at home, I was searching for a source of music and community in San Diego. I had just moved from my home state, Colorado, and as a new mother I was feeling isolated and alone in this big impersonal city. Somehow (maybe the website? Or providence?) I found the Chalice Choir, and shortly thereafter, I joined the church, happy to have found my home. In early years, my whole family participated in Looking Glass Theater productions including The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, and Oklahoma! My kids attended R.E, including OWL and Coming of Age, and I helped lead Sunday RE sessions. Later, I joined the JUULtones, which became a second family for me. And, to my delight and lifelong gratitude, I met my husband, Jim Ferguson, during a service on the topic of “The Parable of the Trapeze” (a wonderful parable about leaps of faith). We were married in the chapel in 2004 and continued to raise my two children and his daughter in the church. My current passion with First UU is the South Bay Food Pantry, where I volunteer every Saturday and have the privilege of working with the finest volunteers in our church and the Chula Vista community. I am the daughter of an anthropologist and a country veterinarian, and I am a recently retired ESL professor (Grossmont College). And so? I have an itch to travel, to be around people from cultures other than my own, to hear languages other than English, to hang out with my pets (Ruby and The Cat), and to read as many novels as one woman can read in a lifetime.
Steve Howard:
I am one of the lucky ones. My family was among the founders of the Unitarian Fellowship in Flagstaff when I was 8 years old. I grew up in the children’s and youth programs in Flagstaff and Tucson.
Having left church life after college, I joined 1st UU after a divorce in 1986. The church has been a central part of my life since then. I have learned and grown and served in this community.
Some of the things I have been involved in are: LGT, young adult group (where I met my wife Beverly), Children’s RE, Helen Myers Forum, Intern Committee, two Search Teams, Board, UUMF, Welcome Table, Solace detention visitation, homeless shelter, OSF, JTW, Food Pantry.
I worked as a Librarian and Software Engineer before retiring, and now am delighted to live in Fredericka Manor with Beverly, Arrow, Zadie, and Elfyn the cat.
I’m excited about the future of this community that has given me so much. And I am grateful to play a part in making sure that we not only survive, but thrive, so that when someone like me comes along in 50 years, we are here to embrace them.
I am one of the lucky ones. My family was among the founders of the Unitarian Fellowship in Flagstaff when I was 8 years old. I grew up in the children’s and youth programs in Flagstaff and Tucson.
Having left church life after college, I joined 1st UU after a divorce in 1986. The church has been a central part of my life since then. I have learned and grown and served in this community.
Some of the things I have been involved in are: LGT, young adult group (where I met my wife Beverly), Children’s RE, Helen Myers Forum, Intern Committee, two Search Teams, Board, UUMF, Welcome Table, Solace detention visitation, homeless shelter, OSF, JTW, Food Pantry.
I worked as a Librarian and Software Engineer before retiring, and now am delighted to live in Fredericka Manor with Beverly, Arrow, Zadie, and Elfyn the cat.
I’m excited about the future of this community that has given me so much. And I am grateful to play a part in making sure that we not only survive, but thrive, so that when someone like me comes along in 50 years, we are here to embrace them.
Sarah Ormond:
I was raised in the Tacoma Unitarian Church back in the ‘60s. I did not attend church for years though I always considered myself a Unitarian. I found First Church when my husband and I retired to San Diego from the Detroit area. I was so desperately homesick and in need of community that I searched the Web for a Unitarian church and became a member in 2014. My dear husband died in 2022 and this church has sustained me through that painful period. I’ve been active in various church committees, Wisdom Circles, Dining for Dollars, and on the Board.
I keep busy with volunteer work, reading, movies, travel, and various fitness activities. Lately my time is devoted to raising a puppy. Why did I think this was a good idea?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Peru and Ecuador. The rise and fall of the Inca empire, in a mere 300 years, has me thinking about the 250th anniversary of our country. The challenges we’ve faced politically make our church community even more important for my spiritual health. To be able to gather and worship every Sunday has sustained me. I come to church to try and understand myself and my place in the world. I come to try and become a better person. I love First UU and consider it an honor to be a member of the Search Team.
