As individuals, their backgrounds differ. Mark grew up in Newburgh, New York and spent summers in Vermont with his grandparents. He received his undergraduate degree from Marlboro College in Vermont in 1973. Mark was raised as a Unitarian Universalist and knew from the time he was a young teenager that he wanted to be a minister. After college he went to Andover-Newton Seminary in Boston. He interned at First Unitarian in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated with his Masters of Divinity in 1978 and was ordained that same year. He has served congregations in Reading, Pennsylvania; Akron, Ohio; Williamsburg, Virginia; and Rockville, Maryland prior to coming to Emerson. Mark has two adult children, Kara and Aaron, from his first marriage.

Becky grew up near Richmond, Virginia and received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1975. Although she was basically “unchurched” as a child, and though unsure of her vocation at first, her quest for meaning and purpose in life led her to Union Theological Seminary in New York City where she received her Masters of Divinity in 1978. Upon graduation she trained as a Pastoral Psychotherapist and later received a PhD in Counseling from Catholic University in Washington, DC. When she discovered Unitarian Universalism after seminary, she felt she had “come home” spiritually. She interned at the UU Church in Fairfax, Virginia, was ordained in 1986, then began a thirteen year ministry at the Accotink UU Church in Burke, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC.

The preparation for Unitarian Universalist ministry is a long, demanding process. Most Unitarian Universalist ministers have a Masters of Divinity degree, as do Becky and Mark. This is a three or four year degree program that includes study in philosophy and theology, Old and New Testaments, Church history, World religions, Unitarian Universalist history and polity, Ethics, and practical courses in the arts of ministry. In addition, in order to be “fellowshipped” by the Unitarian Universalist Association and thus recommended to UU congregations, candidates have to complete a chaplaincy requirement: A year long internship in a church setting, and then pass an arduous interview by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee.

Since Becky and Mark arrived in Houston, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church has thrived, growing every year in depth of programs and commitment to a vision of a “world more fair with all her people one.” We invite you to speak with either one of them after worship or call them at the church office (713) 782-8250.