Our own beloved Rev. Nathan Detering is away on sabbatical January 4 - June 5, 2010. In addition to some great guest ministers, we welcome Rev. Dr. Ken Reeves as our sabbatical minister and continue under the love and care of our ministerial intern, Laura Randall. Please see the Sabbatical FAQ for more information, including ministerial and lay pastoral care contacts. General church office hours are 9-1 weekdays. The First Parish Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, Mass. welcomed the Rev. Nathan Detering as our settled minister in 2003. Nathan is known for his warmth and humor as well as his very spiritual presence both in and out of the pulpit. In his words: I love being a minister, every part of it - from preaching sermons, to crafting wedding ceremonies, to spending an evening with high school youth groups talking about things that really matter to them. Every day my vocational choice is clearly affirmed, and this fills me with great excitement about the future, and gives me real joy. I am fortunate to able to share my enthusiasm with everyone at UUAC. Nathan grew up in St. Louis, MO, the first of three children. All three were baptized in the Catholic Church and attended parochial schools through high school. His undergraduate degree is from Beloit College in Beloit, WI, where he concentrated in sociology and psychology, and also earned a Certificate in Education. He graduated from Beloit in 1994. Over time Nathan fell away from his Catholic upbringing, and found in its place something new and authentic. His experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the West Indies gave him his first real opportunity to hear his call to the ministry. During this time he became friends with a Unitarian Universalist minister and his wife, and recognized through them how the role of minister in the Free Church could satisfy his own calling. Upon his return from the Peace Corps in 1997 he applied to seminary, choosing the program at Boston University's School of Theology. He graduated Cum Laude in May 2001. His training for the ministry included a part-time student ministry at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Milford from September 1999 to May 2000, a hospital chaplain training program in the summer of 2000, a full-time internship at First Parish in Lincoln, MA, a brief settlement as the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Erie, PA, and now his position as the settled minister of Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, Massachusetts. Nathan and his wife Karen live in Holliston with their two children: Emerson (named after the famous Unitarian, Ralph Waldo) and Ella (named after Ella Fitzgerald, who wasnąt Unitarian but had a voice that inspired).