On Sunday, May 20th, FPC held a special meeting to vote on calling the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum as our new settled minister.  After a very thoughtful discussion, the vote was held. 160 members were present and we successfully voted to call Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum to be our new settled minister. And she accepted! 

We look forward to welcoming Rev. Cindy and family in August. Until then, much will be taking place over the summer, as FPC transitions to a new ministry. 

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum comes to us from serving a 14-year ministry with the Universalist Unitarian Church of East Liberty, in Clarklake, Michigan. After many years of serving in a small church, she is excited to work with a larger congregation (although her church is sad to see her go). She has also previously served the UU church in Gardner, Massachusetts and has served as a co-minister for a summer ministry in addition to her intern minister experience. Cindy has a BA from the University of Michigan in English and Psychology, an MA from the University of Georgia in Literature, and a Doctor of Ministry from the Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Rev. Cindy was raised UU and first felt the call to ministry after taking a course that focused on literature centered around the Holocaust. She describes herself as a spiritual humanist who draws from a wide variety of religious and secular sources for her sermons. Rev. Dr. Landrum is married to Peter Morrison, also an ordained UU minister, who currently works as a professor and teaches in prisons. They have a daughter, Caty (an avid reader and French horn player), who will be entering 9th grade in the fall.  They have family in Rhode Island as well as Michigan.

Rev. Dr. Landrum has been very active in the UUA and has published a book of sermons, two books of Zentangle mandalas to color, and has had writings published in UU World on multiple occasions. This past winter, Rev. Dr. Landrum was selected to deliver a sermon at the UU Ministers Association conference of ministers, a recognition of her preaching ability. She has been very active in social justice work and spent 10 years working toward getting a non-discrimination ordinance adopted in her city (Jackson, MI) to guarantee protection for LGBTQ+ individuals, which was just passed last year.  She has also served on the board of social justice organizations for both racial and LGBTQ issues.  

Special thanks to our Settled Ministerial Search Committee who volunteered many hours to bring us a wonderful candidate and a successful vote—Sharon Brownfield (Chair), Troy Liston, Michael Merrill, Kevin O'Brien, Deb O'Connell, Rebecca Stadolnik and Jack Zettler.