Biographies

UUCD's minister - Rev. Carly Gaylor

Rev. Carly is delighted to be starting her second year as minister at UUCD.
She was ordained in 2013 and has since served in several congregational and community settings, including as executive director of Welcome Inn Community Centre (Hamilton) and assistant minister of social justice at the First Unitarian Congregation of Hamilton. She is passionate about innovation and building multi-generational community in Unitarian Universalist communities, as well as weaving spiritual growth, community building, and social justice together.
​When not at UUCD, she can be found spending time with her family as well as playing soccer, ultimate frisbee, reading, and practicing and teaching yoga. She lives in Hamilton with her partner, Curtis Murphy, and their son, Darragh.

Other Speakers at UUCD:
​

Anne Bokma

Anne Bokma is an award-winning freelance journalist, public speaker and storyteller whose memoir, My Year of Living Spiritually: One Woman's Secular Search for a More Soulful Life, is forthcoming this fall from Douglas & McIntyre. Anne is the founder of Hamilton's popular 6-Minute Memoir "speed storytelling for a cause" event, which features writers sharing tales on a common theme in six minutes or less and raises money for local charities. She is an active member of First Unitarian Church in Hamilton. 

Annette Wilde

Annette Wilde lives in Toronto and is a member of First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto.  Introduced to “Save a Family from Syria” project by her stepmother in Kingston, she then brought the successful idea to Toronto First.  Learn more about the arrival of their first family at http://saveafamilyfromsyria.org or on Facebook.

Ben Robins

Ben Robins grew up in the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship, and is now at Emmanuel College in Toronto preparing for UU ministry.  His main social justice work has been in youth rights.  He enjoys physics, contact improv dance and intentional community.

Brian Carwana

Brian Carwana is the Executive Director of the Encounter World Religions Centre, an educational centre that has introduced over 100,000 participants to the people, places, practices and philosophies of the world's religions. Through Encounter, Brian has engaged in endless religious travel and has found it to be one of the most impactful aspects of his life.  Brian is also close to completing a PhD in religion at the University of Toronto which he began right after the dinosaurs were wiped out.  He hopes it will be worth it.

Rev. Cheryl Jack

Rev. Cheryl Jack is Minister Emeritus of the UUCD. She launched the church in September 1997 at its current location, the (old) Brooklin Community Centre, and was our minister for the next ten years.  She is actively involved with Whitby Rotary and with VON - Durham Hospice.

Cheryl Perera

Cheryl Perera is distinguished as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. She is the Founder and President of OneChild (www.onechild.ca), the first organization in the world empowering children and youth to combat the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) through prevention education, advocacy, survivor care, and survivor empowerment, benefiting over 79, 000 in 11 countries.

In March 2020, Cheryl was awarded Ontario's highest civilian honour - The Order of Ontario. Cheryl was invested by Her Honour Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, at a special ceremony at Queen’s Park. Cheryl received this great honour for her 18 year-long crusade against the sexual exploitation of children that she started as a teenager.​

Rev. Christopher Wulff

Rev. Christopher Wulff is a fifth-generation Unitarian Universalist from Toronto, Canada. His company, Patience and Fortitude Consulting, provides services for the Pacific Western Region in areas of technology and communications, where he also supports congregations. 

Craig Brochman

Craig Brochman was a Native child who was placed in foster care then was adopted by a white family. He now works for the Mississaugas of Scugog Island as a professional speaker, educating the public about native issues. 

Rev. Curtis Murphy

Rev. Curtis Murphy is a candidate for Unitarian Universalist ministry. He is a recent graduate of the Montreal School of Theology, and did his ministerial internship at the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto. He is also a gardener, a lover of bicycles and hockey, and is married to the Rev. Carly Gaylor, and has a new son, Darragh.

