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 Administrator all have different working hours within the days of the week.

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: 548-9070

DRE Paul Martin is our Director of Religious Education. Paul has been a member of the UUF of SC since 2001, and has been involved with Children and Youth Religious Education since 2002. Paul grew up in Stanislaus County, and is currently raising his family in Turlock. He has an AS in Biology from Modesto Junior College, and a BS in Environmental Science from Humboldt State University. Paul’s experience with children has been as a naturalist at an outdoor school, after school program leader, camp recreation leader, baseball coach, soccer coach and swim instructor. He has taught numerous Religious Education classes at our Fellowship. Paul has been a health inspector, farmer and forester. He enjoys canoeing, hiking, swimming, bike riding, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and goofing around with his family. He writes: "As Director of Religious Education, my goal is to teach lessons that build confidence, independent thinking, respect for others, and respect for the Earth." E-mail:

Administrator Tracy Cramer is our Church Administrator and Bookkeeper. She in the office Monday through Thursday, 10 am - 1 pm, BUT: It would be most helpful to our Tracy if you contact her Tuesday through Thursday. She tries to work on the financial aspects of her job on Mondays, and it is quite a challenge with interruptions. When she is not in the office, Tracy is an avid - and accomplished - ballroom dancer. She joined the UUF of SC staff in January 2004. Although she had an extensive background in Office Management, she wanted to reduce her hours when her kids were young, to be more available during their off school hours. She then became actively involved in the elementary schools, working with at-risk children, and supervising the Cafeteria and recesses. This led to adult leadership roles; 13 years in Boy Scouts, youth bowling, baseball coaching, and PTA President. Once the kids were grown and off on their own, back to work full time wasn’t an option, as it would limit her trips to Oregon to visit her daughter and grandkids. The UUF of SC job was perfect. Presently Tracy shares her time with her husband, Bruce, three grown children, three grandchildren, and her four-legged "babies". E-mail:

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:

Choir Director Bernadette Burns founded the choir in 1993. She has directed it since then, with a break for a few years for family leave. She is an accomplished vocalist and songwriter. Her compositions have been sung in several UU congregations. In addition to conducting the choir, she occasionally leads worship services using music, songs and chants to illustrate seasonal metaphors and teach ancient stories from some of our ancestors. She views her work as a music ministry and strives to deepen the congregation's experience of the spiritual through music. (That doesn't keep her from dressing up in period costumes every once in a while.) E-mail: Read more about our Music Program.

Pianist 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.