| Our Minister Rev. SUSAN KARLSON |
March 2010 Snow
covers the yards in our church neighborhood as I write this column. More snow is predicted tonight and
tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that it
will officially be spring in another month. Don’t you ever wonder about the
seedlings under all that frozen ground and how the ducks and geese find some
place to sit on icy ponds? Yet spring is
surely on its way and there’s some primordial part of us that resonates with
the seasons. Some part of us is stirring
to life again as well. (www.standingonthesideoflove.org) Standing on
the Side of Love reaches out to Unitarian Universalists, other faiths and
myriad organizations to come together and stand up for social justice issues
like marriage equality, health care and immigration reform, and other forms of non
violence. It was born out of the incredible outpouring of love, support and
solidarity in response to the Knoxville, Tennessee shootings in July 2008. Be well, Susan |
Sermon Audio: 2/14 Reimagining Valentine's Day (part 1) 2/14 Reimagining Valentine's Day (part 2) 2/7 Putting Youth First Contact Rev. Susan Karlson, Unitarian Universalist Minister Home: 718-442-1012 Church Office: 718-447-2204 Cell: 347-466-0864. Email: pskarl3@gmail.com "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." -- Quote from the fox in The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery |
About Rev. Karlson
The
Rev. Susan Karlson is the minister of the Unitarian Church of Staten
Island. Susan moved to Staten Island after receiving and accepting the
call to be the settled minister here on May 4, 2008. She officially
began her ministry on September 1st. Please see her welcome
message on
the home page of this website. She lives with her husband, Alan
Kindler; a cavorting dog, Lillith; and a beguiling cat, Blue.
Susan's daughter lives in New York and Alan's three daughters and his
mother live in Virginia. Susan
and Alan are delighted to live in Staten Island and look forward to
many fulfilling years with the Unitarian Church of Staten Island.
Prior
Ministries:
Consulting minister
to the Gulf Coast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
in Gulfport, Mississippi from 2007-2008. Settled Minister at the
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington in Wilmington, North
Carolina (UUFW) from 2003-2007.
Ordination and Unitarian Universalist Fellowship: The
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington ordained her to the
Unitarian Universalist ministry on November 2, 2003. She received
Preliminary Fellowship in May of 2003, recognized at the Service of the
Living Tradition during the 2003 General Assembly in Boston,
Massachusetts. Susan received Final Fellowship in the fall of 2006,
recognized at the Service of the Living Tradition in Portland, Oregon.
She was ordained as a Minister of Integral Yoga in 1982 in Santa
Barbara, California.
Education
and Former Professional Experience: Masters
in Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
in May of 2003. Susan had a prior career as a clinical social worker
and still holds a License in Clinical Social Work in Virginia. She
received her Masters in Social Work from Norfolk State University in
Norfolk, Virginia and obtained her B.A. in Sociology with a
concentration in Social Welfare from Old Dominion University, also in
Norfolk. Susan had an Integral Yoga Teaching Center in Los Angeles,
California, teaching hatha yoga, prenatal yoga, and meditation classes.
Social
Justice and Community Involvement:
Susan
has a passion for social justice work, born out of a lifelong
desire to be of service and her social work background. She served as
the co-chair of the Ministerial Roundtable in Wilmington, North
Carolina, an interfaith clergy group dedicated to healing the wounds of
racism in the area, particularly in congregations which have often been
complicit in spreading racial injustice but have institutional and
cultural power to transform and dismantle racism. She also served on
the Board of Directors for the African American Heritage Foundation. She was a member of the Thomas Jefferson District's Antiracism Transformation Team since its inception. She participated in three interfaith panels in Wilmington, NC on clergy responses to marriage equality and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender concerns, the difference between religion and spirituality, and the significance of the first amendment concerning religious freedom. She was an active participant in the Steps Coalition, a grassroots community organization working on recovery and transformation in the Gulf Coast area after Hurricane Katrina.
Hobbies
and Interests:
Susan
regularly practices yoga, qigong and meditation. Her interests include
writing, walking, travel, scrapbooking and on an irregular basis,
learning to play the guitar. I regularly practice gigong and other forms of meditation and yoga. I have an active prayer practice and spend time each day with devotional readings. I love to write, walk, travel, and am learning to play the guitar.
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