Board of Trustees
Maureen Duffy-Boose (Aisling) ~ President, Web Team
My legal name is Maureen Duffy-Boose, but I am generally known in public Pagan circles as Aisling.
It is a bardic name that means "poetic vision" in Irish Gaelic and is my online persona as well as my public
pagan name. My UU congregation, South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, bills
itself as "an intentionally diverse religious community." Intentional diversity? Sign me up!! I have now been
a practicing Pagan for over 40 years and self-identify as a UU Witch. I serve on the Worship Committee of SVUUS,
sing in the choir, write fiction and poetry as well as non-fiction, and create pen and ink and watercolor art,
especially of fairies. I am a mead brewer and kitchen witch, as well as growing a diverse range of herbs and
perennials. We share our home with friends, family and grandchildren, four harps, a chow-malamute mix, six cats
and a number of corn snakes.
I have been both covened and solitaire in my practice and actually prefer small-group work to larger venues. I do, however, interact with and network for a large local Pagan community, and have found something of a niche supporting several large international Pagan organizations. I am the Corporate Secretary, as well as a Regional Co-Ordinator, for the Pagan Pride Project. I am also a Sacar (equivalent to a Priestess) of Toteg Tribe and serve on the Tribal Council (National Board of the organization.) I have received my 3rd Degree, and my Croning, in a Traditional non-Wiccan format, and my personal practice is sourced in the 1734 Witchcraft of Joseph Bearwalker Wilson.
I am currently the HPS of a small coven in Salt Lake City whose public name is The DreamRange Dynamic, and which is creating and developing the Tradition of Wisecraft. My goal as President of CUUPS-Continental is to foster the building of the Beloved Community among UU Pagans and within CUUPs Chapters and UU Congregations, assisting our membership in pursuing the free and responsible search for truth and meaning in its diversity of UU Pagan paths.
David Pollard ~ Vice-President, Newsletter Editor,
I became a UU almost twenty years ago, and while at that time I had been hanging around with Pagans for a few
years - until I became UU I never self-identified as one. But with the UUs I found an Earth-Centered Spirituality
that didn't regard my skepticism about some paranormal claims as a sign I was a "bad" Pagan. My religious
philosophy is informed by classical Pagan Humanists like Marcus Aurelius, but my practice derives more from
Reclaiming.
I'm the soon-to-be Past President at Pleasant Valley UU Church in Garland, TX where I've been a member since 1989, except for a few years at 1st Jefferson UU in Fort Worth. I've helped establish CUUPS chapters in both congregations.
This is my second stint on the CUUPS board. Previously, I'd been on from 1995 to 2001.
I was secretary for the three years we were transitioning from our founding leadership, then was VP during 1999 & 2000. I assisted in filing CUUPS initial 501-c3, and wrote grant request for the publication of Sacred Cosmos and its mailing to all UU ministers.
Outside of UUism & CUUPS, I'm a GIS Tech (computer mapping) for the City of Arlington (TX) was a founding board member of the Green Party of Texas, spent a few years on the GP_US national committee as well as a couple years as co-chair of their Accreditation Committee.
Rev. Bonnie McClish Dlott, M.Div., Ph.D. ~ Corporate Secretary
Rev. Dlott is a 2005 graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry and currently serves as the parish minister for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of North Bay in Napa, California. She is also a trainer for all levels of the "Our Whole Lives" sexuality education program for the Pacific Central District and serves on the board of the Napa Interfaith Council.
Rev. Dlott has been an active member of her local pagan community for about ten years, and identifies as an earth-centered mystic. She has started ritual groups in every UU congregation she has been connected with, including a CUUPS chapter at her congregation in Napa. She lives in the East San Francisco Bay Area with her partner, teenaged daughter, and cat, and has a son attending college.
Michael Walker ~ Recording Secretary
Michael Walker is serving his first term as the Recording Secretary, on the CUUPs Continental Board of Trustees.
He feels honored to serve, and is dedicated to assisting wherever and whenever possible.
He is currently a member of First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco and their Pagan Interest Circle (PICT). Also a seminarian at Pacific School of Religion, he is one of a handful of Pagans and a handful of UUs (not always the same people) who are getting very good at rocking the boat. He currently serves as a student representative to the Academic committee (and last year, the Finance committee) of the Board of Trustees, where he is able to ensure that the minority religious voice is heard and considered when planning academic programs for training future religious leaders. The next big adventure for him, as he follows the winding path towards ministry, is a summer gig as a hospital chaplain, and year-long parish internship that will take place 2008-09. More details to come!
