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The Rev. Alison Miller (above) was nominated as a candidate for UUA president by the UUA Presidential Search Committee in January. Her website: www.alisonforuuapresident.org
The UUA Presidential Search Committee today introduced a new candidate in the race for president of the Unitarian Universalist Association: the Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray.
The committee had nominated the Rev. Alison Miller and the Rev. Sue Phillips in January, but Phillips withdrew a month later. UUA bylaws do not allow the search committee to nominate candidates after February 1, so Frederick-Gray will need the support of at least twenty-five congregations to become an official candidate. UUA Moderator Jim Key encouraged congregations “to support the democratic process by supporting the petition of this candidate to ensure that we have a contested election for president.” [Update: Frederick-Gray filed her petition and was certified by the UUA secretary on April 11, 2016.] Other candidates may also enter the race until February 1, 2017. Delegates to the 2017 General Assembly in New Orleans will elect a new president to a six-year term.
In naming Frederick-Gray a candidate seeking nomination, the search committee said, “We unanimously endorse her candidacy equally to that of the Rev. Alison Miller,” adding that the committee considers both women “strong, visionary, and spiritually grounded leaders.”
The Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray has served as lead minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix since 2008. She previously served as minister of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown, Ohio, where she was a leader in congregation-based community organizing efforts, and served as intern at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, Tennessee. After leading the UU response to Arizona’s anti-immigrant laws in 2010, she became lead organizer for the Arizona Immigration Ministry and a key organizer of the 2012 Justice General Assembly. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Harvard Divinity School. She lives with her husband, the Rev. Brian Frederick-Gray, and their 9-year-old son, Henry. www.susanfrederickgray.com
See also our coverage of the search committee’s nomination of the Rev. Alison Miller in January. Her website is www.alisonforuuapresident.org.