Grenada RPCV Rev. Nathan W. Detering's experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the West Indies, far from all he had known, gave him his first real opportunity to hear his call to the ministry
Rev. Nathan W. Detering
UUAC at First Parish in Sherborn welcomed the Rev. Nathan Detering as our settled minister in August, 2003. As a candidate for ministry at UUAC, Nathan stood out with his warmth and humor as well as his very spiritual presence both in and out of the pulpit. In his words:
I love being a minister, every part of it - from preaching sermons, to crafting wedding ceremonies, to spending an evening with high school youth groups talking about things that really matter to them. Every day my vocational choice is clearly affirmed, and this fills me with great excitement about the future, and gives me real joy. I am fortunate to able to share my enthusiasm with everyone at UUAC.
Recent Sermons
Personal Background
Nathan grew up in St. Louis, MO, the first of three children. All three were baptized in the Catholic Church and attended parochial schools through high school. His undergraduate degree is from Beloit College in Beloit, WI, where he concentrated in sociology and psychology, and also earned a Certificate in Education. He graduated from Beloit in 1994.
Over time Nathan fell away from his Catholic upbringing, and found in its place something new and authentic. His experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the West Indies, far from all he had known, gave him his first real opportunity to hear his call to the ministry. During this time he became friends with a UU minister and his wife, and recognized through them how the role of minister in the Free Church could satisfy his own calling.
Upon his return from the Peace Corps in 1997 he applied to seminary, choosing the program at Boston University's School of Theology, for which he was awarded a full Merit Scholarship, and from which he graduated Cum Laude in May 2001. He was married in June 1998, and moved to Boston in time to begin his schooling in September of 1998. His training for the ministry included a part-time student ministry at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Milford from September 1999 to May 2000, a hospital chaplain training program in the summer of 2000, his full-time internship at First Parish in Lincoln, MA, a brief settlement as the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Erie, PA, and now his position as the settled minister of UUAC.
Nathan is married to Karen, an English woman he met during his Peace Corps experience in Grenada. They are in their early to mid 30's, and they have a three year old son and a baby daughter.
Again in Nathan's words:
I came to UUAC Sherborn filled with hope for the future, promise for our relationship as congregation and minister, trust in the kind of community we build together, and belief in the ways this church and our Unitarian Universalist faith inspire us to seek our higher selves and work for a better world. This is the vision of ministry to which I have been called, and I am blessed to have found in UUAC an enduring answer.
