Our Leadership

After several decades as a completely lay-led congregation, The Fourth Unitarian Universalist Congregation decided in 2004 to begin following a model of shared ministry.  Our minister holds a half-time position, while sharing administrative, pastoral and Sunday Service responsibilities with the congregation as a whole.  As a result, on any given Sunday, you may experience a traditional service led either by our minister or by one of our lay members. 
 

​Our Minister

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Cindy Davidson
Cindy Davidson begins her ministry with Fourth UU on August 1st, 2018. She comes to us having served for two years as the Ministerial Intern at Community UU Congregation at White Plains and having earned a Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School. Previously, she had been an active lay leader at First Parish in Lexington, MA for fifteen years, during which ecological, climate and environmental justice concerns and activities seeded her call to ministry. She is a GreenFaith Fellow and has been a Board member of the UU Ministry for Earth for seven years.

Raised in the Methodist tradition, Cindy’s spiritual quest lead her to Unitarian Universalism in her forties. Embracing its life-affirming message, she has found it a fitting home to engage her curiosity about various faith traditions, beliefs and practices and to foster more religiously tolerant relations in an increasingly diverse world. Cindy believes the spiritual quest is never-ending and the opportunities for spiritual growth and depth numerous in everyday life. She describes herself, today, as agnostic and leaning religious humanist, with an affinity for religious naturalism and process theology/philosophy. She enjoys contemplative practices focused on meditation, the natural world, the written word, and music. 

Cindy earned a BMusic (Performance, Horn) from the Mannes College of Music and then worked in artist and non-profit management. During her child-rearing years, she was active as a LaLeche League peer breastfeeding counselor and massage therapist. She has four adult children. 

Born in western PA, she has lived in NY City; Durham, NC; Paris, France; and Lexington, MA. She currently resides in White Plains.
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Our Board of Trustees

Pictured, L-R: Alan Weger, Harold Stillman, Eric Larrabee. Front row:
Elaine Zwick, Susan Schefflein, Rev. Karen Brammer, MollySue Wedding. Not pictured: Gil Vasquez
The Board of Trustees consists of four officers and three trustees elected by the congregation. This body acts heart to heart and hand to hand with the congregation and minister to fulfill 4th UU’s mission and purposes and to further and refine its strategies. The dedication and high level of participation of each board member embodies the core values and ministry of the congregation. Working together board members believe they can make a difference and add strength to 4th UU’s collective purpose and identity.

Meeting monthly, the board is responsible for supporting the spiritual and fiscal health of the congregation. Utilizing the input of the congregation and in partnership with the minister, the board strengthens and assists the collective effort to achieve mutually developed goals. The board is an empowering entity encouraging the congregation’s ministries and committees to pursue activities that lead to a healthy and integral impact for members and community. The board seeks to develop and implement policies that lead the fellowship to be a strong spiritual presence and active leader toward social justice.

With committee assistance and oversight the board manages 4th UU’s resources and assets and adopts appropriate policies to protect the welfare of the congregation and ensure its well-being. In addition to setting the annual budget for congregational approval, the board requires and reviews regular financial reports, including monthly balance sheets and statements of revenue and expense. The Fellowship holds periodic Membership Meetings at which members of the congregation vote on pertinent issues. Actions taken at Membership Meetings take precedence over all other decisions.

Board Members for 2017-2018 are:

President:  Harold Stillman
Vice President:  Alan Weger
Secretary:  Melissa Cole
Treasurer:  Eric Larrabee
​Trustees:  Ingrid Smith, Lauren Noormae, Kathy Van Horn
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Our Minister Emerita

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Rev. Dawn Sangrey
In June 2016, the members of Fourth Unitarian Universalist Congregation voted to confer upon Reverend Dawn Sangrey the title of Minister Emerita.  Reverend Sangrey was the first minister to be hired by Fourth UU, after having spent 47 years as a lay-led congregation.  She was our Consulting Minister for seven years.  

Rev. Sangrey was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 2001 and is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School.  During her tenure with us, Rev. Sangrey (along with Rev. Kay Greenleaf of the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie) was involved in a public witness for marriage equality. Together, they officiated dozens of same-sex weddings in New Paltz, NY, receiving widespread media attention when they were the first clergy to be arrested and charged with a crime for solemnizing gay and lesbian weddings. At their trial, the charges against both ministers were dismissed.  A July, 2004 New York Times article chronicles her thoughts on the experience.  

The membership chose to honor Reverend Sangrey in recognition of her seven years of kind, inspiring, and skilled ministerial service to our congregation; her patient and persistent guidance of our community in our early years of co-ministry; and her friendship and caring toward our community members.