OUR || CHURCH Ministers & Staff Staff Bios
| Church Staff Bios |
 |
 |
 |
|
CHURCH STAFF DIRECTORY
Cathy Cartwright serves at our Director for Children’s Programs. She comes from a background in community organizing: As a young adult in the ‘70s, she worked alongside other activists in Dayton Ohio, doing the good work of consciousness-raising around human rights issues, such as South African apartait and discrimination against working women. Her undergrad was in graphic arts and she went on to work for commercial establishments as well as non-profit organizations developing communication standards. Both of these paths brought her to the Unitarian Universalist church in Princeton New Jersey in 1990, where she was approached to be the interim coordinator for religious education. Since her calling to be a religious educator, Cathy has trained extensively, through multi-denominational work (in ministering to families), to conflict management, to childhood development and more. She has been called upon to be a consultant with the Pacific Northwest District and a curriculum writer for the Unitarian Universalist Association. In 2007 Cathy was awarded Credentialed Religious Educator.
Dana Regan has been the Director of Religious Education for Youth since 1995. She has served one other Unitarian Universalist congregation for a total of 20 years. She earned her Credential from the UUA in October, 2007. She chairs the Metropolitan Campus Ministry Council for the Portland area and works with two other congregations and three college campuses to provide a Unitarian Universalism connection to students. She serves as president of the Pacific Northwest District chapter of the Liberal Religious Educators Association. Dana was raised in three diverse religious faith communities: Lutheran, Christian Science and the Re-organized Church of Latter Day Saints. She has been an active Unitarian Universalist for 24 years. She has also worked as an administrative assistant in a hospital and ran her own children’s daycare in the Seattle area. Nicole Bowmer, Assistant to the D.R.E.s for Children & Youth,
Native Portlander, and former owner of Looking Glass Bookstore, Katie has a Masters in Teaching, and has been on staff for six years. She teaches creative writing at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Katie has been a long time student of Thich Nhat Hanh and teaches Mindfulness, Meditation, the Transcendentalists, and Writing for the church as well as leads various retreats.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Pianist, Director of Nova Choir Signe Lusk was the first accompanying major at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied on scholarship with Marta Bracchi La Roux. She then studied in Germany through the University of Oregon Studies Abroad. After returning to the US, she worked for the Oregon Symphony and Portland Opera. She also worked for Seattle Opera and Eugene Opera. Signe was given the OTIS Award for her work as Music Director on Candide. She worked as staff pianist during the 1980's for the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Signe is the pianist for the Pacific International Children's Choir in Eugene. She has played for the Bach Festival, ACDA festivals, conferences. She has been in concert with Jerome Hines, Nico Castel, and John Del Carlo of the Metropolitan Opera as well as other international artists. She has worked with Rollo Dillworth, Doreen Rao, Henry Leck, Sandra Snow, Bob Chilcott and Andre Thomas. Signe performed her Carnegie Hall debut in 1999 with the Oregon Children's Choir. She is currently Director of Nova Children's Choir at the Unitarian Church, staff pianist at Portland State University and accompanist for Aurora Chorus with Director Joan Szymko and Staff Pianist for the First Unitarian Church. She studies with Rod Eichenberger at the Summer Choral Festival in Oregon Joseph O’Donnell, Organist Joe has served as organist of First Unitarian Church of Portland for almost thirteen years. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Music in Organ and Master of Liturgical Music from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. While in Washington he served on the music staff at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. and as Organist and Choir Director of St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill. For the past ten years he’s worked at Bond Organ Builders, Inc. in Portland as a service technician and, in recent years, a design engineer. Joe has lectured on organ maintenance for the American Institute of Organbuilders and has been a recitalist for the Organ Historical Society. Ellie Hodder, Director of Handbell Choirs Ellie holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Crane School of Music, Potsdam, New York, an advanced teaching certificate from new York State and Masters of Fine Arts degree from Southern Illinios University, Carbondale. She has served as an instructor and clinician at regional handbell events, founded the Pacific Northwest Handbell Directors’ forum, a networking organization for handbell directors, initiated the Pacific Northwest Youth Handbell Festival and serves as a district leader for the regional chapter of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. Since 2002, Ellie has served as Director of Handbells at First Unitarian Portland, where she directs the three youth ensembles--Warbington Chime Choir, Beacon Bells and Marguerite Bells—and two adult handbell ensembles--Chalice Bells and Parker Bells. Ellie is Artistic Director of Pacific Ringers, a community handbell ensemble in Portland, Oregon which she founded in 2009. Mona Warner, Director of Children’s Choirs Mona Warner has been the director of Sophia Singers Children's Choir at First Unitarian Church, Portland, since 1986. She now directs both of the childrens choirs at First Church (Sophia and Music Tree) and also the Prelude choir for Hillsboro Community Youth Choir. Mona is a life-long singer/songwriter, plays guitar and banjo and sings in First Unitarian's Chamber Choir. Her song "What We're Asking for is Peace" is featured in the 2003 video of the Choirs trip to Cuba. She has produced 8 cds, two of which were released in May 2009. Her songs directly reflect her Unitarian/Universalist faith, especially regarding peace and the web of life.
Craig has been a staff member since October, 1999. Craig grew up in a very large Presbyterian church in New Jersey, and was active in many areas His previous career path was as senior graphic designer for Trinity Communications, a marketing firm, in Boston, Mass., and with the Ground Round restaurants, also headquartered in Massachusetts. Craig earned a BA at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and did graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania in regional planning. He also studied in Basel, Switzerland, and at the New England School of Design. He was an active member of Congregational and Unitarian churches in New England, and was involved in establishing Bridges for Peace, a New England faith-based “citizen to citizen” exchange program for “ordinary” citizens from the then Soviet Union and Americans.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2009–2010 Marilyn Scott, Moderator
|
Cathy Cartwright, Credentialed Director of 
Dana Regan, Credentialed Director of 
Katie Radditz, Director of 
Craig Towers, 