Our 2009-2010 Virtual Roster of Member Pastors of Unitarian Ministries

UMI Clergy: Rev. Maurisa Brown-Latham (USA)

Rev. Maurisa is the founder and senior pastor of Unitarian Ministries International. She is a 2009 graduate of The New Seminary (an Interfaith theological seminary accredited by the New York State Board of Regents and NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations). As a registered clergy, she holds a dual ordination as an Interfaith and Unitarian Christian minister. On a personal note, she is a member of the World Alliance of Interfaith Clergy, UU Christian Fellowship, New Seminary Mentor Program, Delta Epsilon Tau (ΔΕΤ) Honor Society, and friend of The Norwegian Unitarian Church. Last but not least, she is a veteran of the US Army Reserve and adheres to a Messianic Unitarian Christian faith.

Mitchell is the assistant pastor of Unitarian Ministries International. He has been serving as a lay pastor for a little over 2 years. He is a full-time Banker, Certified Professional Locksmith & Security Consultant, and the chairman of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he is a veteran of the US Army Airborne Corp.

• UM Pastor Member: Pastor Roberto Rosso (Italy)

Religious Educational Background                    Degree in Greek Philosophy, Top Mark by Academic Board                          

Ministerial Services                                             May 2004 Founder of Christian Unitarian Italian Congregation (CICU); April 2005 CICU recognized by CESNUR (important center of study about religious in Italy); July 2005 Joined the ELPN and IARF meetings as CICU founder and delegate; Winter 2005 CICU started an official international partnership with AFCU (France); February 2006 CICU nominated as Italian emerging group by ICUU; November 2007 Joined ICUU meeting in Oberwesel as Italian delegate by CICU emerging group.

Ministerial Ordination                                           August 2007 Received letter of vocation from Bet David Unitarian Association of Norway, started a specifical study for ordination followed by Rev. Knut Ksm Heidelberg, and promoted and sang the Avignon Manifest for a larger Christian Unitarian cooperation in Europe; November 2008 Received the Ordination to the Unitarian Priesthood.

• UMI Clergy: Rev. Eugene Search (USA)

Religious Educational Background

Masters Degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling, Neumann College

Clinical Pastoral Education, St Luke’s Hospital Bethlehem, PA

Currently Enrolled in Master of Divinity Program at Lutheran Theological Seminary

MinisterialExperience                                          Pastoral Care Volunteer With Panther Valley Ecumenical Outreach Program.

Ordained Priest, Old Templar Holy Catholic Apostolic Church

Ordained Unitarian Christian Minister, Unitarian Ministries International

• UMI Clergy: Rev. Dr. Ian David Ellis-Jones (Australia)

I believe in the indivisible Oneness of the Godhead and the supremacy and leadership of Jesus Christ whom I regard as not only Way-Shower but also my personal Lord and Saviour as he shows me and others the way out of selfishness, which lies at the heart of all sin, and by means of his vicarious spirituality and overcoming, delivers me out of what would otherwise be a perpetual state of bondage to ego-self, self-centredness and self-absorption. For me, that is a vision of Jesus with which we should be able to identify, with both intellectual honesty and at emotional depth – redemption, or regeneration, in the form of being made free from ourselves and from the world, so that we can both find, and lose, ourselves in a greater and wider reality that is timeless and infinite, ultimate and ineffable. Identification with both the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith can lead us to a spiritual regeneration aided and assisted by the vicarious spirituality of the Man from Galilee who was able to say, with complete honesty and humility, “I and my Father are one” (Jn 10:30), but this can only occur in the manner referred to above to the extent to which we open ourselves and are otherwise responsive to the outpoured life of Jesus present both in the race consciousness and, mystically, in the depths of our own spiritual lives as part of the Presence, indeed Omnipresence, of God-life. Thus, David Torkington in his book The Mystic writes of making contact with Jesus in his “resurrection life” in which you “can no longer see Jesus as you used to because you are within Him and are being fitted into Him more perfectly in your prayer than ever before”. After all, did not Jesus say, “the Father is in me, and I in him” (Jn 10:38), and “I am in my Father: and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20), before going on to pray to the Father, “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (Jn 17:21)? In short, not only is the fullness of God’s life to be found and experienced in the full humanity of Jesus, mystically we experience that Oneness with the Father through our encounter with Jesus who, as an integral part of God’s Omnipresence, is one with us in and through the power of consciousness, prayer and meditation. I believe in the Divinity (as opposed to the Deity) of Jesus Christ. I also believe in the innate divinity (sacred worth and value) of all human beings, indeed all creation. Rev. Dr. Ellis-Jones is a minister of the Unitarian Church in New South Wales and former Senior Minister of the Sydney Unitarian Church. Futhermore, he is ordained as a Unitarian Christian minister with Unitarian Ministries International. He holds a Doctorate in Philosophy with the University of Technology, Sydney.

