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Rev. Marsh will attend the meeting of Interim Ministers in April, 2007.

Reverend John N. Marsh

Serving Congregations

Since 1976 Reverend Marsh has devoted his professional life to  Unitarian Universalist congregations serving as:

John Marsh in suitSpecific accomplishments at each of these Unitarian Universalist communities are outlined in Rev. Marsh's ministerial record.

The achievements of which Rev. Marsh is especially proud include establishing children’s programs in inner city churches in Boston and Los Angeles, re-creating a sense of worship in Edmonton, and outreach to the gay and lesbian community there. 

Author Geoffrey Canada with Rev. Marsh in San Francisco

Author Geoffrey Canada with Rev. Marsh before Canada's guest sermon.

In San Francisco Rev. Marsh established a successful long-term co-ministry after a history of short-term tenures. While there he co-created worship and pastoral associate programs.  His activities also included helping with that church's partner church and social justice projects in partnership with allies who included the Faithful Fools Street Ministry and Habitat for Humanity. 

While focusing on Interim Ministry, Rev. Marsh has been skilled at readying congregations for their next settled ministry, helping them identify and resolve potential festering problems, and rebuilding critical areas of their organizations.

Awards and Publications

2006: Advisor/Consultant to "A Faith-Based Sexuality Education Guide for the Inclusion of Children and Youth with Special Needs" by Sally Patton (scheduled to be available online by summer 2007). This guide is to supplement the "Our Whole Lives" (OWL) curricula.

2004: Unitarian Universalists for Ethical Treatment of Animals Special Award for various works, including commencing an annual service for the "Blessing of the Animals" at the San Francisco Unitarian Universalist Church.

2003: "Margaret Laurence," a biographical essay published in The Online Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography at: www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/ 

2000: "Practicing the Scales of Rejoicing" in Essex Conversations (Skinner Press, UUA, Boston, 2001).

Practicing the Scales of Rejoicing

1999: "Choose Life" in Sermons, Homilies, Reflections on the Death Penalty (published by the American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA).

1998: "Reflections of a Fish Tank Man" in U.U. and ME: Church of the Larger Fellowship Children's Magazine, September 1999, (Vol. 3 No. 2).

Sweetgrass and Cottonwood Smoke1996: Annual Social Justice Award of the Western Canada District of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

1995: "The Unitarian Church of Edmonton," a history printed in Northern Lights, edited by Joan Montagnes, (Moosemilk Press, Edmonton, Alberta).

1994: editor, Sweetgrass and Cottonwood Smoke by Mary Scriver (Moosemilk Press, Edmonton, Alberta).

Higher Education

Rev. Marsh received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduating magna cum laude. He  majored in English literature and took as many theater classes as his schedule allowed.

His two mentors from this period were Joseph Donohue and John Farmakis. Professor Donohue read Shakespeare aloud to his classes in a deep baritone and performed Gilbert and Sullivan on the weekends. The Rev. John Farmakis ministered to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northampton, advised what courses to take in philosophy, and taught Rev. Marsh to take seriously the life of the mind.

Harvard Divinity School

Attending Harvard Divinity School fulfilled a long-held dream.

Conrad Wright taught Rev. Marsh the history of the Unitarian Universalist movement -- how things came to be the way that they are.

When it came to understanding what our denomination should be doing now, James Luther Adams was inspirational with his vision of our church as a collection of free-thinking individuals who, as occasions demand, feel and act together to make a difference in the larger world -- who take the "risk of relating liberal faith to concrete issues."

Two other important influences from this period were Carter Heyward and Nahum Glatzer. Carter Heyward was one of the first women ordained into the Episcopal priesthood. She later came out as a lesbian. She teaches that we should trust our intuition and the longings of our bodies as a source of religious authority.

Nahum Glatzer once described himself as one of the last Pharisees: one who looks to the written religious law as the main source of inspiration. From Glatzer Rev. Marsh took "Classical Jewish Wisdom," a course in the "Book of Job," and "Contemporary Jewish Thought." Our own Beacon Press published many of his books.

In the Denomination and Wider Community

From 1998 to spring of 2003 Rev. Marsh served as the Ministerial Settlement Representative for the Pacific Central District. This involved serving as a consultant to churches who are in search for professional leadership.

Father Roy Bourgeois with Rev. Marsh in San Francisco

Father Roy Bourgeois with Rev. Marsh. Father Roy, a Vietnam veteran turned Catholic priest, founded and led grassroots opposition to the School of the Americas (SOA), a training facility run by the U.S. government to professionalize Latin American military forces. 

While in San Francisco most of Rev. Marsh's community work focused on abolishing the death penalty in California. He was the founding chair of the board of directors of the California People of Faith Working to End the Death Penalty (1987). This is a statewide organization whose mission is "to empower California's diverse faith communities to end the death penalty through advocacy, education, and prayer." While the death penalty has not yet been abolished in California  --  the group continues as an active organization.

During his Spring, 2003 sabbatical Rev. Marsh made weekly visits to two men on death row at the San Quentin Prison.

He has also been an active volunteer at the schools his children attend.  Rev. Marsh served on the San Francisco Public Schools Middle School Language Arts Textbook Selection Committee.

Outlook

"I hope to help the next church I serve grow stronger as an institution and as a progressive force in its community. I look forward to celebrating life's passages with individuals and their families, and to leading public worship. I also hope to continue to be of service to our wider movement.

I believe that the larger world needs the message we have to offer and that our congregations deserve to flourish."