Dan and Jen Blomme

Dan Blomme is a college professor and the program coordinator for the Addictions and Mental Health program at Durham College. He is a Registered Psychotherapist and a Certified Canadian Counsellor with a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology. He also specializes in addictions and worked for several years in the addictions services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Dan has been married to Jen Blomme, an elementary teacher, for almost 14 years. They are parents to two children, Simon and Charlotte.

Danielle Webber

Danielle Webber is from Calgary and is a third generation Unitarian Universalist.  She has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps as a UU Minister.  Danielle was granted a Masters of Divinity in May 2016 and is currently enrolled in a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies at Meadville Lombard Theological School, the UU seminary in Chicago.  She completed her Clinical Pastoral Education in 2014 at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and she has spent 2 years as part time student minister and intern at the Unitarian Church of Calgary.  She is currently the intern at First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto.

Dr. David Agnew

Dr. David Agnew is a Buddhist practitioner of more than 10 years.  He facilitates Buddhism classes at Nalandahaboddi Centre under the direction of Donzeng Ponlop Rinpoche who is a Buddhist master and writer of Rebel Buddha.  He has a PhD in  physics, teaches at UOIT part time, and has a consulting business in physics.  He lives in Oshawa with his family.  David is a husband, father of two grown children and a grandfather.

David Seale

David Sealeis a long time Unitarian Universalist who was a founding member of the UUCD. Dave's career was as a Social Worker in mental health. After retiring in 2015, Dave fills his days with music (4 groups), pets (2 dogs, 2 cats) and Lisa (not necessarily in that order).

​Donovan Hayden

Donovan Hayden is a Black activist and artist. He is currently a MA student in Theatre & Performance Studies at York University in Toronto. He spent the last year in Pittsburgh, PA, where he participated in the Black Lives Matter protests after the killing of George Floyd. Through his experiences, Donovan has had the opportunity to engage with Unitarians and anti-racism work on both sides of the border. He remains committed to using theatre and activism to achieve black ​liberation and dismantle white supremacy.

Faelyne Templer

Faelyne Templer is on the Board of the CADDAC, the Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada. She works with parents, students and ADHD allies to help de-stigmatize neurodiversity, and ensure that all children's learning needs can be effectively met in school. Her son, Simon, is a passionate advocate for inclusion and accessibility, and is currently in high school.

Rev. Fiona Heath

Rev. Fiona Heath launched into her ministry career when the UUCD hired her in 2013; her first position as an ordained minister. Now she is entering her third year as settled minister at the Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga.

Gabrielle Rockenfield & Russell Booth

Gabi and Russell have been heavily involved in the UU youth community since they both turned 14.  They have held leadership positions through youth conferences and within Grand River Unitarian in Kitchener.  They are now 18 and have joined the UU Young Adult community.

Dr. Jake Robinson

Jake Robinson received his Undergrad in Marine and Freshwater Biology as well as his Ph.D. from the department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph.  His research has enabled him to travel, swim and research in many of the great bodies of water around the world.  He currently is a professor at Durham College where he teaches Spectroscopy and Analytical Chemistry.  He has been involved in the United Church of Canada for the past 20 years, where his lovely wife Michelle is a minister.  He and his family enjoy spending time in the great outdoors.  This includes organic gardening, playing in and on the water (particularly the back country of Algonquin Park and northern Ontario) and photography.

Jennifer Tedford

Jennifer Tedford has a background in crisis intervention (mental health) working on the helplines at Distress Centre Durham for 12 years.  She has facilitated a palliative care team in a long term care facility for 6 years and then three years ago she joined the Hospice Services group as a palliative care coordinator.  Last April she became the Intake and Education Coordinator.  As if this hasn’t been keeping her busy enough, Jennifer teaches Crisis Intervention and is a placement advisor at Durham College.

Rev. Julie Stoneberg

Rev. Julie Stoneberg has been in Peterborough for going on 10 years, and had the great privilege of being Rev. Lori Kyle's supervisor for her parish internship. She is a dual citizen of Canada and the US. She has served as the President of the UU Ministers of Canada, and currently serves on the UU Ministers Association's CENTER team, who are responsible for continuing education, enrichment and renewal for all of our ministers. She is soon to be away for a 3-month sabbatical during which she will be focusing on embodiment and voice.

