Staff and Leaders

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

We’re Here to Serve

Our staff are here to help you to understand our church and to offer a wide variety of church-related services to the congregation and public. More information is available on our Contact Us page.

Ministry

Reverend Gary Kowalski

Rev Kowalski

Reverend Gary Kowalski is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Divinity School with forty years of experience in the parish, including work as an Accredited Interim Minister.  He is the author of several books on spirituality, nature, science and history, describing himself as a naturalistic theist who finds the divine in the beauty of a living planet.  As Consulting Minister to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces (January – May 2023) he and his colleague Reverend Munro Sickafoose look forward to working with the community as it rebuilds its programs and discerns its next steps toward professional leadership.  He will be on site one weekend per month, but available by Zoom or phone as needed.  Please do not hesitate to contact him with your thoughts, questions, concerns and requests at RevKowalski@uuchurchlc.org.  He welcomes phone calls at the number listed in the church directory.  

Reverend Munro Sickafoose

Rev Munro Sickafoose

The Rev. Munro Sickafoose is a community minister serving Santa Fe, Taos, and the surrounding areas. His ministry focuses on healing the human relationship with the Earth and preparing our communities for the many serious challenges we face in the decades ahead. He has been deeply involved with the indigenous spiritual path known as the Red Road for many years. He trained as a wilderness rites-of-passage guide at the School of Lost Borders and has been leading groups and individuals in the wild since 1996. He trained at the Ojai Foundation as a facilitator in the Way of Council and has spent hundreds of hours in talking circles with people from all walks of life. After attending the First Unitarian Church of Portland, where he and his wife Susanna were involved in teaching adult programs, Munro decided to pursue a Master of Divinity degree at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. He graduated from Starr King in 2013 and was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe in April of 2016. Munro is still an “Army brat,” having moved all over the United States and Europe while growing up. He attended high school in El Paso, Texas, and spent most of his adult life living in the Southwest – except for a few years on the West coast – before he and his wife Susanna moved to Santa Fe in 2012.

I look forward to working with the Las Cruces UU community as it rebuilds its programs and discerns next steps toward professional leadership. I’ll be on site one weekend per month (January – May 2023), and available by Zoom or phone as needed.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, questions, concerns and requests at RevSickafoose@uuchurchlc.org.  You can call me at the number listed in the church directory.

Catherine Massey, Director of Music

picture of catherine massey our director of music

Catherine has been in charge of our music since 1998 and accepted the position of Music Director in 2000, the first year we had a choir. She has enthusiastically embarked on expanding the diversity of the congregation’s musical programming ever since. She takes pride in stating that, “Our congregation has moved from a very cautious and shy singing group to one that will enthusiastically sing anything I ask them to, from African chants to rounds and Jason Shelton’s hymns.”

Catherine is not afraid to try new things nor to encourage others to do likewise, and counts as one of her strengths her willingness to learn and do what needs to be done. “I had never conducted a choir before I started one at our church, but I did so because the need was so great – the need to have a choir sing on Sunday and the need for people to sing in a choir.

Education

Kellie Ingram, Director of Religious Education

Kellie was born and raised in New Mexico, where she met her husband Nick in high school. After traveling through the US while he served in the military, the family of six (two sons & two daughters) settled in the Southwest desert they love. Kellie enjoys working with children and has devoted 20 years of her life to working with youth in several positions, including daycare teacher, home daycare director and in-home nanny. You may reach Kellie Ingram at Kellie@uuchurchlc.org

Administration

Cheri Coffelt, Church Administrator

Cheri and her husband David moved to New Mexico in 1998. They love living in Las Cruces with their border collie, Jack. Cheri has an Associate of Arts degree in Theology, a diploma in Business from Trinity Baptist College, and a Bachelor of Arts from New Mexico State University.

You may reach Cheri at cheri@uuchurchlc.org

Media

Michael Yaczko, Audio/Visual and Social Media Specialist

Mike Yaczko is a professional content creator and media personality with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry as a stage actor, voice actor, singer, musician, writer, and stand-up comedian. He graduated from NMSU with a degree in journalism and mass communications, with an emphasis on public relations, and a minor in sports/event marketing.

You may reach Mike at michael@uuchurchlc.org

Claire Neal-Wallace, Audio/Visual and Social Media Specialist

You may reach Claire at claire@uuchurchlc.org.

Brandon Hettinga, Church Sexton

picture of brandon hettinga

Brandon graduated from New Mexico State University in 2020 with a major in Business Management.



picture of lorenzo luhan our groundskeeper

Lorenzo Lujan, Groundskeeper




Our Leaders

Board of Trustees

President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
At Large
At Large
At Large
At Large
At Large

Susan Hychka
Bill Fitzgerald
Jeanne Gilbert
Jan Thompson
Rabbitt Loring
John Seeley
Skip Shelton
Carol Stanfill
Jennifer Trantham

Committees and Their Programs

Other Programs

Website