Charlotte Allen
July 9, 2006 Our speaker will be Charlotte Allen, who is
seeking ordination as a UU minister as a second career. Rev. Allen has ties to
the Detroit area and the First UU Church in Detroit. She will speak about her
experiences as an African American in the UU denomination. The title of her sermon
is “How Welcomed am I?” This topic is basic to what Journey Toward
Wholeness is all about. Come and expand your understanding.
A Note from Rev. Laurie Thomas
Last March (2005) you ordained me to the Unitarian
Universalist Ministry. As a new minister I am learning that the learning curve does not
end with the academic preparation. I have preached in over 15 different locations since my
ordination. This may tell you why I’m not here on Sunday mornings. I have learned how
to lead memorial services. I have even presided over the blessing of a hair salon. In
short, I am learning how to wear the mantel of the ministry – a mantel, I’m
discovering, that one does not take on and off as one wills. The “Rev.” in front
of my name, while it is a joy to wear, has also required some getting used to.
Since mine is a community ministry, I am still discerning the shape of things to come.
Will my ministry be housed, if you will, in a new non-profit which I will form? Will it be
housed with some other entity? Or, will I continue to be a contractual minister? To be
sure, there are pros and cons to any direction I take. I am carefully considering my
options.
This is high adventure – this calling. Thank-you for entrusting it to me! Rev. Laurie Thomas
Mark Evens
Bio
Mark Evens is a recently fellowshipped Unitarian Universalist
minister. Mark grew up Catholic in Royal Oak and West Bloomfield, Michigan.After
receiving an undergraduate degree in biology from Brown, in Providence, Rhode Island, he
lived in northern California for eighteen years working in his first career as a technical
writer for a computer software company.
Mark joined the First Unitarian Church of Oakland in 1990. He was active there in the
choir, men's fellowship, religious education program, pastoral associates program, and in
governance of the church as a lay leader. He received his Masters of Divinity degree from
Starr King School for the Ministry in May 2005. An eleven-month internship at the First
Unitarian Church of Dallas prepared him for the warmer climes of Sacramento, California
where he currently serves as an interim minister.
Unitarian Universalist
Church of Greater Lansing
855 Grove St. | East Lansing, MI 48823 | 517-351-4081
