Meet Unity's Ministers and Staff 

Ahmed Anzaldúa

​Director of Music Ministries
​He/Him

ahmed@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x118

From working with worship leaders crafting services, to directing choirs, to planning special music programming for the congregation, we are grateful for the gifts of energy and knowledge Ahmed brings to our community. In addition to his music ministry at Unity Church, Ahmed is the founder and director of Border CrosSing and co-editor of the Justice Choir Songbook. Ahmed appreciates the wide variety of musical tastes and artistic sensibilities in the congregation.

​When he's not making music he enjoys spending time with family, video games, chess, and reading.

Favorite snack: cheese
Ahmed recommends: anything by Jon Bois (he creates odd videos about sports on YouTube and writes online) "17776" is a good one to start with. 

Heidi Birkholz

Facilities Maintenance Coordinator

heidi@unityunitarian.org 
651-228-1456 x103

Olentda Bryant

Facilities Specialist

olentda@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456

Teresa Connor

Facilities Operations Coordinator
She/Her

​teresa@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456 x103

Teresa coordinates the care of the the church building and grounds by maintaining clean and safe spaces, handling room set-up and support, managing community rentals, scheduling and supporting facilities staff, and serving the congregration through her work on the Emergency Preparedness Team ad Sanctuary Team. She loves working within a sacred community, knowing that she is part of a team whose work is deeply informed by a progressive and radically welcoming faith. 

Teresa enjoys co-creating fabulous meals with family and friends, conversations with her far flung siblings, long walks, and listening to audio books.

Favorite snack: peanut butter on toast
Teresa recommends: any book by Kao Kalia Yang or Kate DiCamillo, especially if they are narrating.

Drew Danielson

Coordinator of Youth and Campus Ministries

drew@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456 x112

Delaney Daly

Facilities Specialist
​She/They

delaney@unityunitarian.org

Delaney serves on our facilities staff and brings charm and warmth to her work preparing spaces to be used by our community. She loves the peaceful nature of maintaining sacred space and the kindness she has experiences from staff and congregants. 

Hiking, camping, climbing, and canoeing all bring Delaney joy.

Favorite snack: grapes
Delaney recommends: The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow.

Rev. Karen Hering

Associate Minister

karen@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456 x109

Rev. Karen coordinates pastoral care, spiritual direction, grief counseling, helping hands ministries (meals and rides), memorial services, small group ministries including Chalice Circles and the Thresholds Group, literary ministry and guided writing sessions, and Qigong and Tai ji. This community of caring and committed people keeps her faith in humanity alive and well. Karen is both inspired and encouraged by the way we care for one another and extend that care and work for justice well beyond the borders of our congregation.  

Karen finds join in walking her dog, doing tai ji, writing, reading, lingering at the table with friends and loved ones, singing, canoeing and visiting Lake Superior.

Favorite snack: chocolate!
Karen recommends: Pádraig Ó Tuama's "Poetry Unbound." Each episode shares a poem and then Pádraig's insightful commentary on it, illuminating both its poetics and its theology. A book she is currently reading with astonishment and appreciation is "Undrowned" by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, also a blend of poetic writing and deep exploration of the meanings and the prospects of our times.

Ray Ann Hommeyer

Nursery Coordinator and Youth Ministry Assistant
They/She

ray@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456

Ray helps coordinate the junior high religious education curriculum, classroom, and worship; Tower Club; Wellspring Wednesday chapel services, and our nursery. Ray connects easily with our youth and appreciates "equally theologizing" and joking around with KP and Drew. 

Ray finds joy while dancing, singing, and nerding out about all the things. 

Favorite snack: pineapple
Ray recommends: Legacy of Orisha Tomi Adeyemi

Barbara Hubbard

Executive Director
She/Her

barbarah@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456 x116

Barbara Hubbard serves on Unity's Executive Team and oversees administration and operations, facilities, finance and budget, resource development, and human resources and IT. She also gives an excellent building tour and is our most joyful bell-ringer. Barbara is honored to be involved in shared ministry at all levels -- with our amazing staff, volunteers, and congregation -- as we live into our mission, values and Ends. Together we work toward awakening wonder and making the world a more just and loving place.

Her happiest times are in nature, on her bicycle, making music, and with friends and family. She is a lover of adventure and of laughter!

Favorite snack: a bowl of Cheerios! 
Barbara recommends: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune and Pose. 

Rev. Dr. Kathy Hurt

Interim Minister

kathy@unityunitarian.org 
651-228-1456 x114

Vladimir Garrido

Sound Technician

unity@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456

Rev. KP Hong

Minister of Faith Formation

kp@unityunitarian.org
​651-228-1456 x104

Rev. KP Hong serves on Unity's Executive Team and serves the congregation through his work with lifespan faith formation and antiracist multicultural work with the Beloved Community Staff Team. When it comes to appreciating his work at Unity Church, KP echoes the remarkable line from the poet Seamus Heaney and the blessing of working alongside others who share in the longing to "make hope and history rhyme."

