Chuck Freeman
Chuck Freeman has been our minister on a part-time basis since March 1996. Like
many ministers of Unitarian Universalist churches, he was ordained in another faith;
however, he took all the classes and passed the exam to at last attain the
rank of preliminary fellowshipped UU minister. In late June
of 2000, he marched at the General Assembly, got his official certificate,
and completed the final leg of his journey to UU ministerhood! He now
shares the Live Oak ministry team with Kathleen Ellis.
Church
members appreciate Chuck's warmth, kindness, "interesting" sense of humor,
and, of course, his song stylings. Check the
upcoming services page to see when Chuck will
next be leading a service.
A poem from a grateful Live
Oaker:
There once was a minister named Chuck.
To Chicago he went with good luck.
Although he is just a ham, He passed his exam.
And now he is finally worth a buck
When Chuck isn't acting as our minister, he has a private practice in soul-centered
counseling and frequently officiates at weddings and other ceremonies.
He also
hosts an interview radio show
called Soul Talk- "A Spiritual Feast to Leaven the World Soul" Fresh Off the
Grill, from 2-3 pm. CST Thursdays on KOOP, 91.7 FM. Austin, TX.
streaming on the web, www.koop.org.
Sign up to receive the weekly podcasts at
www.freesoulsproject.org or
listen directly from the website.
Chuck is also the founder of The Free Souls Project," A Voice For Sane,
Humane Spirituality, Democracy & Ethics"
www.freesoulsproject.org
If
you, or anyone in the community, have circumstances/concerns with which
Chuck can be helpful, he can be reached by leaving a message at the church (512-219-9008)
or
via e-mail at revchuck@liveoakuu.org.
Office appointments will be scheduled by request. Chuck takes
Mondays off.
Kathleen Ellis
The Rev. Kathleen Ellis, a native of
Shreveport, Louisiana, graduated from Stephen's College in Columbia, Missouri
and from Perkins Theological Seminary at Southern Methodist University in
Dallas. A Unitarian Universalist long before she entered ministry in 1993,
Kathleen has been active in denominational and church affairs since 1975.
Kathleen is married to Jon Montgomery has two grown sons,
Rob and Fred Nugen, and two step-daughters, Karina and Alicia Montgomery.
Kathleen served churches in Arlington,
Houston, Waco and College Station, TX, prior to her move to Austin. She is very
active in the denomination and currently is President of the Unitarian
Universalist Ministers Association for the Southwest District, Ministerial
Settlement Representative for the Southwest District and is on the Executive
Committee of the Continental Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association.
She is also mentor to several newly fellowshipped ministers in Oklahoma and
Texas. She was voted "Minister of the Year"
by the Southwest District in 2002 and is founder of the local
area Young Adult Religious Network(YARN). In her spare time, enjoys singing
with the Tapestry singers, a womans' choral group in Austin.
Kathleen has been a friend of Live Oak for several years and joined in June
of 2003. In May 2004, the growing congregation voted to hire her as additional
minister at Live Oak. Check the upcoming services
page to see when she will next be leading a service.
If
you, or anyone in the community, have circumstances/concerns with which
Kathleen can be helpful, she can be reached by leaving a message at the
church (512-219-9008) or by email at
kellis@uuma.org.
Aaron White
Aaron
White, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School has been approved for an internship
placement for his ministerial training. Live Oak has become a Teaching
Congregation; Chuck and Kathleen will be his supervisors; and an Internship
Committee will assist with his learning needs. He will also extend his arena to
area Unitarian Universalist congregations so that he gets the greatest possible
exposure to many kinds of congregations and can bring to them his gifts for
ministry.
Aaron grew up in the Dallas area. He and his wife,
Kate, were recently married, and he looks forward to completing his ministerial
training here in Austin.
He became a UU at Red River UU Church in Denison, TX, went to seminary, and
recently won a preaching competition at Harvard Divinity School. He researched
area churches and chose Live Oak as the one church where his interests and
passions lie. Aaron will be with us through May 2008.
We are excited about having Aaron as a member of our staff
and look forward to getting to know him in the months ahead.
You can reach Aaron at 512-219-9008 ext. 15 or by email at
aaron@liveoakuu.org.
Copyright
©2006, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church. 