Every month we honor one of our many great volunteers.
Catherine Buckler is the Volunteer of the Month for February. Catherine attended the UU Congregation of Rockville as a young child. From then on she considered herself a UU but did not have a church. When her daughter Sophia was born, she and husband Bob Geiger had heard good things about UUCSS and it was…
Susannah Numa is the Volunteer of the Month for January. Susannah was raised Unitarian Universalist. When she came to UUCSS in the fall of 2010 and experienced a few services with Rev. Liz Maclay and Rev. Ellen Jennings, it felt right, open, and comfortable. The music program was enticing, and she appreciated the diversity of services and worship styles. Susannah began by volunteering for nursery and…
Deb Weiner is the Volunteer of the Month for December. Deb and her partner Janne Harrelson first came to UUCSS in 1997 when their daughter Lucy was 3 months old, looking for a place that would provide a foundation for ethical thinking and behavior where they would feel welcomed and accepted as a lesbian couple. …
Emily Tien is the Volunteer of the Month for November. During her seventeen years with UUCSS, Emily has been involved in a wide array of activities. The first volunteer activity she remembers is being on the search committee for the music director and interviewing Michael Holmes. She has taught mini-courses and middle school Owl, and…
Steve Leete is October’s Volunteer of the Month. Steve first came to UUCSS in 1991, before he married Kathryn Leete, looking for community. He came because his sister had told him a UU church would be friendly to atheists and he had heard WAMU advertising concerts sponsored by the House of Musical Traditions at UUCSS. The first time he came, he mentioned…
Christa Maher is the Volunteer of the Month for September. Christa and her husband Ryan Smith first came to UUCSS in 2014, after searching for a faith community that would fit her need for structure and Ryan’s need for openness. After the first service the kids asked when they could go back. Two weeks later…
Ashley Brannen Holt is the Volunteer of the Month for August. Ashley and her husband Jeremy had begun looking for a religious home in which to raise their family. This need was heightened for Ashley when her father committed suicide on January 3, 2014. The first Sunday Ashley was able to attend, Rev. Liz Lerner Maclay preached on being broken, loss, healing…
Jane Jackson is the July Volunteer of the Month. Jane came to UUCSS in 1984 with her husband John Acton searching for a community in which to raise their two-and-half-year-old daughter. They chose UUCSS because their upbringing conditioned them to go to the closest church. The first service they came to was on Canvass Sunday, and they heard Rev. Paul Johnson preaching…
Michael LeBlanc is the Volunteer of the Month for June. Michael has considered himself a Unitarian all his life. One of his most memorable moments as a young child was a Halloween service at the church where his mother was an RE teacher in which everyone dressed up in costume for the service and then…
Preston Mears is the Volunteer of the Month for May. Preston is an ordained and licensed Episcopalian priest, but his wife Laurie was born and raised Unitarian. Although they spent many years in the Episcopal church pursuing their common mission of social justice, after they moved to Maryland, they joined a Unitarian-Universalist church because it…