Flint and Chicago

     After eight years of service at Community Church of Boston, I sought an experience of Unitarian Universalism that was outside of New England. Wanting to find a place where my working-class heritage might be understood and honored, I accepted the call to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Flint, Michigan, birthplace of the United Auto Workers, and home town of Buick and General Motors. I came to agree with my colleague Rev. Bruce Marshall that being Unitarian Universalist in a place like Flint has special meaning, and I treasure the relationships I built among other religious liberals and with community organizations in "Vehicle City." I became a keynote speaker for the Michigan UU Social Justice Network (MUUSJN) and later served on their Board. With Gordon Whitman, a national staff person for the PICO National Network, I helped found Flint Area Congregations Together (FACT) and the beginnings of the statewide Michigan Faith in Action.

     While in Flint, I began regularly to visit Chicago and to build relationships with Meadville Lombard Theological School, where I would later become a Teaching Pastor and Adjunct Professor of Ministerial Formation.