• UMI Clergy: Reverend/Chaplain Alison Alpert (USA)

Rev. Alison Alpert is a volunteer chaplain in the Federal Prison system. She received a Masters Degree from Yeshiva University and studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary in the early 1980s (before they were ordaining women). Rev. Alpert is a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, the co-founder of Reentry NYC, a spiritual support program for people involved in the criminal justice system in New York, and a chaplain at Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. She did her chaplaincy internship at New York University Medical Center. Futhermore, Rev. Alpert is ordained as a Unitarian Christian minister with Unitarian Ministries International.

• UMI Clergy: Rev. Dr. Graham Louden (United Kingdom)
  

Rev. Dr. Graham Louden is an ordained Unitarian Christian minister with Unitarian Ministries International. Holding degrees in both History and Language, he is an esteemed graduate of Oxford University and Open University. In addition, he received theological training and his Doctorate in Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Christian University. Last but not least, Rev. Louden has 25 years of religious education experience teaching in a Quaker school in Reading Berks, UK.

• UM Lay Pastor Member: Anthony Dawson (United Kingdom)

I describe myself as a Unitarian Christian - as a follower of Christ who tries to be Christlike in my actions without the constriction of
historic creeds. I feel that we are all called to be Christ Like and contain the innate potential in ourselves to not only "save" ourselves but to be Christ Like. We just had to explore ourselves, listen to that "still small voice of calm" within and let it out. Let our light
shine in the darkness. That we are called to have the faith OF Jesus not a faith ABOUT Jesus.

Ministerial Experience                                         A Lay Preacher for four years with the Unitarian & Free Christian Church; A supporting member of the Unitarian Christian Association in Great Britain; Served his congregation as an organist and choirmaster for several years; Active in the LGBT groups whilst a university student and also involved with Interfaith and Ecumenical dialogue concerning LGBT rights and issues; Lead workshops and seminars on the History of Homophobia and the Bible.

• UM Lay Pastor Member: Lewis Rees(United Kingdom)

I am lay pastor of Gellionnen and Graig Unitarian Church in the Swansea Valley, Wales, UK, and am slowly working towards full ministerial status through an amalgamation of studies at Trinity College Carmarthen, Harris Manchester College Oxford and Coleg yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg/College of the Welsh Independents  (Congregational). I am an active member of the Unitarian Christian Association in the UK with my particular liberal Christian spirituality being that of following the spirit of the religion of Jesus rather than the more 'orthodox' religion about Jesus. I am happy to provide rites of passage services to all who sincerely request them at our beautiful mountaintop chapel, or elsewhere as requirements and the law allow.

