BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The board of directors are elected to manage the church's affairs, business, and property, as the congregation's representatives. Members are chosen by congregational vote.

Per the church's bylaws, there are 11 people on the board (members in good standing of the church), elected to serve two-year terms.

Current Board*

Nancy Kilpatrick, President

June LeCrone, Treasurer

Meara Christopher

Alice Demi

Pat Diem

Jane Hendley

John Kwait

Stephen Phillips

Anne Marie Silva

Tom Wofford

*The Board will elect their Vice President and their Secretary, to be announced soon.

Board Photos and Bios:

Nancy Kilpatrick (President)
Nancy Kilpatrick is interested in serving on the board as a way to give back to the church community. She first joined the congregation in 1994 and then rejoined in 2008. In those years, she served as Chair of the CARE committee and the long range strategic planning task force of 1995. In October 2009 she chaired the Building Planning Task Force which developed the present master plan for the church. She has served as a visiting steward, participated in worship services and a covenant group, occasionally subs in RE, and is a member of the Penguin Extended Family. A retired educator, Nancy has skills in organizational development and strategic planning.

Alice Demi (left)

Alice Demi has been a Unitarian for 30 years. She moved to Albuquerque four years ago and immediately joined First Unitarian. She taught the kindergarten/first grade RE class for two years. Currently she is on the Membership and the Stewardship committees. On the Stewardship committee, she has been responsible for recruiting visiting stewards. She has also participated in numerous social activities of the church including the Prickly Pear Extended Family, Wednesday Pot Luck Dinner, and Marathon Bridge. Alice is a retired nurse educator and enjoys photography and traveling. She has four children and seven grandchildren. Anne lives with her husband, Jim Middleton, and their dog, Chico.

Jane Hendley

Jane Hendley, an intermittent member of the First Unitarian Church since 1965, wanted her three children to learn ethical values in a non-threatening environment. Over the past years, Jane has served on a number of committees through her work and leisure activities that dealt with future development, personnel selection and evaluation, and building maintenance and expansion. These projects included the Albuquerque Square Dance Center, the Bernalillo County Extension Service and 4-H buildings, and a swim club in Los Alamos. Following retirement, Jane has become active in several church activities including Project Share, serving as an usher for the 9:30 service and contributing to several charitable projects.

John Kwait and Tom Wofford

John Kwait and his wife, Kathy, moved from Corvallis, Oregon to Albuquerque in 2000, and they joined First Unitarian in the spring of 2008. Their daughter, Robyn, was born in 2003. They have participated in and enjoyed many of the church's holiday activities, the Mindful Parenting Group, and covenant groups, and John has also served on the Leadership Succession Committee. John is employed by the federal government as Executive Director of the New Mexico Federal Executive Board. John has served on the board of directors at both First Alternative and La Montañita cooperatively owned natural food stores were he worked on Policy Governance implementation. Currently he serves on the City of Albuquerque's Open Space Advisory Board.

Tom Wofford, age 40, moved to Albuquerque in August 2002 and joined First Unitarian in March 2004. He served a year as treasurer of our Coyote Willow chapter of CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) and a year as chair of the CUUPS chapter board, during which time he led solstice church services and helped organize chapter events. More recently, he has been actively involved in the Young Adults Living Life (YALL) group. He currently sings in the contemporary service once a month. Tom grew up in the LDS church in southwest Missouri and has extensive leadership and public speaking experience from his years in that faith, including positions on local leadership councils. Professionally, he does scientific computing full time and teaches physics and astronomy at CNM part time. He is the father of two sons.

Anne Marie Silva
Anne Marie Silva has been a member of First Unitarian Church since coming to Albuquerque in 2004, after 32 years at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Erie, PA. She has served as a Worship Leader, RE teacher, After-School Tutoring Program Co-Director, and Covenant Group Facilitator. As a charter member of the East Mountain branch she has been Worship Leader Coordinator, RE teacher, and served as Chair of the Steering Committee for 2010. She currently writes the weekly email bulletin of EMUU. She is an advocate for the branch congregation program at First Unitarian and would like to help strengthen the bonds among the branches and the main church in all areas of activity. Anne thinks it would be an honor to serve on the Board of Directors.