Please Welcome MVUC’s Settled Minister Candidate
— Reverend Ian White Maher —
Announcement from the
Ministerial Search Committee and the
MVUC Board of Trustees
Beloved MVUC Community,
It is with great delight and anticipation that we announce the Reverend Ian White Maher as our candidate for the settled ministry at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, pending a congregational vote May 7th. He will join us here in Alexandria for “Candidating Week” activities April 30th to May 7th and preach both Sundays that week. Assuming a positive endorsement at the Congregational meeting on May 7th, he will begin his ministry with us on August 1, 2023.
Reverend Ian’s approach to ministry is shaped by a clear and demonstrable enthusiasm for connection, community, and spiritual experience. With a passion for social justice, including climate and anti-oppression work, Ian believes in the power of Unitarian Universalism to be a connective and transformative faith both within individual congregations and externally in the world.
Reverend Ian originally hails from New Hampshire and is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist. He will be coming to us from a 2-year interim ministry in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to his time in Salt Lake City, he worked with congregations in Ashby, Massachusetts; Brevard, North Carolina; Brooklyn, New York; and Flushing, New York. The Brooklyn congregation was one he himself founded as a spirituality-first community grounded in contemplation, gratitude, and service.
During his time in Massachusetts, he earned a master’s in divinity from Harvard Divinity School and spent six years living in a Buddhist temple. He was ordained in 2008. Reverend Ian will be accompanied by his partner, Carey Milne, who has two children in their twenties.
Based on our time with him, the many references we spoke with, and our own in-depth exploration of his ministerial record, the Search Committee has found Reverend Ian to be warm, compassionate, energizing, passionate, dynamic, vibrant, deeply spiritual, strongly committed to social and climate justice, creative, and full of good ideas and steadfast commitment. We strongly believe that Reverend Ian’s approach to ministry, leadership, and community aligns with and in many ways exceeds the aspirations of the MVUC congregation as expressed in our cottage meetings, focus groups, and congregational survey.
You can find additional information about Reverend Ian including some of his thoughts on Unitarian Universalism today and some recent sermons at: https://www.ianwhitemaher.com/. We encourage you to explore this site and enjoy his sermons and writings there as we look ahead to Candidating Week.
Details about the activities planned for Candidating Week, April 30-May 7, will be forthcoming soon.
As we conclude our congregation’s interim work and enter a new era of ministry at MVUC, let us all prepare to warmly welcome Reverend Ian White Maher with excitement, joy, and open minds and hearts!
Your MVUC Search Committee
Donna, Tony, Carolyn, Evan, Laura, Oscar, and Tom,
search@mvuc.org