• UMI Clergy: Rev. Edward Knight (USA)

I have been a member of the UU Society of Greater Springfield MA since 1995 and a sustaining member of the UUCF. My belief is that the Godde of Light, Wisdom, and Beauty is the Universal Creator of all humankind. This knowledge was manifested in the one true person of the Christ Jesus, who so loved the world that He was willing to give His life for us. We are guided by the Spirit of Godde and are so named and called to our beliefs. Rev. Edward Knight is an ordained Unitarian Christian Minister with Unitarian Ministries International. He is a graduate of the Cal State Dominguez Hills (MA in Philosophy and Religious Studies) and Hartford Seminary. Rev. Knight received ordination with the Presbytery of the Federation of Christian Ministry in 1996 and is credentialized to perform weddings and spiritual life coaching in Massachusetts by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Last but not least,he is currently working towards his Doctorate in Religious Studies at Trinity Theological Seminary.                 

• UMI Clergy: Rev. Stephen York(USA)
  

Religious Educational Background                 Diploma in Ministry, Biblical Literature, Theology, and Pastoral Studies, May 1974
Free Gospel Bible Institute, Export, Pennsylvania

Master of Divinity, May, 1993                             Starr King School for the Ministry

Ministerial Experience                                         Pastor, Stonington United Methodist Church, Stonington, Maine February 1, 2009—present

Ordained Protestant Clergy and Educator, 1974—present. I have served churches throughout my professional career in diverse settings in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, and California.

Ordained Unitarian Christian Minister, Unitarian Ministries International

• UMI Clergy: Rev Carolynn Holmes-Search (USA)

Religious Educational Background                    Master's Degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling, Neumann College

Ministerial Experience                                         She has taught adult education classes at First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia and has done extensive reading on the American Transcendentalist movement (especially
Margaret Fuller and Louisa May Alcott).

Ordained Priest, Old Templar Holy Catholic Apostolic Church

Ordained Unitarian Christian Minister, Unitarian Ministries International 

• UMI Clergy: Rev. James Walter Clifton (USA)

Religious Educational Background                    MA in Theological Studies, Universidad FLET

MA/PH.D in Theology, Bethany Divinity College 

Ministerial Experience                                         Ordainations With First Universalist Church (Horton) and South Vigo Congregational Church  

Ordained Unitarian Christian Minister, Unitarian Ministries International 

• UMI Clergy: Rev. Donna Kay Clifton (USA)

Religious Educational Background                    BA in Religious Education, Andersonville Theological Seminary

MA in Pastoral Counseling, St. Paul Christian University

Ministerial Experience                                         Ordained Minister, Missionary Methodist Church

Ordained Unitarian Christian Minister, Unitarian Ministries International

• UMI Clergy: Reverend/Chaplain Shannon Uz Rogers (USA)   

• UMI Clergy: Rev. José Aparecido (Brazil)
  

Religious Educational Background and Ministerial Experience                                          Bachelor's Degree in Divinity, Trans-American School of Theology

Studied Biblical History at Instituto Bíblico Ebenezer 

Trained in Spiritual Counseling at Baptist Seminary 

Studied Methods for Bible Study, the New Testament, Biblical Eldership, and History of the Church at Mount Zion Bible Institute

Registered Theologian at Fseral Concil of Theologian and Regional Concil of Theologian, Rio de Janeiro

Ordinations With LDS Church and Liberal Anabaptist Church

Ordained Unitarian Christian Minister, Unitarian Ministries International

 

List of Resources & Services That our Member Pastors Currently Render  

• Sponsoring free-thinking religious study groups & discussions via internet and teleconference

• Contributing articles, periodicals, and sermons to our online ministry

• Authoring Unitarian Christian education & devotional books

• Providing spiritual counseling & direction via e-mail, telephone, or in-person

• Officiating Unitarian  Christian & Interfaith religious rituals and ceremonies 

• Facilitating online & offline classes, seminars, & workshops with a Unitarian Christian or Interfaith faith focus

• Guest speaking at    Unitarian Christian & Interfaith worship services

Disclaimer: It is within the spirit of promoting ministerial integrity and the safety & security of fellow Unitarian Christians (and anyone in need of our pastor support) that we ask that all persons seeking the private services of our member pastors and clergy to verify their personal and ministerial background before obtaining their assistance. It is the responsibility of each member pastor and clergy to provide this information directly.