Author: Jaco ten Hove

I write these words as spring wends its way towards summer here on the east coast. This is my last note to you as President of UURMaPA and after General Assembly, I will hand over the responsibilities of UURMaPA leadership to Richard Speck, incoming President.

It has been a rewarding and joyful experience over these past six years. I came onto the Board in the summer of 2019, and my first UURMaPA conference as a Board member was that Fall, focused on the the Rainbow History Project pioneered by Rev. Dorothy Emerson. After her death, it was carried on by the UURMaPA Board.

What a monumental and important work that was, celebrating the story of LGBTQIA+ in the UUA with stories from the lived experience of those involved, many of whom are or were part of this cohort of retired folx. That legacy lives on: be on the lookout for a book from Skinner House documenting much of the stories and history from that project (hopefully before the year is out).

Like most of you, I never imagined the arrival of the pandemic in a few short months after that! The changes we’ve seen since that time are remarkable—and through it all the growth of an inclusive, vibrant UURMaPA.

I recall our perhaps clumsy but hopeful initial Zoom gatherings, trying to figure out how to replace the in-person experience of General Assembly events with a virtual meeting. And I remember thinking that surely, by the fall conference of 2020 we’d be back in person!

Well, you all know how that went. Yet in these four+ years we’ve honed the online conference experience to a point where there’s a rhythm to the event and an expectation of quality programming that increases its value.

But most importantly, this virtual world enabled us to provide opportunities for more and more retired UU ministers and partners or spouses to make real connections. Moving beyond the limits of geography and the expense of travel, Zoom allows us to not feel so alone in the world. We can find the support of kindred spirits despite time zones and area codes. And the number of our Zoom “small groups” meeting on a regular basis shows how this commitment to connections has grown and deepened.

I also think that this refocusing of how we connect prodded us to think of how we interact, and what guides those interactions. Our conversations about covenant and accountability rooted us in community and made real the assumptions we might have had about what that community could be. To state expectations about how we will be in community didn’t set up a bunch of onerous rules and regulations, but rather created a spirit of inclusion and respect—one that was probably there already but now made explicit.

I am proud of all that we did together over these past six years, with different participants in leadership, but all with the same intent and commitment: “to be an inclusive multicultural community that serves the interests and enhances the well-being of retired Unitarian Universalist ministers and their life partners…” (from the UURMaPA purpose statement).

I believe that UURMaPA is one of the best ways we have to connect and support one another in these difficult times, and I am so glad YOU are a part of it!

Wishing you all the best, —Susan
Reverend Dr. Susan Veronica Rak, retired

Charles grew up Lutheran in a Northern WI town not unlike the Garrison Keillor’s “Lake Wobegone.” He was ordained as a Lutheran Minister in 1973. After serving several Lutheran Churches he realized Lutheranism had one Reformation and that was all they wanted, so he transferred into the Unitarian Universalist Ministry 1981. He was motivated by the theological perspective of the UUA. He served UU congregations in Eastport, Ellsworth and Castine ME, Concord NH and Washington Crossing NJ. from 1981–2012. Since retiring he served as an interim and has preached at a number of UU congregations. In recognition of his service both the Ellsworth and the Washington Crossing UU congregations designated him as Minister Emeritus.

A major focus in ministry for Charles came in 2000 when he participated in training as a Spiritual Director at the Shalem Institute (Washington DC). When he concluded this training he was invited to be an adjunct faculty member for Spiritual Direction there for the next eight years, while continuing to serve full time as a parish minister in NJ. Charles continues to provide individual Spiritual Direction (in person or Zoom) for colleagues and laypeople upon request.

During sabbaticals, Charles studied Eastern European Unitarianism in Oxford, England, studied with Matthew Fox at the University of Culture and Creation Spirituality, and traveled to Israel and Palestine with a peace-oriented Compassionate Listening group of Rabbis, Imams, and Christian Ministers from the Delaware River area of PA & NJ.

He and Alison, his wife, retired to Blue Hill ME where they enjoy living close to nature. They are involved in a variety of activities, ranging from being Airbnb hosts, local politics (Charles is Hancock County Chair), social action and of course being available to be involved in the lives of their three adult children and one grandchild.

The Reverend Doctor Richard Speck is the retired District Executive (DE) for the Joseph Priestley District (JPD) of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. He was named Minister Emeritus in 2019. Previously, he served nine years as minister to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach FL, before coming to the JPD in 2000 as Acting DE. In his last two years in Florida he also served as the music director for the church. He graduated from Meadville/Lombard Theological School with a Doctorate in Ministry in 1990. He was hired as the regular DE in 2001. He served 14 years as DE before retiring from full-time ministry in 2014. 

Richard has been active with UURMAPA since his retirement in 2014. He has attended almost all in-person and virtual conferences since then. He joined the Conference Planning Team and has been the registrar for conferences for several years. He has also helped lead the Conference choirs in several conferences. He has helped UURPAMA adopt its current membership software and improve our communications with each other.

Richard continues to be active in social justice programs like the Black Lives Matters. He conducts weddings, memorial services, and funerals and continues preaching in area congregations. He has served as Treasurer of the UU Ministers Association twice, finishing his second three-year term in 2020. He also served as treasurer of the UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association for four years and as Treasurer for the Priestley Kingsbury UUMA chapter from 2017–23.  

Richard became a Unitarian Universalist as a layperson in Springfield IL, in 1974.  He was an active lay member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham AL, before going into the ministry. In that congregation he held a variety of leadership positions (vice president, secretary, canvasser, choir member, lay delegate) and was active in the social life of the church.

Richard’s career before the ministry was as a respiratory therapist for eighteen years. The last ten years before seminary were spent in Birmingham as the director of a respiratory care department in a large hospital where he supervised over 30 people in multiple divisions of the department. He earned a MA in health care administration in 1976 as part of this career. He left health care to pursue new avenues of serving humanity through the ministry.  

He is married to Janet Tillman and resides in Wilmington DE. He enjoys making music, flying his own airplane, and creating stained glass art.