Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: 412-322-4261

Activist Minister to be installed in November on the North Side

There's a new name in the North Side: David McFarland. He arrived as Allegheny Unitarian Universalist's church's minister last fall and will be officially installed this coming November 6^th. The Reverend David V. McFarland arrives to Pittsburgh from Germany where he was working on his Ph.D., Applied Ethics with the working title: "Banking in Dignity: Applying the Ethic of Human Dignity at the World Bank." Before that he and his husband, Tim Nuttle, an ecologist, lived in Utah where McFarland was a minister at the Cache Valley Unitarian Universalists Church. David graduated from UCLA and Harvard Divinity School and was ordained at The First Church in Boston (Unitarian Universalist) in 1996, where he served as intern minister, following which he directed an AIDS ministry in Provincetown, Massachusetts. David has been a panelist or participant in various business ethics, anti-discrimination, homelessness, and gay/lesbian workshops and advocacy groups. A gifted preacher and singer, David McFarland brings a lively style of Sunday service to the North Side church along with a passion for social and economic justice.

Reverend David views his UU ministry as one of "working with free spirits serving a reality-based faith." He describes Unitarian Universalists as "free-thinking mystics with hands, individuals who deal creatively with life as it is while working to transform life through love, creating a new reality." He continues that "Allegheny UU Church is a great place to do this work because people are less invested in their Sunday-go-to-church-meeting egos and more invested in working together to celebrate and transform life."

The calling of Rev. McFarland concludes a year-long, nationwide search for a minister to lead the almost 100 member congregation.  "Allegheny UU Church has tripled in size in the past decade, " Pat Downey, Chair of the Search Committee commented.  "We set out to find a leader who could help us continue that pattern of growth, while remaining true to our commitment to peace and justice work both in the local and global communities. Our search committee interviewed a number of excellent candidates and was confident that Rev. McFarland was our most qualified candidate, someone with incredible enthusiasm, energy, thoughtfulness, who could offer celebratory Sunday services, provide leadership of our congregation, and continue our history of an activist ministry."

Participating in November's installation service will be Rev. Dr. Forrest Church, David McFarland's mentor, who is currently serving his twenty-seventh year as Senior Minister of All Souls Church (Unitarian) in Manhattan. Rev. Dr. Church has written or edited 22 books, including: Our Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism (Beacon, 1989); God and Other Famous Liberals (Simon and Schuster, 1991); and Bringing God Home (St. Martins, 2003). For two years (1987-88), Rev. Dr. Church wrote a weekly column for the Chicago Tribune; fifty of these columns are collected in Everyday Miracles: Stories From Life (Harper and Row, 1988). He served two terms at Dartmouth College as Montgomery Fellow and visiting professor (spring/summer 1989). Rev. Dr. Forest Church will be leading a Unitarian Universalist service at First UU Church in Shadyside at seven o'clock on November 5, 2005, after a half hour hymn/sing. The public is cordially invited to attend.

The November celebration of David McFarland's ministry here will also include Rev. Mark Belletini of the First Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church of Columbus. Rev. Belletini has been instrumental in producing Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnal, along with writing several of the songs included therein. Rev. Belletini was ordained in 1979 after completing his studies at Starr King Theological Seminary in Oakland, California. An advocate of gay, lesbian and bisexual support in UU churches, Rev. Belletini has worked on gender balance issues in several UU congregations.

Also joining the festivities will be Rev. Dr. Art McDonald, former minister and Director of Social Advocacy at Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church, who is now the minister at First Universalist Church of Essex, Massachusetts. Apart from rebuilding AUUC, after its membership had dropped precipitously, Rev. Dr. McDonald, a former Catholic priest, was integrally involved in the social justice community in the city, working with the Thomas Merton Center, Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN), and North Side tenants groups, along with teaching classes at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church's stated mission is to offer a strong, liberal religious presence in the Pittsburgh area with a high priority on social activism.  Sunday services are held at 11 a.m.  The church is located at 416 West North Avenue.  Further information can be obtained by calling 412-322-4261.