Julien LeBourdais

Julien LeBourdais was a photojournalist and community college instructor for many years.  In 2007, looking for a way to make a difference in the community, he made a career change . After a couple of fundraising jobs, he spent four years as the Executive Director of Feed the Need in Durham. Now retired, he involves himself with several organizations helping disadvantaged people including the homeless and the wrongly convicted.

​Kate Green

Kate Green is USC Canada Program Manager for Asia.  She works with her local colleagues in Nepal, Bangladesh and East Timor.  Kate has a range of experience and interests that stem from her work with USC: organic and sustainable farming methods in challenging environments and gender analysis in the seed and food systems.  In her many years with USC, she has also been part of the in-Canada Public Engagement work of USC, which connects with groups and people who share the desire to change and bring more justice to the global food system.  Kate holds degrees from Queen’s (1989), The University of East Anglia in Norwich, England (1991) and Ryerson University (2006). 

Katie Fortune

Katie Fortune's passion for social justice began in 7th grade when she was introduced to youth activism and advocacy through her school’s social justice group. There she felt called to be a positive difference in the lives of others. She achieved her Bachelor of Arts Honours in English, and Social Justice and Peace Studies at Western University. Her degree gave her the opportunity to volunteer in the poverty sector, and work with amazing students through the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). These experiences gave her the opportunity to see that kindness and action, no matter how small, do make a difference. It has always been Katie’s goal to work in the non-profit sector and today she is fulfilling that dream as a Youth Coordinator and Speaker for OneChild. 

Keith Martin

Keith Martin is a non-religious chaplain at the University of Waterloo and University of Guelph.  He is also the director of Spectrum Artistic and Educational Media, a non-profit, registered charity fostering values that enhance life. He lives in Wiarton, Ontario.  (Ask him about playing Crokinole as a Stressbuster!)

Kelly Hayes

Kelly Hayes has been a member of the UUCD for 13 years. Her spiritual path has centered on earth-based traditions, something she shares with the original inhabitants of Canada.  Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented its final report in June 2015, Kelly has supported understanding between the settler and Indigenous communities by facilitating community discussions and learning opportunities leading towards right relations in Canada.

Landy Anderson

Landy Anderson is of mixed Métis and Chinese Heritage.  She lives in Oshawa, Ontario with her husband and children who are members of Albertville First Nation.  Landy is a former Foster Care Supervisor with over 30 years’ experience in child welfare. She has worked as a child protection worker in several Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario.  She is currently enrolled at York University in the Master of Education focusing on Urban Aboriginal Education. Landy also teaches in the Child and Youth Worker Program at her local community college.  She has published a book entitled"The Foster Parent Survival Guide:  How to Navigate the Child Welfare Matrix". 

Larry Gillman

Larry Gillman has been the president of the Beth Israel Synagogue in Peterborough for the past 15 years. He is a supporter of Canadian, Dr. Paul Thistle, who has dedicated his life to help the needy in Zimbabwe. Larry is making his fifth trip to the hospital in December. He has spent 21 years coaching minor league football in Peterborough. He works as a financial adviser with Freedom 55 Financial.

Rev. Linda Thomson

Linda Thomson has been a Unitarian since 1983 and has a profound love and appreciation for our faith and its potential.  She has worked with the Canadian Unitarian Council since 2002.  Ordained in 2013, Linda completed her MDiv at Meadville-Lombard Theological School in Chicago.  Linda’s studies have also included an Internship at the Amherst Unitarian Church (near Buffalo) and at the CUC.  Additionally, she completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Centre in Hamilton, working primarily in one of the hospital’s Acute Mental Health Units.  She currently holds the position of Congregational Development as the lead for Central & Eastern Region.