I was raised in the Tacoma Unitarian Church back in the ‘60s. I did not attend church for years though I always considered myself a Unitarian. I found First Church when my husband and I retired to San Diego from the Detroit area. I was so desperately homesick and in need of community that I searched the Web for a Unitarian church and became a member in 2014. My dear husband died in 2022 and this church has sustained me through that painful period. I’ve been active in various church committees, Wisdom Circles, Dining for Dollars, and on the Board.
I keep busy with volunteer work, reading, movies, travel, and various fitness activities. Lately my time is devoted to raising a puppy. Why did I think this was a good idea?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Peru and Ecuador. The rise and fall of the Inca empire, in a mere 300 years, has me thinking about the 250th anniversary of our country. The challenges we’ve faced politically make our church community even more important for my spiritual health. To be able to gather and worship every Sunday has sustained me. I come to church to try and understand myself and my place in the world. I come to try and become a better person. I love First UU and consider it an honor to be a member of the Search Team.
Vanessa Pool:
I am looking forward to serving with this team to call our next minister. I have been a member of First UU since 2007, when I moved back to San Diego after discovering Unitarian Universalism while living in Boston. It was amazing to learn that I could have a spiritual home that did not require me to compromise my beliefs.
At First UU, I have been involved in teaching Religious Education, and participating in the Parents Advisory Board, the Food Pantry, Bookstore, Parents Lounge, small hiring committees for staff positions, and All Church Camp.
Professionally, I work as a project manager at the UC San Diego School for Global Policy and Strategy, where I assist faculty with research grants for energy policy, climate change, democracy, and alleviating poverty. I also volunteer at the Old Globe, San Diego Pride, and the San Diego Food Bank. I enjoy attending the symphony, tap dancing class, book clubs, games, and trivia nights.
My spouse, Christopher Irving, also works at UCSD. My son, Harrison, just graduated from UC Santa Barbara, and my daughter, Jillian, is starting at UC Santa Cruz this fall.
I am looking forward to serving with this team to call our next minister. I have been a member of First UU since 2007, when I moved back to San Diego after discovering Unitarian Universalism while living in Boston. It was amazing to learn that I could have a spiritual home that did not require me to compromise my beliefs.
At First UU, I have been involved in teaching Religious Education, and participating in the Parents Advisory Board, the Food Pantry, Bookstore, Parents Lounge, small hiring committees for staff positions, and All Church Camp.
Professionally, I work as a project manager at the UC San Diego School for Global Policy and Strategy, where I assist faculty with research grants for energy policy, climate change, democracy, and alleviating poverty. I also volunteer at the Old Globe, San Diego Pride, and the San Diego Food Bank. I enjoy attending the symphony, tap dancing class, book clubs, games, and trivia nights.
My spouse, Christopher Irving, also works at UCSD. My son, Harrison, just graduated from UC Santa Barbara, and my daughter, Jillian, is starting at UC Santa Cruz this fall.
Tonia Vyenielo:
I am a retired health care provider. I started attending First Church in 1997 and had to pause my attendance after several years due to weekends filled with my son's club soccer. I returned to First Church in 2015. I was drawn to Unitarian Universalism for its commitment to social justice and emphasis on respect for different points of views. When I'm not on my phone or computer screen, I enjoy preparing French dinners for friends and family, moonlight cross country skiing and dancing. Just kidding! I'm not a fan of those things (except dancing --- I like the illusion that I'm keeping in time with the music).
I am committed to serving this community while on the search committee.
I am a retired health care provider. I started attending First Church in 1997 and had to pause my attendance after several years due to weekends filled with my son's club soccer. I returned to First Church in 2015. I was drawn to Unitarian Universalism for its commitment to social justice and emphasis on respect for different points of views. When I'm not on my phone or computer screen, I enjoy preparing French dinners for friends and family, moonlight cross country skiing and dancing. Just kidding! I'm not a fan of those things (except dancing --- I like the illusion that I'm keeping in time with the music).
I am committed to serving this community while on the search committee.
