Rev. Julie Forest

Our Minister, Reverend Julie Forest

I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan into a Roman Catholic family. As a child, I was deeply religious, but left this faith tradition because it was not inclusive enough for me. Like so many other Detroiters, I loved the Tigers and music. My passion for music was nurtured by the many great radio stations that could be heard in Detroit, like CKLW and WXYZ on the A.M. side and freeform WABX and CJOM on the F.M. side. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in psychology, but also spent time studying poetry as well as Eastern thought.

I moved to San Francisco and shifted my allegiance from baseball to the 49’ers football team. I discovered Unitarian Universalism by attending a class on dream work offered at the Unitarian Universalist church. I was married in the beautiful sanctuary of First Church in 1993. In 1994, Maren and I moved to Seattle, Washington where our daughter Ruby was born. Prior to the ministry, I had several careers involving music; including a career in non-commercial public radio as producer, host, dj and music director. Music is an important part of my ministry. I believe that music is and has always been a conduit to the sacred.

I attended the ecumenical seminary at Seattle University. While there I focused on preaching, church dynamics and spiritual leadership. I have served several churches in the Pacific Northwest including the Bainbridge Island church for two years as interim minister and the Cascade UU Church as consulting minister. In the fall of 2009 I returned to the Midwest to serve Unitarian Church North as its 5th settled minister.

When I discovered and explored Unitarian Universalism I found a tradition that had structure and expectations and yet was large enough to hold my ever expanding notion of what truth, soul, beauty, interconnection, love and God meant. It was large enough twenty years ago and it remains large enough today.

Unitarian Universalism is a living tradition that is formed and shaped by six sources. The first of these sources is direct experience of mystery and wonder. If it is to be relevant, it is crucial that one’s faith tradition honor one’s direct experience rather than control, interfere with, subvert or prevent it. The second source is the prophetic words and deeds of women and men that challenge us to fight evil and injustice in this world. We gain strength and wisdom in studying the living people as well as the prophets of old, who have worked for justice in this world. We are also sustained by the wisdom, scriptures and practices of Eastern religion.

Our fourth source is the Bible. There are many ways to use and abuse the collection of books known as the Bible. The Unitarian Universalist perspective works for me. It honors and appreciates Jewish and Christian scriptures that call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Our fifth source calls us to honor our humanity and grow our sense of what it means to be human in our world today. It also invites us to use the knowledge gained from science and reason to complement rather than constrain our faith. Finally we are formed, shaped and nurtured as religious beings by the wisdom and stories embedded in earth based spiritual traditions, which invite us into a different kind of literacy and a radical understanding of the interconnectedness of all life. Unitarian Universalism is truly a rich and living tradition.

We gather to create a religious community to which we can bring the fullness of our humanity - our joys and sorrows, our longing for spiritual renewal, our commitment to promote greater justice in the world and our efforts to grow in wisdom, generosity and compassion. We invite you to participate with us so that we might journey together in this ongoing creation. Whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey, you are welcome here. I hope to meet you soon.