Contacts, People and Staff

Please Note:
Please leave a message when calling, as there are times when we are between buildings or unavailable to answer the phones. E-mails are always the best form of communication when at all possible, as the Minister, DRE and Office Assistant all have different working hours within the days of the week.

Our Board of Directors has a separate page.

Minister Rev. Joseph Cherry is our Interim Minister. One of his jobs will be to help us find a permanent minister. Read more on the Minister's page. Office Phone: (209) 548-9070 E-mail:

Director of Religious Education: That little "Image Missing" isn't a goof. We have a DRE as of October 2012, but getting a mini-bio and picture takes a bit of time.

Office Assistant Brenda Gorsuch has lived in Modesto since 1959, when her family moved here from Pennsylvania. She managed the office of a non-profit building trades union for many years, until they closed in mid 2009. She volunteers as a Supervisory Committee member at her credit union. She loves spending time with her four grandchildren. She runs a glass pendant and necklace business with her daughter. Topping her list of interests are art, gardening and boating.

President Lin Myers has been a Unitarian Universalist since 2002, when she also became a member of UUFSC. She jumped right in and volunteered to work on the annual auction, eventually chairing the committee for two years. Lin was elected to the Board of Trustees after two years at the Fellowship and served for four years, two as Secretary. She is now in her second term of service on the Board and was Vice-President last year. Lin has been a professor at California State University, Stanislaus, for 22 years in the Department of Psychology and has a longer career as a sex researcher. She also has a private practice in Turlock, with specialties in relationship and sexuality counseling. She has a Ph.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Lin also is a Vietnam-Era veteran of the U.S. Army. Two of her favorite things to do, along with her husband, Branislav Jovanovic, are cooking and travel. They frequently donate meals for the annual auction, and Lin uses her talents as a mosaic artist to offer mosaic classes. E-mail:

Music Director Elizabeth Coard has been with us since 2006. She has played since childhood and graduated with honors in music. She has held positions as a church pianist, organist, and Choir Director beginning in 1970. She also teaches piano and her students are guest performers during the year. She has played as accompanist for the Townsend Opera Players, Modesto Performing Arts, the Modesto Symphony, and our choir. She is a gourmet cook and loves horses. E-mail: Elizabeth's web site: www.modpiano.com

Web Master Ted Pack has plain but regular features and a rapier wit. He graduated from UC Berkeley and spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. The rest of his life was rather dull. He has been a member of the UUF of SC since 1974, and web master since 1999. He enjoys being the web master and chief pundit for a non-prophet organization. (Sometimes after he answers a question it takes two or three seconds to realize he's ... punned it.) Read more: Adventures as a UU Web Master Inside the web site E-mail:

Groups

These are people who coordinate specific interests.

Sharon Arpoika manages the e-mail distribution list for people interested in UUA and PCD affairs. She forwards messages from the UUA and PCD to everyone on the list.
E-mail:

Bob Santos manages information that will appear in the "In FocUUs" Newsletter relevant to the task force on homelessness.
E-mail:

Members
To give you an idea of what we are like, we asked all of our members to describe themselves in a few lines. We asked for things they had done that they were proud of and reflected the teachings of our faith. Not all of them answered.