Church Staff

Rev. Barbara R. Threet, Minister

Our Minister, the Rev. Barbara Threet, was raised in rural upstate New York, where she and her daughters first found a Unitarian Universalist Church nearly 30 years ago. After moving to San Diego, they were very active in First Unitarian of San Diego for many years. Both her daughters were very active in the UU youth program there, and Barbara was a youth advisor for Junior and/or Senior High youth for over a decade, as well as serving on several other church committees. She also was taught the UUA curriculum About Your Sexuality several times to both these ages, and was a teacher trainer of that curriculum for over a decade in CA, AZ, HI and NV. After her daughters had gone off to college, both in Massachusetts, she moved and became active in the UU church in the Santa Cruz area.

Barbara entered Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California in the fall of 1998, and graduated in May of 2002, after doing a year’s internship with the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, CA. While in seminary, she was particularly interested in church and UU history, and in Hebrew scriptures. In her third year, she was the recipient of the St. Lawrence Universalist Fellowship, which included being the teaching assistant for the UU history course. She also was selected to design and teach a semester-long course at Starr King examining the intersection between church history and Biblical interpretation, and, along with a classmate, a semester-long course in the craft of creating Worship services. She then spent a fascinating year as a chaplain in the forensic unit of Napa State Hospital, serving those found not guilty of various crimes by reason of insanity.

In large part due to a desire to be nearer to her daughters and grandsons who had settled in Western Massachusetts, she decided to seek for a church in New England. She was called to First Parish Church in Fitchburg, MA, where she was ordained in October of 2003, and where she served for four years. She was a member of the Clara Barton Board of Trustees for three years, and an officer in the Clara Barton UU Minister’s Association for two years. She also served in the community as a member of the Latino Coalition, and was a co-founder of a mentoring program for at-risk junior high school students.

In May of 2007, Rev. Barbara was called as the new settled minister at Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church, and she is very much looking forward to serving many years with this congregation and in this vibrant community. She is particularly drawn to the church’s cohesion, inclusivity and honesty, as well as the church’s active involvement in the local community and in the larger UU movement. She’s also intrigued by the SpiritPlay program for the younger children, delighted with the value placed on music and good worship, and proud to be serving in a Welcoming Congregation. For her, the Holy is most visible in the interactions between people, and in attending to the Web that binds all life together.

Rev. Barbara is an avid reader (history, theology, current events, and good fiction), a sometimes-gardener and hiker, a football fan, and she enjoys puzzles of many kinds. She enjoys time with her adult daughters Meg (and son-in-law Vincent) and Serena, and is the doting grandmother of Sebastian (11), Elliot (7), Tovey (2) and Finnegan (born May ’07).

Nita Penfold, Director of Religious Education for Children and Youth

Nita has been a religious educator for 21 years, serving the First Parish in Milton MA for 14 years as Director of Religious Education, where she co-developed the popular Spirit Play program. She then served the First Parish in Lexington MA for 2 years as an Interim DRE. Since then, she has been traveling the continent giving Spirit Play trainings for adults and teaching spirituality and arts graduate courses part time at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton MA. The UUA published her essay, Spirituality and the Arts in Children’s Programming, as part of their Tapestry of Faith online resources.

Nita is thrilled to be back in a church working with children and youth again and eager to help them find ways to develop answers stemming from their deep questions. You are likely to see her wearing a funny hat on Sunday morning during social hour, so she can be easily found.

Nita’s background includes a BA in Communication and the Arts from Empire State College in Buffalo, a Masters in Writing from Lesley University in Cambridge, and a Doctorate in Ministry from Wisdom University in CA. She ran her own Montessori school for several years, and has led programs for children in creative drama, mask-making, and Orff-Schulwerk music. Her mantra is creativity and she is a published poet and an exhibiting artist in mixed media and assemblage.

Nita has two daughters and four grandchildren and lives in Melrose with her husband, Nick Page, song-leader and composer.

