We are fortunate to be able to offer support and assistance to those in need through both professional and trained lay leaders: Chaplains and Pastoral Associates.
Pastoral Associates
Everyone needs some extra loving support sometimes...
Pastoral Associates are here to help.
Who are the Pastoral Associates?
The Pastoral Associates (PAs) are lay members of the church who offer confidential, practical and emotional support to fellow church members in need. They work in conjunction with the professional Ministers.
How can a Pastoral Associate help me?
PAs are available to talk to you over the phone or in person. They are here to help in the following ways: to be present during a difficult time; to provide you an opportunity to talk and be heard; to offer empathy and emotional support; to refer you to other sources of support of help; to arrange for meals, transportation or other practical assistance. The Pastoral services may be short-term, on-going or one-time-only, based on need. They will work with you to provide loving support during a difficult time.
If you are in need of some support from your church community, please contact the church office. Your call will be forwarded to one of our clergy or the Pastoral Associate Coordinator.
Occasionally, out of concern for you, a member of the church community may contact the Pastoral Associates on your behalf. The Coordinator would then contact you to see if you are interested in receiving pastoral support. All contacts are treated in confidentiality, unless advised otherwise.
Needs may include, but are not limited to: major life changes such as a birth or adoption, loss of a job, divorce, illness, death of a family member or friend, and other life changes or events causing stress or upheaval.
Caring Coupons
Pastoral Associates (PAs) are also coordinators who, with the help of the larger congregation, provide timely help for members and families within the church community. The resources the PAs draw from include information gathered from the Caring Coupon. The program provides limited help at difficult times in a church member's life. The program sets in motion the web of community friends that, in turn, can provide visits, conversation, meals, shopping, transportation, home and pet care, and more.
In filling out the Caring Coupon you can help support this thriving and busy lay ministry, in a convenient and limited way. Occasionally, based on the help you are able to offer, we will hook you up with someone in need, just at the time they need it most. Your help will make a difference -- and perhaps introduce you to a new friend who will always remember your generous act of kindness.
If you're interested in contributing your gifts of support by signing up as a Pastoral Assistant please feel free to complete the Caring Coupon form and then submit it by email to the Pastoral Associate Coordinator Kelly Jonick at kelly@rappidrabbit.com or our church office.
If you have questions, please contact the church office at (510) 893-6129 or office@uuoakland.org, or the Pastoral Associate Coordinator, Kelly Jonick at (510) 531-1198 or by email kelly@rappidrabbit.com.
Chaplains
First Unitarian Church of Oakland is fortunate to have a number of trained ministers who call the church home. Currently three of these ministers and our Intern Minister have agreed to provide chaplain services, not only to members of the congregation, but to members of the community. Each of the chaplains has committed 5 hours per week to this program, meeting with people in need by appointment or during regularly posted office hours. Chaplains are available on a first-come, first-serve basis on the first Tuesday of the month (1:00-3:00 p.m.) and the third Tuesday of the month (6:00-8:00 p.m.). Or you can call to make an appointment. If you, or someone you know at the church, is in need of a chaplain, contact our Chaplain Coordinator, Rev. Sheri Prud’homme at 510-845-8084.
Rev. Sheri Prud'homme - Sheri has been a member of our church since 1993. She received her Masters of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry in 1999 and was ordained by our church to the ministry in 2002. She has served our church and the UU Church of Davis in interim ministries of religious education. Prior to that she served the Pacific Central District as Lifespan Religious Education Consultant. Currently she teaches a course in religious education at Starr King School for the Ministry, teaches preschool at Woolsey Children’s School, and is the Administrator for InterPlay and Body Wisdom, Inc., an arts-based education organization in Oakland . She is passionate about encouraging our congregation’s ministry to embrace our children and families. Sheri will be serving as the coordinator of our new chaplain ministry.
Rev. Susan Conrad - Susan grew up Unitarian Universalist in Burlington, Vermont, and became a member of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland in November 2005. She currently serves as a Chaplain/Clinical Fellow at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, where she provides spiritual care and emotional support to patients, family members and staff. Prior to that, she completed a Residency in Clinical Pastoral Education (a year-long chaplaincy training program) at the same medical center. Susan has a Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and was ordained in 2005 by the First Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Rev. JD Benson - JD has been a member of our church for over 10 years. Currently serving as a hospice chaplain and in private practice as a counselor and spiritual director, she has many years experience working as a counselor and supportive presence to those facing life threatening illness, their loved ones and to those who also serve them. For over twenty years she has been a licensed marriage and family therapist working largely with the AOD recovery community and those affected by HIV/AIDS. She was ordained by our church and the San Francisco church on the Sunday after 9/11. Pastoral care and social justice are her passion, her ministry, whatever the context.
Chris Long, Intern Minister - Chris, currently a student at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, has spent most of his life engaged in the struggle to end oppression either in his work or as a social activist. His passion to end oppression ranges from the fight to end homelessness, working for and with people with disabilities, educating himself on the issues that matter to woman, battling for equal rights for people with many sexual orientations, and working for disadvantaged, struggling youth and young adults. Chris began his two-year Ministerial Internship with us in September-2006. He spent the summer months in 2007 in a Chaplaincy program in Cleveland. After completing his Masters of Divinity he hopes to be a UU Parish Minister.