Committee on Shared Ministry

The Committee on Shared Ministry meets monthly. Our role, as described the UUFC Bylaws, is to facilitate the healthy and effective functioning of the ministries of UUFC, including, but not limited to, that of ministers. This role includes dealing with any conflicts within the Fellowship that could affect the effectiveness of our ministry together. Please feel free to call any of the members of the COSM (Megan Johnson, courtney singer, and Meg Brady) with any questions, issues, or concerns you may have.

Board of Directors – 2023-2024

The Board of Directors (also called the Board of Trustees) meets monthly,The agenda for upcoming board meeting can be found HERE and is posted one week in advance of UUFC Board Meetings. The meetings generally take place on the third Thursday of each month. All members are welcome to attend. If you are interested in attending a meeting, or speaking at a meeting, please read the following: GUIDELINES for Members and Guests at UUFC Board Meetings

Angela Risdon, President

Angela moved to Chico in 2006 and immediately joined UUFC.  Angela was long time member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin.  Angela has served this fellowship in various roles including twice as Board President and Chair of the Worship Committee.  Angela retired in 2018 after a long career in environmental management.  She is looking forward to working with the entire UUFC congregation as we journey “toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

Lucy Sperlin, Past President

Lucy became a UU as a teen in Seattle and has been involved in UU in Chico (1963 -1976 and 1999 to present) as well as Eugene and Corvallis, Oregon. As past president of 3 different UU Churches, she enjoys organizational development. With degrees in Anthropology, she served as director of OSU’s Horner Museum, taught Museum Studies, and served on Boards of state, regional and national museum organizations. Currently, Lucy is raising a ‘grandson of the heart’ and volunteers for the Butte County Historical Society.

Dave Keller, Treasurer and Trustee

Dave joined UUFC in 2009 shortly after moving to Chico to teach Biology at Chico State. His two boys, Ben and Alex, attend the kid’s RE program and Dave sings in the choir. Go Tenors! He likes the Unitarian Church because of the openness to different ideas and beliefs. It didn’t take long for the church to feel like an extended family. Thank you UUFC!

Bob Crowe, Vice President

Bob returned to Chico from Oakland in 2017 to be near family. After high school in Oroville, he graduated from Chico State, married, had a daughter, and then a grandson. Bob has spent most of his life in the Bay area, primarily Oakland, where he enjoyed a 20-year career as a professional painter and the same tenure as a Unitarian Universalist. He is pleased to be continuing as a member of our Board.

Merrily Stover

Merrily Stover fell in love with the Chico Fellowship in 2003 when she and her husband, Larry Jendro, first attended worship services here.  She has since served as a UUFC Board member multiple times, over many years, under several ministers!    A long-time Unitarian, she has been active in Unitarian churches in Honolulu, Monterey, London, England, and Washington, DC. An anthropologist by training, she lived and did research in Samoa and American Samoa in the South Pacific.   Now retired, she was Professor of Anthropology and Dean of Arts and Humanities for the University of Maryland Global Campus.  A pioneer in online learning, she taught and administered graduate and undergraduate distance learning courses– including from her home on the Feather River in Oroville!

Asya Lesly, Secretary

I grew up in Amarillo, Texas and spent my high school and college years in the Dallas area. After receiving a Master of Occupational Therapy, I moved to Luray, VA to work in a small nursing home. I met the father of my future sons, and he introduced me to the Harrisonburg Unitarian Fellowship. I immediately knew that I had found my spiritual community. We moved to Mineral, CA, so that he could take a position at Lassen Volcanic National Park. I joined the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Chico and attended the Woman and Religion PCD retreat for the first time in 2000. I earned a Master of Divinity from Starr King School of the Ministry. I completed a chaplaincy internship in Harrisonburg Virginia. I have served on the board and as the part-time religious education director and board member at the UUFC. I was ordained by the UUFC congregation in 2015. I am currently working as an occupational therapist and living in Chico with Mike, our two dogs, two cats, and our indoor/outdoor squirrel.

Bob Caldwell