Our Minister

Note: Rev. Roberta is serving as interim minister at First Unitarian Church of Orlando for the program year 2009-10.  Click here to read her monthly messages.

Rev. Roberta Finkelstein is a life-long Unitarian Universalist. She was raised in the Community Church of New York where she was in the "Cradle Roll" as an infant and remained active through high school. She taught Sunday School with her mom and was inspired by the brave example of her youth minister, Rev. Richard Leonard, when he answered the call to join the civil rights march in Selma. Her early UU experiences taught her that the church could and should be a place of prophetic witness, courage, and transformation. Ministry is a second career for Rev. Roberta. She was a nurse and certified nurse-midwife. She has a BSN from Binghamton University and her MSN from Georgetown University. Her midwifery practice centered around high-risk pregnant adolescents in Washington, D.C.  During her nursing years Roberta and her husband Barry were active lay leaders in the UU Church of Arlington, VA. Her call to ministry emerged out of those years of professional care-taking and church volunteer work in all aspects of congregational life.

She earned her M.Div. from Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC. While a student she served as an extension intern minister for the Bull Run Unitarian Universalists for 2 years. At graduation she accepted the invitation to serve as their part-time consulting minister for another 5 years. At that point they had grown from fewer than 50 members to 125 and they entered the Extension Ministry Program of the UUA. Rev. Finkelstein then became the New Congregation Minister for the Unitarian Universalists of Sterling, VA where she remained for the 5 years of that appointment and then was called to be their settled minister.  Following that settlement she was the Interim Minister in Frederick, MD for a year, then went to Portsmouth, NH.

Rev. Roberta has served our UU movement in a variety of ways. She was on the UUA Commission on Appraisal for 6 years and CENTER (Continuing Education Network for Training, Education and Renewal)  for 4 years. Most recently she was the chair of the UU Action Network of New Hampshire, a state-wide social justice organization.

Rev. Roberta has been married to her husband Barry since 1974. They have one son, Danny, a product of the Religious Education program in Arlington, VA. Danny recently delighted his parents when he announced his engagement to his long time girl friend Jessica Wintfeld. Danny and Jess live in Arlington, VA where he grew up.

Roberta and Barry have two badly behaved cats named Bonnie and Clyde and one well behaved dog named Pepper. They are delighted to be here and are enjoying discovering the Orlando that is not related to the mouse!

Rev. Roberta looks forward to a fruitful year of mutual ministry with the First Unitarian Church of Orlando as you navigate this interim time and move forward into your future.

Our Previous Interim Minister

Note: Rev. Jay served as interim minister at First Unitarian Church of Orlando for the program year 2008-09.  Click here to read his monthly messages .

Jay Deacon began his career in the ministry of Metropolitan Comunity Churches, but found himself frequently accused of being “just a Unitarian anyway.” A bit of investigation revealed that he was guilty as charged. He transferred his credential to the UUA in 1982. He served as acting Director of Information at the UUA following the retirement of Carl Seaburg. Then, following the anti-gay murder of Charlie Howard in Bangor, Maine while on his way home from the Unitarian congregation there, Jay was called by that courageous congregation. Next, as Director of the UUA Office of Lesbian and Gay Concerns, he conducted an examination of UU attitudes, and UU response, to GLBT people, and designed the Welcoming Congregation Program, gaining its overwhelming adoption by the 1989 General Assembly. For nine years he served Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Oak Park, IL. During his first year there he guided the two UU congregations in Oak Park through a successful consolidation. He led the combined congregation through a process that led to a decision to grow and to inaugurate a second service and RE session. The congregation grew, and so did the staff, with the addition of a Coordinator of Lay Ministries and increasing the DRE position to fulltime. His adult education “Center for Spiritual Development” courses drew large numbers and deepened the congregation’s spiritual life. He used a sabbatical leave to serve two British congregations, in Aberdeen, Scotland and at Golder’s Green, London. His fondness for all things British can be seen in his car, a Mini Cooper.

For four years he served the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence in Western Massachusetts. He inaugurated a weekly hour-long radio program, Spirit. But when it became impossible to work with a new Board of Directors, he resigned from the Unitarian Society. The unexpected gift of time was the beginning of a profound spiritual quest, beginning with a retreat at EnlightenNext in Lenox, Mass. And it allowed him time to work seriously on a book, to be titled Magnificent Journey: Religion as Lock on the Past, or as Engine of Evolution.

He served as Interim Minister at historic Unity Church (UU) in North Easton, Mass. during the 2007-08 program year. He is both a student and teacher of our own Transcendentalist tradition, which, in the 19th century, realized that Unitarianism must express and embody a dynamically evolutionary spirituality — and change the world. He  brings a passion for evolutionary spirituality and to see Unitarian Universalism understand and take up its necessary place as both a voice and a flesh-and-blood expression of  the spiritual revolution these times demand.

Visit Jay Deacon's Website

Our Minister Emerita

The Reverend Marni Harmony was the minister of the First Unitarian Church of Orlando since 1988. Her educational background includes a BA in Religion from Tufts University; a ThM in Psychology of Religion and Pastoral Care from Boston University School of Theology; an MSW with a major in Marriage and Family Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and a D.Min (Doctorate of Ministry) from Columbia Seminary. Her dissertation was titled "The Challenge of Nontraditional Families to the Church." Raised Unitarian Universalist, Marni has a deep love and commitment to our faith tradition and to promoting healthy, intergenerational faith communities. After her ordination in 1974, she spent a year each as a hospital chaplain, an interim minister, and a college chaplain. She also spent a couple of years as a psychotherapist after receiving her MSW. Before being called to Orlando, she served as minister of Unitarian Universalist churches in State College, Pennsylvania and Brookfield, Wisconsin. Marni lives with her partner Nancy, their two cats and their dog Gus. She is the mother of a grown son (Kyle) and the grandmother of Kyle's children, Asia and Ethan. Marni is a longtime student of eastern religions and has a great love for aspects of each of the world's great religions. Her own spiritual path is strongly influenced by Buddhism. She took early Buddhist vows in 1989; then formally received the Buddhist precepts in 2001.

"I believe the minister's role is to support each individual's religious and spiritual journey by encouraging, challenging, and providing opportunities for education and exchange. I also believe the minister can help create a congregational climate in which theological diversity can be welcomed and can thrive. Together, we learn to live into the great questions and the occasional discomfort of sometimes living without great answers! I also believe that we gather as a faith community (vs. a secular one). I hope that each person brings a commitment to keep deepening their understanding of what is holy and sacred, regardless of the language used."

Note: Rev. Marni retired from First Unitarian Church of Orlando in June 2008 and was awarded the title "Minister Emerita."