Atkinson's Minister

Atkinson called its minister, the Reverend Dana Worsnop, on April 13, 2003. She is began her ministry on August 1st, and was ordained by the congregation on December 7, 2003.

Dana is a 2002 graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA. In 2003, she served as the interim minister of the Unitarian Church of Calgary in Alberta, Canada before accepting the call to serve us. Her previous career incarnations were as an elementary school teacher and a newspaper reporter and editor. She is called to the Unitarian Universalist ministry because she wishes to companion others on their spiritual journeys and because we have such powerful work to do in making justice in the world. Dana has maintained a Buddhist meditation practice for more than 10 years and finds spiritual inspiration in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition and Eastern religions.

Dana grew up in Plymouth, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit that is really much closer to Ann Arbor, and she remains a Detroit Tigers fan. She graduated from Northwestern University in 1981 with a BA in American Culture. She attended the Graduate School of Journalism at UC, Berkeley and California State University, Hayward. She plays tennis, does not like to cook, and is thrilled to have landed in the Pacific Northwest.

In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, the minister is called by vote of the congregation to serve as the spiritual leader of the church. She "upholds its principles, has direction of the general exercise of public worship, has a free pulpit from which to preach on ethical and religious subjects,"* offers pastoral care to congregation members, and works with staff and committees. The minister is an ex-officio member of the board of trustees without vote.

* From the bylaws of Atkinson Memorial Church

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