Deborah Bonsack grew up in upstate New York.  Deborah’s father was an inveterate camper and her family and five or so other families would tent camp every weekend from last to first snowfall and for all vacations.  There was no electricity but lots of singing around the campfire and her father would preach on Sundays. …

Initially Rachel Vanarsdall believed that her family didn’t attend church because her parents were English. It took a while to conclude there was simply no interest. An aunt in Bethesda who attended Cedar Lane UUC irregularly may have been the seed that set the Vanarsdalls on their UU journey. After college with a degree in…

The best thing about Sherry Sanborne’s childhood Episcopal Church was the pageantry.  There was good ritual and lovely stained glass.  Christmas was especially good that way with the addition of evergreens in the sanctuary.  That feeling didn’t survive going off to college and for most of her twenties she didn’t attend church except when visiting…

If you talk to Karen McManus, you will hear a wealth of stories of many different lives.  She grew up in Alaska and lived there until she was 27.  She was a special ed teacher, a job that requires lots of heart and patience.  Karen was a mother of five, three of her own and…

Ryan Smith grew up in the DC area and except for college at Purdue University and a six-month adventure finding himself in San Francisco he’s lived here since.  Do ask Ryan about San Francisco and the return to Virginia you’ll enjoy the story as much as you’ll enjoy Ryan telling it.  Enjoyment of life is…

Jo Dees grew up Roman Catholic; and while her parents are able to reconcile their liberal values with that strict doctrine, the more Jo learned, the less she could do so. After college, grad school, and working at an LBGT organization where she identified as an “ally,” she finally began to acknowledge she was attracted…

Jiwon Kim and her family came to the United States from South Korea when she was seventeen. In her own words, she was “bright eyed and bushy-tailed” and ready for an adventure. She studied Spanish literature in college and eventually found a job with the National Library of Medicine from which she recently retired. She…

Allison Leaver’s memories of her Southern Baptist church were all positive.   The family’s social life revolved around church dinners, church services, summer camp, and social service projects.  She remembers her youth group fondly as a place where kids could both have fun and make the world better in small ways.  At college, she began to…

Sean Randol grew up in Kansas City, Missouri attending Roman Catholic Mass weekly with his family. Despite the strict sense of duty in the air, he described his family as joyful.  Yes, there was his “hippy” high school teacher talking about world religions, but things would only change when he left home for a small,…

A lot of understanding Bev Abreu is understanding her upbringing.  There was the spiritual space of her home Catholic church, a small 18-century chapel that felt a world apart, and emanated a sense of timelessness and sacred history. This laid the foundation for a spiritual quest that translated into a love of Buddhism and involvement…