The Reverend Lois E. Van Leer
Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bozeman, where it is my privilege to serve as part-time minister. I came here to Bozeman in 2003 after 20 years of ministry in Corvallis, Oregon as a United Church of Christ minister. My desire to seek a life of personal, intellectual, emotional, religious, spiritual and professional integrity brought me into Unitarian Universalist ministry. I currently hold dual standing with the United Church of Christ and The Unitarian Universalist Association.
At age 18, I served on my home church’s Christian Education Board. At a meeting someone asked if we knew anyone who wanted to go to Africa on a mission trip. I immediately replied “Me!” That trip was full so I ended up going to Turkey for four weeks where we worked in a hospital and traveled extensively. A war broke out between the Turks and the Greeks on Cyprus during that time and for the first time I was exposed to patriotism, nationalism, and war. I also left my appendix in Istanbul. But more importantly, my life was forever impacted and was determined to give back to others the sort of experience I had had. Consequently when I worked at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Corvallis with their youth, I focused on taking them on mission trips. In my eleven years there, we took somewhere around 12 mission trips both in country and internationally. Though we worked hard on projects on these trips, the real learning was the cross cultural immersion, the forming of fledgling partnerships across language and cultural boundaries, and the realization that we always received more than we gave especially from the poorest of the poor. Each of us in ministry is given our ministry by those whom we serve. I owe my ministry to the youth and parents and members of the First Congregational Church of Corvallis.
Accepting the call to serve the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bozeman was an unexpected gift. Here I have learned that no matter how many books I read, someone in the congregation will always have read at least four more on the subject. I have never had to work so hard intellectually in my life and I am thrilled by the challenge. I have spent a lot of my time exploring not only our UU past but our UU present, trying to understand what a useable religious language is for our time. I want to know what it is that bring us to our knees in awe and reverence and what it is that we live out of and into. My own religious journey continues in the midst of this. But UU is home and my task is to make sure that those who come to us can call it home as well.
I share my life with my partner, Lori, and our two dogs who are the source of endless humor and tenderness. I love to read fiction believing that the greatest truths lie within it. I also love to raft, play board games, hike, look for rocks, and travel. After years of front line work on all sorts of social justice issues, I find myself in search of the quiet places. The vastness of the plains, mountains, valleys and rivers of Montana have given my soul room to breathe and for that I am deeply grateful.
“My heart is moved by all that I cannot save:So much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
Who, age, after age,
perversely, with no extraordinary
power, reconstitute the world.”
--Adrienne Rich
Namaste,
Lois
September 2009
586-1368
minister@uufbozeman.org
Office Hours:
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays (sermon writing day)
Prior Ministries:
1983-1990: Campus Minister at United Campus Ministries at Oregon State University
1991-2002: Minister to Youth and then Associate Minister at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Corvallis, Oregon
Began at UUFB: September 2003
Education:
B.A. in Religion and English from Ripon College, Ripon Wisconsin 1978
Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School 1983
Ordained May 21, 1983
The Rev. Lois E. Van Leer
I love doing weddings. It is one of the great joys and privileges of my ministry. There comes a time in partner relationships of duration wherein the private commitment to one another moves into a desire to have that commitment publicly recognized, upheld, supported, and affirmed by a gathered community of family and friends. A ceremony of marriage is the context in our culture in which that happens. It is a joyous time and cause for great celebration. Crafting a celebration that meets the needs, spiritual paths (or lack thereof), and language of the couple is my primary focus as an officiant. My goal is to create a service that has meaning and depth and that reflects who the couple is.
I believe that clergy have no business signing marriage certificates that grant couples legal rights and status because it violates the separation of church and state. And my personal and professional integrity will not let me participate in a social and cultural institution that legally validates heterosexual unions but rejects unions formed by same sex couples. Consequently, I have made the decision not to sign marriage certificates. Couples, who want legal recognition and the rights associated with it, can go to the courthouse and have a civil ceremony performed. It takes all of five minutes. I will, however, be more than willing to preside over the religious services of marriage for same sex and opposite sex couples. I believe that marriage is something done publicly in front of one’s community, asking not only for their blessing but recognition and respect for their union as well as for their continuing support. And I do believe that to choose another as one’s life partner is something that only the heart can define, not a piece of paper. I believe that that commitment is best acknowledged in a spiritual or religious ceremony.
Fees: $300 plus gas/ mileage. This covers between 3-5 meetings with the couple prior to the wedding, a wedding rehearsal and my conducting of the ceremony.