He has been a Pagan for 22 years, and has been involved with numerous Pagan, Buddhist and Unitarian Universalist organizations over the years. After an experience with the Goddess when he was a teen, he delved into the Pagan community, and is especially indebted to the spiritual gifts provided by the Rowan Tree Church, the Church of All Worlds, and Ar nDraiocht Fein, as well as CUUPs. In past years, he used the magical name 'Mace Sylvan', with writings published in the Pagan press - such as The Unicorn, Circle Network News, Green Egg, Elven Glen, and other Pagan small press periodicals - going back to the 1980s. (In fact, he was the publisher & editor of Elven Glen; and, for a time, had been the editor of Rowan Tree News, as well.)
Believing in the right of all Pagans to live as they choose, and to be accepted by mainstream society, he has been involved with the International Pagan Pride Project and other Pagan advocacy organizations. During 2004-05, he served as a Co-Chair for the San Diego (CA) Pagan Pride Day event, and is very proud of how they have continued to grow and flourish after he moved away. He is currently serving on the planning committee of the Pagan Alliance, which hosts an annual Interfaith Pagan Festival in Berkeley, CA.
Pagan ministry are two words that are not often heard spoken in the same sentence, and it is one of Michael's lifelong goals to help change that. For him, ministry includes (but not limited to) providing social services (chaplaincy, elder care, and other special assistance) to members of the community during their times of greatest need. Since he finally came to the conclusion that the Pagan community was not growing up fast enough to provide the types of ministry that he wishes to be part of, he branched out and developed a relationship with Unitarian Universalism. It is his goal to provide ministry in both spiritual communities, together and (if necessary) separately.
In his personal life, he is a single gay man, living in Berkeley's "Gourmet Ghetto" with his beloved black cat, Kali. He loves Celtic and world music, reads science fiction and fantasy; but is rather unusual in Pagandom, in that he has not played a role-playing game in more than 15 years. Otherwise, a fairly typical Pagan...
Dick Merrit ~ Treasurer
Dick Merritt grew into paganism through the influence of eco-feminist spirituality in the 80's.
It was a natural fit, given his agrarian background. Dick is an eclectic neo-pagan and Unitarian
Universalist. He characterizes himself as a Joseph Campbell pagan because of his conviction that
religion is metaphor. Strongly influenced by the Creation Spirituality movement, he describes
himself as a panentheist. Dick enjoys frequent rituals and purification ceremonies. A techno-pagan,
he is a retired UNIX technician and massage therapist.
Dick has been a Unitarian Universalist since 1979 and a member of the leadership of several congregations. He is a charter member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Hillsborough, NC. He has recently completed a term as Moderator and is now Treasurer of the Congregation.
Dick has been a member of CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) since its inception in 1987 (Volume 1, Issue 2). He attended the meeting at the Little Rock UUA General Assembly when the initial CUUPS bylaws were approved.
He was part of the leadership of the CUUPS Chapter at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans from 1988 to 1991 that rejuvenated the chapter and made it a significant part of the life of the congregation. The chapter was responsible for bringing several new members into the Church through participation in CUUPS.
Upon his return to North Carolina, Dick was one of the members of Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Durham that conceived of creating a CUUPS chapter in what was then a decidedly anti-Pagan congregation. Celebrate the Circle was the result and has been continuously active since 1991. See http://www.celebratethecircle.org.
At the District level, Dick served the Thomas Jefferson District on the Board. Upon moving to Mississippi he served as the Mid South District Finance Committee Chair. Returning to TJD, He was the Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee for three years, producing the District’s first comprehensive strategic plan. He also served on the TJD Extension Committee for nine years.
Dick was a long range planning consultant to congregations in TJD for 15 years. He encouraged congregations to determine their dreams and to plan to achieve them.
One of Dick's passions is Carolina Spirit Quest, Inc., a 501c(3) nonprofit organization encouraging Pagan networking in NC, SC & VA. Quest puts on a small (>100) festival each April and other events throughout the year. Check out CSQ at http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org. Carolina Spirit Quest was started by members of CTC in 1995. Dick has been on the staff or board of CSQ ever since. He has been event co-director of the Spring event twice, and the director of two Winter Quests. With the Long-Range Planning Committee and the CSQ Board, he has encouraged those in the Quest community to expand their dreams and to act on them.
Through its participation in various Pagan Leadership Conferences, CSQ helped build a combined effort of four Pagan nonprofits to put on the now annual Pagan Leadership Skills Conference (PLSC) in Richmond VA. Dick is a member of the planning group and the Registrar. See http://www.paganleadership.org.
Dick attended the Southeastern Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute (SUUSI) for a dozen years. He was a workshop leader for most of that time. Dick was one of the leaders of the Thursday night alternative worship (Pagan Ritual) planning group. Largely through his efforts the Thursday night Earth Centered alternative worship service was included in the SUUSI catalog as a regular part of the Denominational events. Attendance increased until participation includes 200-300 people each year. That is more than one fourth of the SUUSI attendees. He says, "Leading a spiral dance with 300 people and having it come out correctly is an awesome experience."
