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Rev. Misty-Dawn Shelly
Office hours:
Tuesday & Thursday, 10 AM to 2 PM
Wednesday, 4 to 8 PM
email revshelly@uufortwayne.org to set an appointment.
Greetings!
Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fort Wayne. I am so glad that you have found our church and are interested in learning more about the ministry of UUCFW. I am Reverend Misty-Dawn Shelly, called to serve the members and friends of this Unitarian Universalist congregation on May 6, 2012. My journey to this call has several stepping stones upon the road I travel. Here are a few of those stepping stones.
I was an Army brat for the first 10 years of my life, both my mother and father served in the US Army which took us from the state of Georgia, to the country of Germany, and back state-side to Washington and then Florida. My parents divorced and my mother and I moved to Central Massachusetts to be close to family. I lived in Central Massachusetts until recently when my spouse, Jenna, and I, along with our two dogs, moved here to Fort Wayne.
The stepping stone of education includes a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA in 1997 and a Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA in 2009.
In preparation for ministerial fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association, I studied and practiced with the Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein of First Parish UU in Norwell, MA; Ute Schmidt, Interfaith Chaplain and CPE Supervisor of Baystate Medical Center; and Rev. Dr. Judith Wright of First Parish UU in Northborough, MA. While these women supervised and informed my ministerial formation, the members and staff of the congregations and the patients and staff of the hospital which I served during this time invited me into their lives. They shared their stories of joy and of sorrow, their experiences of the divine, and their hopes and disappointments of our Unitarian Universalist faith. Their teachings ground my service and call to Unitarian Universalist ministry. The church I call home, the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church of Brookfield, MA, along with First Parish UU in Northborough, MA, ordained me to the Unitarian Universalist ministry on June 12, 2011.
What I love about the metaphorical use of stepping stones in telling our stories is that they mark transitions in our lives, as well as represent important people and places along our journeys. You can place and invite many stones along your travels, some smaller stones may combine to larger stones making the journey less difficult, giving you more to stand on. I invite you to take inventory of your stepping stones. Questions are a wonderful tool we use when exploring our journeys: what grounds you in the world? whom or what allows the journey to be less difficult?
Unitarian Universalism invites us to nurture our spirit through questions and seeking truths through a responsible use of all the wisdom sources, prophetic words and deeds of humanity, as well as our personal and communal experiences in the world. Come, walk with us as we lay stepping stones along our journeys. I look forward to adding many stepping stones as we walk together in shared
ministry.
Blessings ~Rev. Misty-Dawn
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