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The Commission on Ministry invites you to two events coming up in early November.
The first is the Installation of Rev. Haley Lerner as the UCC Campus Minister at the Presbyterian Student Center at the University of Georgia on Tuesday, November 9 at 8 pm Eastern at the PSC’s weekly service. The service will be in person in Athens Georgia as well as an opportunity to join online through the PSC’s Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/pscuga.
Haley grew up in the Philadelphia area but has called Georgia home for the past four years. She graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University with her Master of Divinity in 2019. She is fervent justice-seeker and is particularly passionate about the pursuit of racial justice, immigrant and refugee advocacy, and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Church. In her spare time, she loves reading fiction, drinking tea, camping, hiking, and practicing ukulele. She is proud to have fostered dozens of cats and kittens since moving to Athens and has two “foster-failed” cats of her own named Frog and Lewis. Haley is an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ.
The second event is the Ecclesiastical Council for Rev. Barbara Dickason on the evening of November 17 at 6 pm on Zoom. Rev. Dickason is requesting standing in the UCC through the Privilege of Call process and currently is authorized by the Church of the Brethren. The Ecclesiastical Council is the last step for individuals seeking Authorization as an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ. You can register to attend Rev. Dickason’s Ecclesiastical Council here.
Descended from anabaptists and congregationalists, Rev. Barbara Dickason is seeking Privilege of Call, having been ordained in the Church of the Brethren. She has served in pastoral ministry in Maryland, Virginia, and Nebraska, served in camping ministries in Indiana and Maryland, and served as Program Coordinator, leading retreats and teaching peace and nonviolent communication to youth all across the US with the denominationally accountable organization, On Earth Peace. She has served as worship coordinator for District events, led national insight sessions on peace and justice issues, and was elected to the Church of the Brethren’s Ministerial Committee. While in Nebraska, she also helped to found the Faith Coalition of Lancaster County, an interfaith group that gathers for the purpose of education and connection, so that if one faith body in the community experiences violence, all the communities might stand together.
She was first introduced to the United Church of Christ in Syracuse, NY in the 1990s, while working on graduate studies in Philosophy and Peace and Reconciliation. Struck by their willingness to engage in transparent conversation around challenging issues, she often refers to her experiences at Plymouth Congregational UCC as a model of a church that continually keeps becoming and growing into Jesus’ beloved community. Upon her recent arrival in Atlanta, GA, she and her husband Rob once again found the United Church of Christ to truly be a place that practices an extravagant welcome, inviting everyone, no matter who they are, to share a seat at Christ’s table.
As the threads of anabaptism and congregationalism have been woven throughout her life, the United Church of Christ has become the place of ‘what’s next’ in her ongoing call to share the good news that a loving and abundantly gracious God is with us all, and our response to the Divine shapes our world. Passionate about connecting faith and community, she tries to be open to the divine interruptions — people who may otherwise live unseen — that so many chose not to see.