Rev. Lori Kyle

Reverend Lori Kyle is the minister at the First Unitarian Church of Louisville, where she began serving as their settled minister in August 2019. Her ministry in Louisville was preceded by serving the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Durham in the greater Toronto area, followed by forming a community ministry in which she offered training and employment opportunities to Canadian newcomers through a painting business.

Lucy Sanford

Lucy Sanford is a retired teacher and a co-author of three E.S.L. textbooks. She was raised as a Unitarian and became a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Durham in 1999. She is currently the chair of the Worship Committee. She lives in the country with her husband, five finches and many fish.

Rev. Lynn Harrison

Rev. Lynn Harrison is the Minister of Community Engagement at First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto, and a noted singer-songwriter in Canada’s rich acoustic music tradition. With deep family roots in the Durham region, Lynn is always thrilled to visit UUCD.

Mary Kelly

Mary Kelly is from the Ojibways of Onigaming and is a citizen of the Anishinaabe Nation in Treaty Number Three. She is lynx clan. She is a grandmother, avid reader and poet. Mary is a survivor of St. Margaret's Indian Residential School (Fort Frances, Ont). She is fluent in the Anishinaabe and English languages.

Rev. Michelle Singh

Rev. Michelle Singh was born into an interfaith family in Trinidad and Tobago and raised by Catholic and Sikh parents. In 2008, she became an ordained Interfaith Minister from The New Seminary, New York. Since then, she has been actively engaged in Canada’s interfaith movement, including vice-chairing Toronto’s award winning World Interfaith Harmony Week Steering Committee and co-founding a multi-faith Spiritual Dialogue Circle. Notably, Michelle was a Board member and Steering Committee Co-Chair for the 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions — overseeing the world’s largest interfaith gathering. Michelle has spent more than 30 years in the I.T. and Communications sectors leading teams in challenging, goal-oriented environments. She is an officiant, well known for intuitive listening and her ability to create safe and sacred spaces for processing and dialogue. 

Mike Szarka

Mike Szarka and his family were members of UUCD for more than 9 years until March of last year at which point they moved west so that Mike could take on a new position as Director of Research Partnerships at the University of Waterloo.  Mike and Tracey are sorely missed by the UUCD, but we’re comforted to know that they are happy in their new home.

Nicole McKay

Nicole McKay is a Unitarian Universalist seminarian studying at the University of Toronto. She lives and serves in Canadian Forces Base Borden and is preparing for military chaplaincy. Nicole is drawn to the contemplative and mystical traditions of finding wisdom in the quiet whether that is out in nature, on her yoga mat, or in the silence of her own heart. 

Patricia Trudeau

Patricia Trudeau is studying at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto and is a candidate for Unitarian ministry.  She has been a member of Neighbourhood Congregation in Toronto since 2007 after returning from living in Pittsburgh for nine years.  She is married to Wilburn Hayden and has one son.

Paul Hodgkins

Paul Hodgkins is a former Waldorf teacher. Waldorf education is based upon a path of knowledge known as anthroposophy, which was founded by Rudolf Steiner. Paul currently teaches a course called Foundation Studies in Anthroposophy, offered through the Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto, located in Thornhill.

Pauline (and Dave) Streeter

Pauline and Dave Streeter were doing volunteer work in Nepal when the main earthquake hit, and experienced the devastation first-hand. When they got home to Canada they decided to start the charity Aanandit Aid to Nepal to help the people they had left behind.

Rev. Peter Boullata

Rev. Peter Boullata is now completing doctoral studies in psychotherapy and spiritual care and Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo after many years of serving Unitarian Universalist congregations in the Boston area, in addition to a couple of interim ministries in Canada. He is currently the consulting minister with the Unitarian Fellowship of London.  Originally from Montreal, he came of age in the Unitarian church there.