KP finds joy in the wild adventure of parenting and getting to his non-work book pile... early mornings at a café. 

Favorite snack: SnapDragon apples
KP recommends: "I'll refrain, having been told by friends that my recommendations turn out to be more work (and sometimes more trouble) than it's worth."

Rev. Shay MacKay

Coordinator of Community Outreach Ministries

shay@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x106

As Coordinator of Community Outreach Ministries, Rev. Shay helps the members of our ministry teams live out their values at the intersection of social justice, faith formation, and antiracist multiculturalism. This includes advocacy, education, and direct action. She loves the expansiveness of Unity Church and the many different people, different ideas, and different energies!

Shay finds joy with her puppy, Gus, and her partner, Diana, as well as music, books, trees, and her hammock.

Favorite snack: Cheetos 
Shay recommends: listening to all six seasons of "Within the Wires" podcast!

Michelle Mecey

Coordinator of Children's Ministries
​She/Her

michelle@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x127

Michelle coordinates the religious education enrollment process for families, as well the volunteers and classrooms for our children's programs. Her ministry with the children of the church is grounded, tender, and thoughtful. Michelle loves the flexibility of her work schedule and is grateful for our "family-first" policy. 

Michelle finds joy in sunsets, sitting with her cats on her lap, gardening (she helps take good care of our Children's Garden), and cooking with her kid.

Favorite snack: Old Dutch dill pickle potato chips with hot sauce or honey crisp apples with chocolate peanut butter.
Michelle recommends: ​Call the Midwife; One Strange Rock; Kiss The Ground; World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Laura Park

Director of Membership and Hospitality
She/Her

laura@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x110

Managing Director, Unity Consulting
​info@unityconsulting.org

Laura helps the congregation nurture mutual belonging together by supporting our Welcome Teams, Finding Yourself at Unity facilitators, the History Teaching Team, and the coordinators of our fellowship groups. She also helps people find their pathway to membership, coordinates Wellspring Wednesday programming, and works on the Beloved Community Staff Team. Laura loves illuminating the available pathways to deeper engagement at Unity Church, and all the ways people make those pathways their own, bringing their whole selves to church.

Laura is an avid knitter and finds joy watching the fabric grow just by making loops with string and two sticks. She also loves to cook and bake and feed people. No one leaves her house without leftovers or cookies. 

Favorite snack: dark chocolate -- she buys it in 11 pound blocks!
Laura recommends: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, a luminous novel by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers; Stranger than Fiction, and the podcast Finding Our Way. 

Laura Potratz

Organist and Youth Music Coordinator
​​She/Her

lauramusic@unityunitarian.org

Laura is Unity's organist, youth music coordinator, and threshold choir coordinator. One thing she appreciates about Unity Church is that the ​language attached to the divine remains undefined.

Volcanos, deserts, forests, stars, travel all bring Laura joy. 

Favorite snack: chocolate
Laura recommends: My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem

Madeline Summers

Hospitality and Outreach Coordinator
​She/Her

madeline@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x126

Madeline helps coordinates our Sunday morning Welcome Teams and keeps us well-fed through her management of our food ministry. If you've been around at all during the pandemic, you probably know her best as our intrepid Zoom administrator where she thoughtfully handles many of our Zoom offerings each week. She also coordinates weddings! ​Madeline appreciates that this community consistently asks people to work together in right relationship. For her, that has meant being able to slow down and bear witness to the world from multiple perspectives. She's grateful to feel like being in this community has made her both smarter and more compassionate.

​Madeline is also a yoga instructor and finds joy in baked goods and chocolate, her cat Willamina (Mina for short), and hiking. 

Favorite snack: cheese or and cheese related items.
Madeline recommends: The Nanny, musician Lucy Dacus, and This Is Love podcast.

Song Thao

Financial Assistant

song@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x115

Song supports so many aspects of congregational life through her work managing accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and Human Resources. Song appreciates the amazing staff that support each other's work and the flexibility of her work flow.

Song finds joy gardening, biking, and spending time with her adult children and grandson.

Favorite snack: Homestyle Archway Frosty Lemon Classic Soft Cookies (and definitely recommends you give them a try!)

Martha Tilton

Director of Communications

martha@unityunitarian.org
651-228-1456 x105

Martha supports the congregation's work to live into its Ends through communication coordination, database management, web administration, and technical support for livestreaming. She is grateful to serve with and learn from an incredible group of talented and thoughtful co-workers (who she really calls friends).

Martha finds joy in cooking, walking her bald dog Duke, and watching her daughter play and coach volleyball.

Favorite snack: buttered toast
Martha recommends: The Dave Chang Show podcast and the chicken laab from Golden Cuisine in Hmongtown Market Place