Guest Ministers at HUU
Three ministers who have spoken at HUU in the past years (Emma Chattin, Mike Quayle, and Kirk Ballin) are regular pulpit guests at our Fellowship. The Sunday Services Committee has created a “Sunday ministry” plan, where one Sunday each month one of these ministers will speak. Each minister will come once every three months. Their topics will be determined by the ministers and the Sunday Services Committee. We are open to topic suggestions from the congregation, as well. The other services each month will be scheduled as before with a mix of speakers from the congregation and the community. Our regular commitment to these three ministers doesn’t preclude inviting other ministers for other Sundays during the year.
Our hope is that this system will continue to provide more continuity for the year’s services and allow us all to know these talented individuals better. Also, with three different ministerial voices and perspectives, we hope to broaden and deepen our spiritual lives. All parties have committed to a year’s trial of this system. We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Each minister brings unique gifts to this endeavor. Below are biographical sketches for each of our guest ministers:
Emma Chattin
Emma was born in the Allegheny Mountains. She has been blessed to live in many different places, all over the state of Virginia. In 1997, she discovered and joined the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a denomination founded in 1968 with a primary outreach to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning individuals. Soon after, she resumed her studies to enter the ministry. She was ordained in 2004 at MCC Richmond. Her father and her Uncle, both Methodist ministers, participated in the service (at 87 years of age, her father still preaches from time to time). Emma currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia, with Heather, her life-partner of 10 years. While she lives and works in Northern Virginia, she currently spends a portion of the weekend in the Shenandoah Valley, and is hoping to plant an MCC Church here. She enjoys religious diversity, and her theological perspective can be succinctly summed up with the words of her bumper sticker: "God [Divinity] is too big to fit into one religion."
Kirk Ballin
Kirk was born in Colorado Springs. Colorado, and lived in many places in the U.S., Geneva, Switzerland and Kuwait. He obtained his BA from Colorado College, Masters work in Cultural Anthropology, University of Virginia, and Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. Kirk has been a UU Minister for 25 years and served 3 UU Congregations: Meadville, PA (1984-1987); Roanoke, VA (1987-1999); Lynchburg, VA (1999-2003). He worked as a Trauma Unit Chaplain with Carilion Health System, and Executive Director of the National Conference for Community-Roanoke and Justice - Roanoke Region. Currently, Kirk is Program Coordinator of AgrAbility Virginia, a joint USDA funded project of Virginia Tech and Easter Seals Virginia, serving farmers and ranchers with disabilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is married to Katherine Devine, a Roanoke artist and teacher. The couple have four children between them, Alex (23), Ivan (21), Adrienne (21), and Isha (16). Kirk also has a loving history with HUU, having provided ministerial services dating back to the earliest years of the Fellowship.
Mike Quayle
Mike served for nearly twenty years as a United Methodist pastor in Ohio and Michigan. He is a graduate of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH and Asbury University in Kentucky. He also did work at Old Dominion University, Wright State University, Wayne State University, and Northern Michigan University. In his previous ministires his passion was linking church and community believing that social justice and faith cannot be separate. He has been a strong advocate for GLBT concerns and worked for the full inclusion of GLBT clergy in the United Methodist Church. When it became obvious that this would not happen, he made the decision to leave the United Methodist Ministry. Mike was also active in the Episcopal Church in Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan. Mike lives here in Harrisonburg with his partner and has three grown children; Michael, Rebecca, and Bethany. He also has one grandchild, Hailey who often comes with him to HUU. Mike has a love for preaching and teaching. After leaving the ministry, Mike was a social worker and most recently taught special education. He is now in the process of credentialing toward ordination in the UUA. He also works part-time with HUU as a lay Coordinator of Congregational Care and Development.