Peter Lauricella

Peter Lauricella lived in the Boston area for many years until 2008 when he and his wife, Marilyn, moved to Port Perry to be everyday loving grandparents.  He is well known for his woodturning skills and participation in many art groups, including the Scugog Council for the Arts and Lake Scugog Studio Tour.  He has been a member of the Worship Committee at UUCD and is active in the community.

Rev. ​Rodrigo Emilio Solano-Quesnel, M.Div

Rev. ​Rodrigo Emilio Solano-Quesnel is the half-time Developmental Minister at the UU Fellowship of Ottawa.  Rod was ordained earlier this year by Neighbourhood UU Congregation in Toronto and is still a member at Neighbourhood.  Rod is originally from Mexico and has lived in Canada since the 1990s.  Rod has also served in leadership at First Unitarian in Toronto, as well as First Unitarian in Ottawa and the Unitarian Church of Montreal.

Ryan Wood

Ryan Wood is the Director of Research and Evaluation at Live Different, one of Canada’s leading youth development organizations. Ryan has spoken to hundreds of thousands of high school students across Canada and has travelled and led Live Different’s programs in many Indigenous and international communities. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge around youth development and mental health.  

Rev. Shawn Newton

Rev. Shawn Newton became the 23rd minister of First Unitarian Church in Toronto in September 2007. He began his undergraduate studies in the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College. He eventually completed a bachelor degree in religious studies at Harvard's Extension School, and received a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry at the University of Toronto/Toronto School of Theology. In the course of his preparation for ministry, Shawn served many places in the United States. Shawn loves to travel, to take in theatre and classical music, and to explore, with his husband, Bob, the fascinating array of neighbourhoods in Toronto. 

Shiela White

Sheila White is Don Heights Unitarian's Music Director and leader of the Don Heights singers. She grew up in the Unitarian environment with parents Bill and Vivian White, who were founding members of Don Heights.  Now she spends her time promoting their new, original songbook, “Power of Song: New Hymns for a New Age”.  Sheila is a former communications director and political adviser who received an African Achievement Award for politics in 2014. Now she mostly concentrates on music, writing, environmental education and online publishing.  She is a regular public affairs panelist on CBC Radio One’s “Here and Now”. 

Rev. Stephen Atkinson

Rev. Stephen Atkinson is a Unitarian Universalist minister who has served North Shore Unitarian Church in West Vancouver in the past and, more recently, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton as a chaplain.

​Tara McGowan Ross

​Tara McGowan-Ross is an urban Mi'kmaw multidisciplinary artist, currently living and working in Tio:tia'ke/Montreal. She is the host of Drawn & Quarterly's Indigenous Literatures Book Club, a critic of independent theatre for Broadwayworld, and the author of Girth and Scorpion Season. Her debut collection of essays, Nothing Will be Different, is forthcoming with Dundurn Press.

Tinie Evans

Tinie Evans has been a long time and tireless supporter of Grandmothers in Africa through her involvement in G-Moms of Port Perry.  She is an active member of the United Church in Port Perry, singing in the choir and participating in many church and social events.

Tracey Szarka

Tracey Szarka is a former UUCD member who now lives in Waterloo, Ontario with her husband Mike and daughter Katie.  They are regularly visited by her stepdaughter Olivia.  Tracey has worked in post-secondary education for over 20 years advising students and supporting them in addressing many issues including those related to
mental health.

Wayne Walder

Wayne Walder helped to build and is now the minister of Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Congregation in the Beach area of Toronto. He became a Unitarian Universalist about 25 years ago after a life long journey of exploration with numerous other religions within and outside Canada. 

Dr. Wilburn Hayden

Dr. Wilburn Hayden is a noted social work educator and practitioner, and community organizer and Appalachian Scholar.  A leading expert on Black Appalachians, he joined York University as the Director of the School of Social Work in 2007 after a long and distinguished career of university teaching, academic leadership and social work practice.  His book, ‘Appalachian Black People: Identity, Location and Racial Barriers’ was published in 2015.  Currently, his major research is slavery and the early
history of black Canadians.​