News: September 5th, 2025
Greetings First UU Community!
It is with joy and gratitude that I introduce myself as your ministerial intern for the upcoming church year. My name is Nina and I am a fourth-year Unitarian Universalist seminarian at Starr King School for the Ministry. My professional background in education and public policy has stoked flames of passion for community care and equity in my life. I arrive to this internship with an open and curious heart about how we can continue to use our shared theology for the good of all. I have been greatly impacted by my studies on moral injury and conflict resolution and am curious about the transformative work that each of you are doing in the world. I am truly grateful to join your beloved community as your ministerial intern as we welcome this new church year.
These are precarious times. I believe our commitment and ability to turn toward each other and utilize skills of returning to covenant and nurturing beloved community across lines of difference are directly correlated to our ability to thrive. The work of building our future can only be done together, and I believe care is our greatest currency. I see these values reflected in your covenant, too, specifically the focus on encouraging one another. May we find our interdependence fortifying as we enter another year of doing the work of justice and love.
It feels that a couple times a year we happen upon a season that surely concerns humanity’s search for divinity dwelling in the world. Raised in the Lutheran faith, the silent and eager awaiting of advent was an early lesson on holiness for my young system. Then of course there’s spring, a time of renewal and rebirth. And now it is time to return from the joyful spaciousness of summer, back to morning alarm clocks, carpool schedules, class syllabi, eventually cooling weather. Autumn may not typically have an air of divinity, but there is sacredness in this time, too! This season of order, of harvest, of transition harkens a time of gathering and tending. Every part is necessary to turn the wheel of the year.
I look forward to opportunities to meet each of you and learn about First UU through your stories and experiences. I believe Unitarian Universalism is uniquely poised to meet this difficult moment and am eager to hear about your hopes for the future of this community and our denomination.
Blessings for all to come!
Nina Kuzniak (she/they)
Ministerial Intern
It is with joy and gratitude that I introduce myself as your ministerial intern for the upcoming church year. My name is Nina and I am a fourth-year Unitarian Universalist seminarian at Starr King School for the Ministry. My professional background in education and public policy has stoked flames of passion for community care and equity in my life. I arrive to this internship with an open and curious heart about how we can continue to use our shared theology for the good of all. I have been greatly impacted by my studies on moral injury and conflict resolution and am curious about the transformative work that each of you are doing in the world. I am truly grateful to join your beloved community as your ministerial intern as we welcome this new church year.
These are precarious times. I believe our commitment and ability to turn toward each other and utilize skills of returning to covenant and nurturing beloved community across lines of difference are directly correlated to our ability to thrive. The work of building our future can only be done together, and I believe care is our greatest currency. I see these values reflected in your covenant, too, specifically the focus on encouraging one another. May we find our interdependence fortifying as we enter another year of doing the work of justice and love.
It feels that a couple times a year we happen upon a season that surely concerns humanity’s search for divinity dwelling in the world. Raised in the Lutheran faith, the silent and eager awaiting of advent was an early lesson on holiness for my young system. Then of course there’s spring, a time of renewal and rebirth. And now it is time to return from the joyful spaciousness of summer, back to morning alarm clocks, carpool schedules, class syllabi, eventually cooling weather. Autumn may not typically have an air of divinity, but there is sacredness in this time, too! This season of order, of harvest, of transition harkens a time of gathering and tending. Every part is necessary to turn the wheel of the year.
I look forward to opportunities to meet each of you and learn about First UU through your stories and experiences. I believe Unitarian Universalism is uniquely poised to meet this difficult moment and am eager to hear about your hopes for the future of this community and our denomination.
Blessings for all to come!
Nina Kuzniak (she/they)
Ministerial Intern
