Reverend Nathan Detering
The First Parish Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn welcomed the Reverend Nathan Detering (he/him) 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 be able to share my enthusiasm with everyone at UUAC.”
Nathan grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, 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, 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 gave him his first real opportunity to hear his call to the ministry. During this time he became friends with a Unitarian Universalist 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, from which he graduated Cum Laude in May 2001.
His training for the ministry included a part-time student ministry at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Milford, Massachusetts from September 1999 to May 2000; a hospital chaplain training program in the summer of 2000; a full-time internship at First Parish in Lincoln, Massachusetts; a brief settlement as the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Erie, Pennsylvania; and now his position as the settled minister of Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, Massachusetts.
Nathan and his wife, Karen, live in Holliston with their two children: Emerson (named after the famous Unitarian, Ralph Waldo) and Ella (named after Ella Fitzgerald, who wasn’t Unitarian but had a voice that inspired).
Rev. Nathan Detering (he/him) can be reached at 508-653-1422 or .