Dick has attended 14 UUA General Assemblies since 1985. He was a volunteer usher or teller at eight of those and has served on the Web Staff for the last two. He has attended most of the CUUPS GA events held during those 14 years
Niko Tarini ~ Chapter/Membership Co-Ordinator
New England Artist and Reiki Practitioner, Niko Tarini has studied and practiced Earth-Spirituality for nearly
twenty years. Niko is currently serving as Chapter & Membership Coordinator for the board of CUUPS, Inc. On the
local level, he has served on the Greater New Bedford Circle CUUPS' Council of Elders for over ten years and
currently serves as the chapter's Church Liaison and Treasurer. He has been a member of the chapter since 1992
and joined First Unitarian in 2000.
Niko is a longtime teacher and performer with several years' experience instructing Children, Teens and Elders in Visual Art and World Music through Gallery X, ArtWorks! and NorthStar Learning Centers. Niko has also taught classes on Modern Paganism at First Unitarian Church in New Bedford and through the local organization South Coast Learning Network.
Niko studied Art at Ripon College in Wisconsin, and has been an Artist-Member of GALLERY X, a New Bedford artists' cooperative, for more than 13 years. Throughout various times during his membership, Niko has served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer on the Gallery X Board. Niko is also a supporting player with Miracle Fish Puppet Theater and acts as the Gatekeeper for Toe Jam Puppet Band at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford!
As a Reiki Practitioner, Niko has had first- and second-degree attunements in nontraditional Reiki and a first-degree attunement in Usui traditional Reiki. He has studied Chair Massage at Indian Mountain Healing Center School of Relaxation Touch Therapy. He lives and works in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Rev. Adam Robersmith ~ Ministerial Liaison
Adam Robersmith, a native of the Chicago area, is a storyteller, musician (Celtic harp & voice), and writer; he
is also the Associate Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, IL. Religious service and leadership
has been a part of his life from childhood, whether as a child musician, a youth leader, a college chaplain, lay
leader, or clergyman. As a founding member and chaplain of United Pagan Ministries at Cornell University, he worked
to help create bridges between Pagans and those of other religious backgrounds. He became a UU in 2001, entered
Starr King School for the Ministry not long after, and served congregations in California and the greater Phoenix,
AZ area as a guest preacher, intern, and consulting minister. He accepted the call to Geneva in 2005.
Through all of this, Adam has continued to build bridges between Pagans and non-Pagans. He has given "Intro to Paganism" presentations in hospitals, congregations, and other organizations, built links with Pagan organizations, and worked to support the needs of UU Pagans through the creation of study groups in congregations, spiritual direction with individuals, and his time on the CUUPS board. He has appeared on the Phoenix-based Air America radio program "A Different View" (hosted by UU minister Rev. Dr. Walt Wieder) to be part of a discussion of Pagan/earth-centered religion and is editing a book on UU Paganism.
Steve Storm ~ Ministerial Liaison
My name is Steve Storm. I was born on the Autumnal Equinox, or close enough to it. I was a devout atheist for
many years until I met the lady who would become the Lady of my life. Through her and her searching, I found Wicca.
I learned a Dianic form of Wicca, with emphasis more on the Goddess than the God. I have always leaned a little
that way myself ever since. That was in Colorado, and soon my wife and I moved to the area between San Francisco
and San Jose called Silicon Valley. There, we made connections with a lively local community and became members
of that community. We learned from many different traditions that way. We established ourselves as a family based
coven based on what we had learned from all our friends and what we learned to make up for ourselves. We named the
coven Rainbow Connection and have since practiced our own mixture of solemnity and silliness. I became involved
in the leadership of that community and even got elected president of the local group that organized the community
celebrations of the Wheel of the Year. I was exposed to Unitarian Universalism in that process because one of the
few places that would rent to a group of Witches were UU churches. Some of our friends were UU and that helped.
When we left California and came back to Colorado, we made a deliberate decision to work with the local UU church and to provide a pagan presence in whatever way was possible. My Lady and I forged a CUUPs chapter here in Boulder and for our first official activity we ended up hosting that year’s Convocation, happening on my fiftieth birthday.
We have been with the Church in Boulder for over a decade. I have been on various committees and been on the Board of Trustees. We have, by popular demand, shared several Pagan themed Sunday Services with the church and been received warmly. As I write, I am newly a member of the Committee on Ministry, which promises to be fulfilling.
On top of that, as a new level of exploration of Pagan interaction, I am part of the Board of Trustees of CUUPs. I am surprised and honored once again to be asked for my participation and opinions.
All this from meeting a certain lady, opening a certain tarot deck, and learning the Way of the Wicca. You never know how far magic can take you, even if you study the subject for years. I love it.