Mary Neumann, Music Director

Mary Neumann, Music Director, is in her fifth year of leading the music program at MUUC. A life-long UU, Mary earned credentialing from the Unitarian Universalist Association Music Leadership Program in the spring of 2011. She is an active member of the UU Musician�s Network and serves as Disrict Liason. Mary is a conductor, vocalist and flute soloist performing throughout the Boston area. She is Artistic Director of the Halalisa Singers, a 30 member world music chorus, is on the faculty of the Powers Music School and has a private teaching studio in her home. She has earned a Bachelor of Science from Case Western Reserve University, a First Diploma from the Hochschule fuer Music und darstellende Kunst �Mozarteum� in Salzburg, Austria, and a Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Tal Zilber, Organist / Pianist

Tal Zilber, Pianist/Organist joins the MUUC staff in the fall of 2011 and enjoys an unusually diverse career of classical, jazz, and pop performances as well as composing, arranging, and improvising. Tal has appeared as a soloist with the Ramat Hasharon Orchestra in Tel Aviv and his recordings were featured on the Galei Zahal radio station in Israel. Tal is currently pursuing a Doctorate Degree in Contemporary Improvisation at the New England Conservatory in the studios of Ran Blake and Bert Seager. In addition to his performing career, Tal teaches piano lessons, accompanies the Boston City Singers Youth Choir, and gives educational presentations at schools all around the United States to spread a joy and appreciation for music.

Patti McAlarney, Church Administrator

Patti joined the church staff in February 2007. As Church Administrator Patti is responsible for directing the administrative affairs of the church such as scheduling of events, rental of church space and promoting communication among the church congregation and throughout the wider Melrose community.

Patti brings to the position a long-standing involvement with the city. From 1995 until 2005 Patti was responsible for the tri-annual production of the Melrose Community Calendar and weekly publication of “Here’s Melrose,” featured in the Melrose Free Press. During this time Patti also served as the Secretary to the Community Coalition of Melrose and the Melrose Youth Task Force and as the Community Liaison to the Melrose Partnership for Healthy Youth. Patti lives in Boxford with her husband and four children.

Louis Butler, Church Sexton

Lou came on staff in 1999. He is responsible for general building and grounds maintenance and repair. Lou also takes care of the set up and clean up of meetings, special events, weddings, and funerals held at the church. He is supervised by the Church Administrator and the Property Committee.

Lou came to MUUC with a significant employment history in facilities management and engineering. At one time he supervised a commercial cleaning service. Lou has been a resident of Melrose for 33 years. He and his wife, Helene, have three children and four grandchildren. In his free time, Lou enjoys woodworking and bowling, when he is not happily occupied with caring for his grandchildren.

Contact Us

Church Office

The Church Office is located on the west side of the church and can be accessed via the side door.
Call (781) 665-7504 or email Office@melroseuu.org

During the summer (June - September), the church office is closed. If you need to contact the church for any reason, call (781) 665-7504 for a message with further instructions or email the Church Office or the Board President.

Director of Religious Education

The Director of Religious Education's office is also located at the church.

Contact Information

Minister	Rev. Barbara Threet	Minister@melroseuu.org
Church Administrator	Patti McAlarney	Office@melroseuu.org
Director of Religious Education	Nita Penfold	DRE@melroseuu.org
Music Director	Mary Neumann	MusicDirector@melroseuu.org
Organist/Pianist	Tal Zilber	OrganistPianist@melroseuu.org
Church Sexton	Lou Butler	custodian@melroseuu.org
Board President	Kelly Whalen	President@melroseuu.org
Board Vice President	Eric Lambiaso	VicePresident@melroseuu.org
Clerk	Michele Goody	Clerk@melroseuu.org
Treasurer	Wendy Badger	Treasurer@melroseuu.org
Collector	Mazie McLeod	Collector@melroseuu.org
Adult Enrichment Chairperson	Vicki Kaufman	AdultEnrichment@melroseuu.org
Denominational Affairs Chairperson	Nyla McCullough	DenominationalAffairs@melroseuu.org
Finance Chairperson	Tim Powell-Flatt	Finance@melroseuu.org
Fundraising Chairperson	Mary Delahanty and Melissa Ferris	Fundraising@melroseuu.org
Green Sanctuary	Gretchen Locke
Information Technology Chairperson	Jeff Morrison	IT@melroseuu.org
Membership Chairperson	Patricia Ferris	Membership@melroseuu.org
Music Chairperson	Gail Carey	Music@melroseuu.org
Partner Church	Lauren Falls	SocialJustice@melroseuu.org
Property Chairperson	David Bliss John Raymond	Property@melroseuu.org
Religious Education Chairperson	Kathy Keleher Victor Cruz	ReligiousEducation@melroseuu.org
Religious Services Chairperson	Jill Libby	ReligiousServices@melroseuu.org
Social Justice Chairperson	Lauren Falls	SocialJustice@melroseuu.org
Welcoming Congregation Chairperson	Lauren Falls	SocialJustice@melroseuu.org