Teresa is a credentialed religious educator; the family ministry coordinator for the UU whole-church subscription service, Soul Matters; a longtime contributor to the UUA’s devotional, Braver/Wiser; and a seminarian at Duke Divinity School. Drawing on her five years working professionally as a hospital chaplain, she volunteers on the pastoral care team at the congregation in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She is the parent of three, happy (Mountain) campers, ages 7 to 16, and feels gratefully, powerfully “at home” at The Mountain.
Teresa first learned about UUism in 2004, when she bought an Our Whole Lives sexuality education book to use as a resource at the middle school where she then taught in Tallahassee, Florida. Discovering, through the values that shone in that curriculum, how special UU was, she began attending the church in Tallahassee. (That’s where she heard great stories of Mountain Thanksgivings and MountainCamp, though it would be another couple of years before she got here herself!) When she moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2011, joining the UU was one of the first things she did. She soon thereafter accepted the position of religious educator, and then in 2014, came to The Mountain for RE Week. She was hooked! She immediately wanted to be a part of this special place, and more importantly, be a part of the special, faith-filled impact this place had on others. The following year, she asked if she could help run the kids’ camp for the RE Week kids. She did this for several years.
The Mountain is the place where–more than any other–she and her children most powerfully experience the strength and community of Unitarian Universalism. Teresa aims to use her connections throughout the Southern region–especially in religious education and family ministry–to help more people become not only aware of The Mountain, but deeply invested in it, and committed to helping the community thrive through involvement and leadership.