Our Minister and Staff
Rev. Cory Wells Lovell
| Email: revcory@uumarin.org | Phone: (415) 479-4131 | Schedule Appointment |
Rev. Cory W. Lovell was recently called to serve UU Marin as our Settled Minister. Rev. Lovell is a poet, filmmaker, husband, father, and religious humanist. His ministry is focused on the long arc religious projects of cultivating transformative community and liberating the human spirit from fear, exploitation, greed, and violence. Rev. Lovell utilizes contemporary pop culture, ancient wisdom, the arts, and American history to help create narratives of meaning and purpose. He was born in Georgia, raised in Upstate New York, and educated in San Francisco, after which he lived in Burlington, VT, Marfa, TX, St. Louis, MO. Rev. Lovell was most recently in Oklahoma where he served on the ministry team at All Souls Unitarian Church of Tulsa and as a Contract Minister at the UU Church of Bartlesville. Rev. Cory now lives in Terra Linda with his wife, the painter and musician Alexis N. Lovell, and their seven children, Charlie, Ainsley, Jake, Lexi, Vance, Dove, and Steinbeck
Rev. Theresa Novak, Affiliated Minister
Rev. Theresa and her spouse, Anne Spatola, first joined UU Marin in the mid-90’s when their three children were small. Both were active lay leaders until Theresa took early retirement from the Social Security Administration and entered Starr King School for the Ministry. She graduated with a Masters of Divinity in 2007 and UU Marin ordained her that same year. After serving an internship in Annapolis, Maryland, Rev. Theresa served the UU Church of Ogden, Utah for seven years. They have honored her by naming her Minister Emerita. After returning to California, Rev. Theresa served as a part time minister for the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians and later as an interim minister for the UU’s of Petaluma. She is now retired and happy to be back at UU Marin. Anne and Theresa are both active in the Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association. As our affiliated minister, Rev. Theresa offers occasional worship services and sometimes teaches classes.
Religious Exploration (RE)
Rev. Lynne Scarpa, Director of Family Ministries
Email: revlynne@uumarin.org
Raised in the Bay Area, Rev. Lynne graduated with a degree in Water Resources, and has taught science for elementary schools in both outdoor and classroom settings. After graduating from seminary, she was ordained by the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) and coordinated religious education and volunteer programs among other roles. After seven years, she left ministry to raise her two sons, yet continued to coordinate and teach religious education as a volunteer. Now that her sons are adults, Rev. Lynne returns to ministry as our Director of Family Ministries. She strives to provide a robust Sunday program for our children, as well as creating events for families to connect with one another. Rev. Lynne encourages play-based learning in the Sunday morning programs which includes a new in-person table top role playing adventures for our older children. She collaborates with Rev. Lovell to include our youth in worship and interactive holiday services.
Luka Coole, Youth Advisor
Email: luka@uumarin.org
Luka Coole is a third generation UU, born and raised in Sonoma County. They have previously studied early childhood education, though they are currently pursuing degrees in theater arts and fashion design. Working with children and families has been a big part of their life and one of their many passions, mainly taking the form of supporting children with special needs and their families. Luka has attended UU Marin since August 2018, volunteering as an RE teacher. Now, they are delighted to serve on the RE team as our Elementary Age Childhood Coordinator and work with the elementary class while assisting Debra with the preschool and kindergartners.
Debra Bright, Early Childhood Coordinator
Email: Debra@uumarin.org
Debra is happy to be working with the birth-to-five year olds in RE. As a retired pediatrician, it is a pleasure for her to be in the company of all types of children. Her children’s experience in RE over the years gave them a personal depth of experience unparalleled elsewhere in their lives. Debra is a lifetime UUer, and wherever she has moved, she has always found home in the local UU community. She arrived at UU Marin in the fall of 2007. A warm welcome and lifetime friendships were what kept her coming back. Debra’s family background is multi-racial. She loves singing hymns, doing yoga, and walking outdoors.
Music Programs
Chip Colvin, Music Director
Email: mUUsic@uumarin.org
A new transplant to the Bay Area, Chip is thrilled to be back living on the west coast!
Chip earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance with minors in Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance at a small liberal arts college in Houston, TX. He then went on to earn his Master’s Degree from the University of Southern California in Keyboard Collaborative Arts. Chip has had a wide-ranging career as a pianist, conductor, teacher, and music director.
Milton Wong, Pianist
Email: pianist@uumarin.org
Milton works with numbers by day at CSAA Insurance Group but fills his evenings and weekends with various musical activities. Chamber music being his favorite musical genre, he plays piano, violin, and viola in several freelance chamber music ensembles in the Bay Area. Milton graduated with a minor in music, has a lot of accompanying and orchestral experience, and has been the pianist at UU Marin since 1993.
Administrator
Monica Steward
| office@uumarin.org | Phone: (415) 578 9577 |
Monica is a UU, who has been affiliated with congregations in the cities where she has previously lived. She comes to us with a wealth of diverse work experience as a former communications director, housing director, and teacher of English as a second language. She grew up in New Orleans, and has lived in Arkansas and the East Bay. She recently moved to Novato and feels that finding the position working with us “is a blessing.”