Thanks to the efforts of the Board of Elders and suggestions from the Pulpit Search Committee we have guest preachers for the remainder of 2023. We are pleased to be able to bring an impressive group of individuals to UUC while the search for a settled pastor continues. A list of guest preachers is posted on the bulletin board in the foyer of the Church Center and is also available on our web page. Here are the people sharing worship with us through December:
Rally Day (Sept 10)
Ken & Peg Williams (Sept 17 – 24)
Peg Williams has been in ministry since at the age of 40 when she entered Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN. She is a native Hoosier; graduated from Indiana University (Indianapolis) in 1991 and CTS in 1995. She became an ordained American Baptist minister in 1995. During seminary she served as Associate Pastor for three United Methodist churches. She has also served churches in Rochester, NY, Shaker Heights, OH and Lafayette, IN. She has served two churches — First Baptist Church of Penfield, NY and Community UCC in Raleigh, NC, as a certified intentional interim pastor/consultant. Peg serves as Membership Chair for the Friends of the Fairport, NY, Library and as a volunteer host for the American Red Cross.
Ken Williams, DMin has been engaged in ordained Christian ministry since 1977. He has served in both pastoral ministry and as an American Baptist Churches, USA, denominational executive, most recently as Interim Executive Minister for the American Baptist Churches of Connecticut (2016-17). Ken serves as a volunteer chaplain to emergency services personnel for both the Brighton, NY, Fire Department and the Penfield, NY, Fire Company, utilizing specialty training in Critical Incident Stress Management. He is a graduate of Campbell University (B.S.), Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (M. Div.), and McCormick Theological Seminary (D. Min.). Ken retired as Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rochester, NY, after 14 years of service there. He is a native of Aberdeen, NC.
Retirement for both Peg and Ken has been very active. Both sense a call to be supportive of pastors and congregations in an era of acute transformation of organizational life. Wellness, quality of life, communication of needs and expectations, understanding of cultural diversities, pursuit of consensus, and the reclamation of virtues that, classically, have been embedded in organized religious life are all elements of the Williams’ life as a clergy couple. Retirement has provided Ken and Peg the blessing of time to be with their families in New York, Indiana, and the Carolinas. Their blended family includes four adult children and six grandchildren.
Jonathan Case, PhD (Oct. 1) Dr. Jonathan P. Case is professor of theology and teaches courses in Christian theology, world religions & new religious movements, and contemporary culture in theological perspective. He came to Houghton University in 2005 after serving for several years as lecturer in Theological Studies at Kingsley College, Melbourne (Australia), under appointment from Global Partners (Wesleyan World Missions). He also has taught intensives in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Russian Federation. Prior to his appointment in Australia, Case taught at Augsburg College (Minneapolis), worked as a research associate at Church Innovations Institute (St. Paul) and served as a pastor in Oklahoma. Ph. D. Luther Seminary, M.Div. Nazarene Theological Seminary, B.A. M.A. Southern Nazarene University.
Ken & Peg Williams (Oct 8 – 15)
Bev Karr-Lyons (Oct 22)
Michael Jordan, PhD (Oct 29 – Nov 5) Michael Jordan is the Dean of the Chapel at Houghton University. He plans and leads the chapel program at Houghton and teaches on worship, spiritual formation, Biblical studies, and Christian leadership. He is an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church and has two decades of pastoral experience in church and educational settings. He holds a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies from Drew University and is the author of the forthcoming Healing Worship in an Age of Anxiety (Intervarsity Press). Since his pastoral ministry takes place during the week, Mike speaks in a variety of area churches on weekends and is a member of Houghton Wesleyan Church. Mike is married to Jill, the Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Houghton, and together they raise their five children there.
Ken & Peg Williams (Nov 12)
Bev Karr-Lyons (Nov 19)
Wendy DeMott Fambro (Nov 26) – M. Div. Colgate Rochester Divinity School; B.A. Psychology, SUNY Geneseo. American Baptist Minister with 36 years’ experience serving a variety of churches and campus ministries. She retired two years ago and now works full-time teaching tai chi and wellness classes to older adults.
Michael Jordan, PhD (Dec 3)
Sarah-Jacoby-Murphy (Dec 10) Sarah earned her B.A. from Houghton College in 2013 and her M.Div from Duke Divinity School in 2018. She has spent most of her career working in the nonprofit sector and has a particular interest in the areas of immigration and the environment. She lives in Prattsburgh, NY with her wife, Sally, and her dog, Blueberry.
Mark Smithers, PhD (Dec 17) Mark is a Grants Development Associate with Grants Office LLC. He has extensive experience in student development. He earned his bachelor’s from Houghton, a master’s degree in higher education from Geneva College and his doctoral degree in organizational leadership with a concentration in higher education administration from Abilene Christian University.
Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD (Dec 24) Roberto is a noted theologian, author, and scholar who recently moved to Alfred from Nashville with his wife Erin Christian Law. Erin is here as a sabbatical replacement in AU’s performing arts department. Roberto received his PhD in 2016 from the University of Denver Iliff School of Theology and his Master’s of Theological Studies (2006) from Garrett-Evangelical Seminary on the campus of Northwestern University. He is on the faculty of Duke Divinity School with a longstanding visiting position. In 2018 Dr. Espinoza was named one of 10 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress. He is the author of two books, Activist Theology (Augsburg Fortress, 2019) and Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation (Broadleaf Press/Ausgsburg, 2022) and has a work in progress.
Bob Donius (Dec. 31) – M.A. Pastoral Ministry, Christ the King Seminary; B.A. Philosophy, Wadhams Hall Seminary College. St. Jude’s campus minister for both AU and ASC for 9 years; Vice President for Ministries, St. Bonaventure University for 9 years; member of the Theology and Franciscan Studies faculty until his retirement two years ago.