Church Staff

Offices for all the staff are in Rice House, which is located just east of our building complex toward the rear of the property. Offices are on the second floor, with the first floor used for meeting space.

All members of the staff can be reached by calling the Church Office at 781.235.7423, or via email at uuswh@ma.ultranet.com. The church office is generally open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM from late August through mid-June. Mail and telephone calls are monitored and responded to year round.

Biographies

Rev. Phyllis B. O'Connell, Minister

In May of 2001, the Society called the Reverend Phyllis B. O'Connell as the eleventh settled minister in its 130-year history. Prior to coming to UUSWH, Phyllis was most recently the minister of the UU Church in Melrose, Massachusetts, where she served for the past 10 years. Previously, she was the interim minister of the Sherborn UU Church for 18 months and, while in seminary, served the UU Society of Wellesley Hills for two years as their first ministerial intern.

Phyllis is a member of the UUA's newly established Regional Subcommittee on Candidacy for ministerial students. She is a past president and vice-president of the Mass Bay District chapter of the UU Ministers Association, and has been a member of the editorial board of the UU Leader since 1997. In addition to her responsibilities as parish minister in Melrose, Phyllis served as chair of the Melrose Affordable Housing Task Force and President of the Melrose Interfaith Clergy Association. For several years she also served as a trustee for the Melrose Alliance Against Violence.

Phyllis was born in White Plains, NY, and lived there for over a decade before moving with her family to Alexandria, Virginia. After college in South Carolina, she returned to New York for two years before moving to the Boston area, eventually settling in Wayland. Before entering the ministry, Phyllis worked as an educational consultant in the field of human sexuality, including four years as a counselor at Planned Parenthood where she designed and implemented workshops for parents.

Phyllis is a graduate of Furman University where she majored in American History. She has a masters degree in family studies from Wheelock College, and she graduated with honors from Andover Newton Theological School in l989. She was ordained at the First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts, in 1989.

She and her husband, Paul, have been married for 33 years. They have two daughters: Stephanie, who lives and works in the Boston area; and Kirsten, who is living and working in New York City. Phyllis' outside interests include travel, music, movies, art museums, reading, swimming, and spending time with family and friends.

Patricia Ellenwood, Director of Religious Education

Pat joined the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills in 1977. She immediately began teaching in the cooperative church school, and serving on the Religious Education Committee. She became Director of Religious Education in 1979, a position she has held ever since. Since joining the profession, she has served the Massachusetts Bay District and the Unitarian Universalist Association in a variety of ways. She has been: Chair of the Mass Bay District Religious Education Committee; Board Member of the Unitarian Sunday School Society (founded by William Ellery Channing); Consultant to several Religious Education Committees of congregations in the Northeast; Secretary of the Board of NEIDRECOM (New England Interdistrict Religious Education Committee); Convener of the Northern Atlantic Chapter of her professional organization; and Dean of RE Week on Star Island. Pat is project coordinator and primary author of The New DRE Workshop, which she has led on Star Island during Religious Education Week, and in Ballou Channing and Mass Bay Districts. Most recently, she is now serving as President, Liberal Religious Educators¹ Association (LREDA) 1999-2002, and as Editor of The Search for Religous Education Leadership, a process guide for congregations who are seeking to hire a non-ordained religious educator. She is also a participant in Essex Conversations 2000 on the future of religious education in the Unitarian Universalist Association, and a member of the 12 person UUA Curriculum Visioning Committee charged with designing a lifespan religious education curriculum for the Association. Pat and her husband, Steve, live in Wellesley and have two grown daughters, Heather and Amanda, who grew up in the UUSWH.

Mara Dowdall, Assistant Minister & Sr. Youth Advisor

Mara arrived at UUSWH in the fall of 2007 after earning her M.Div. degree from Harvard Divinity School (HDS). During her time at HDS, she completed a two-year part-time internship at the First Parish in Cambridge, as well as a hospital chaplaincy unit in her hometown of Philadelphia. Mara was active in the UU student group, serving on the board for two years and as chair for a semester, and was a finalist in the 2007 Billings Preaching Competition.

A life-long UU, she grew up in the Unitarian Society of Germantown in Philadelphia. Mara came north to attend Harvard College, where she majored in Social Studies, and spent three summers working at Star Island, the UU/UCC conference center off the coast of New Hampshire. After college, she lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and joined All Souls Church, Unitarian. It was during her time in D.C. that she felt the call to ministry, which eventually brought her back to Boston for divinity school.

Today, Mara lives in Somerville with her husband, Ben Fowler, a mechanical engineer who works at a Cambridge-based renewable fuels company. Together, they enjoy hiking, traveling, and spending time with friends.  Mara's other interests include taking long walks, attempting crossword puzzles, reading poetry and fiction, and exploring new places.

Randy McGee, Director of Music

Randy McGee joined UUSWH in the Fall of 2007 as our Music Director. Randy, a tenor, completed his Doctor of Arts in Vocal Performance in 1996 from the University of Northern Colorado. His Boston performing credits include the Bach Cantata Series with internationally-acclaimed Emmanuel Music, and the concert series of Boston Baroque, the Handel and Haydn Society, and the Cantata Singers. In addition to his solo credits, McGee’s ensemble credits include the New York-based Waverly Consort and the Boston Early Music Festival. Former choral director at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Dr. McGee has recently taken sabbatical from Phillips Exeter Academy of Exeter, New Hampshire and has taken over the choral directorship of Brooks School in North Andover. He continues to teach private voice at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School of Cambridge and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

In addition to music activities, McGee also enjoys a few business interests with his spouse, David Giessow, choral director at the University of Massachusetts. Randy and David own and operate the Figgy Puddin’ Carollers, an entertainment agency, RandyCandy, specializing in fine hand-dipped chocolate truffles, and Bays Cove Prints. In their spare time, they also enjoy rescuing neglected properties and renovating them into livable homes.

Jay Libby, Ministerial Intern

Jay joins UUSWH this fall for two years as he finishes his preparation for the ministry  During this first year, he will be leading worship services several times, working with some of the Society’s active committees.  In addition, he will be leading an adult learning opportunity called “Parents as Spiritual Guides,” which is a wonderful UUA curriculum for parents and parents–to-be. 

Before deciding to enter Newton Theological School two years ago, Jay practiced law, primarily litigation, for seven years in various small Boston firms.  Most recently, he worked at the UUA as the director of its planned giving program.  As the Director of Charitable Gifts and Estate Planning he worked with individuals and congregations to increase planned gifts to support the future of Unitarian Universalism.  As part of his study for ministry, he finished his clinical pastoral education as a chaplain intern at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, a place where he continues to volunteer as a chaplain from time to time. 

Jay is a native Bostonian. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and got his law degree from the New England School of Law.

Ministerial Interns

UUSWH has a long history as a teaching parish, in which we generally have a ministerial intern with us each year as part of their preparation for ministry. Interns over the last several years have included (from the most recent):

Jay Libby (current)
Marjorie Matty
Kathleen Kopitsky

Nancy Palmer Jones
Sara E. Ascher
Kathy Schmitz
Margie King Saphier
Karen Brammer
Lee Blumel
Judy Cohen
Elsa Hagberg Worth
William Feinberg
Rod Debs
Phyllis B. O'Connell