Minister, Staff, & Elected Leaders

Rev. Erik David Carlson (he, him, his) is a life-long UU who has held leadership positions at every level of our Association, including the Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Central Midwest District (now MidAmerica) and the UUA Board of Trustees.  Rev. Carlson has served 17 of the last 20 years in UU congregations and is currently a hospital chaplain working in the Ascension Health system while completing graduate studies at Northwestern University.

Prior to ordination, Rev. Carlson served as intern minister for the three New Orleans area UU congregations who were struggling with rebuilding their churches and communities in the post-Katrina period. 

His work on technology and UU evangelism was a featured essay in the 2008 Jenkin Lloyd Jones Press publication Reverend X: How Generation-X Ministers are Shaping Unitarian Universalism, and his leadership during the 2020 protests in Kenosha was the subject of a national piece aired on HBO’s Vice News.

An accomplished songwriter, Rev. Carlson often performs original music in the UU worship services and enjoys his growing collection of stringed instruments.  He is dedicated to the spiritual growth of our young people. Rev. Carlson lives in South Milwaukee with his wife, the Rev. Kimberlee Tomczak Carlson, Minister of Faith Formation at the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, his 13-year-old son Miles and two opinionated felines.

He is looking forward to meeting everyone and beginning this exciting collaborative relationship with Unitarian Church North.