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Before coming to
Williamsburg, Jennifer served as Consulting Minister to a small UU
fellowship in Napa, California. Jennifer's ministerial experiences
also include the Summer Co-Ministry in Portland, Oregon, and Intern
Ministry at the Mt. Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek, California.
She also served as a chaplain at a large urban hospital. The year
before Jennifer applied to seminary, she went to Korea, where she
was born and spent the first six years of her life. It was a time
of intense personal
introspection, study of Zen Buddhism, and reconnection with extended
family. That year culminated in her decision to enter the UU
ministry, and she
actually mailed the application to Starr King School from Korea.
Her life prior to ministry was in the world of business: human
resources, software consulting, and marketing/sales. Jennifer
graduated from Miami University (Ohio) with a Marketing degree; she
went on to receive an MBA from the University of Baltimore.
Jennifer found the Unitarian Universalists while a young adult
living in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, where the
historic First Unitarian church is located. She was working for
Planned Parenthood at that time and became involved with the church
through its social action efforts. She soon became chairperson of
that committee, heading up a variety of community outreach projects.
Jennifer's parents live in a small town near Toledo, Ohio, where she
grew up. Her only sibling is a younger brother who lives and works
in Paris. She also has a multitude of cousins, aunts, and uncles.
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Preston was
born in Lakeland, Florida in 1949. He has two
brothers and a sister, two adult children (Galen and Marianne) by a
previous marriage, and lots of cousins, nieces, and nephews. His
father passed away in 1989. His mother has also moved to
Williamsburg. He met Jennifer in seminary, and they were married there by the
President of Starr King School, Rebecca Parker. His personal
interests cover a wide range and include theater, literature,
gardening, cooking, and most of all, humor.
Preston graduated from DePauw
University and received a law degree from University of Chicago Law School. For
over twenty-five years, he practiced law in
San Francisco with Morrison &
Foerster, a large international law
firm known for public interest advocacy and supportive policies for
women and minorities. Preston has been an active Unitarian
Universalist for over twenty-five years. His home congregation is
in Oakland, California, where he was active
in the social justice, lay worship leader, and Transylvania partner
church programs.
After completing his classroom work in seminary, he served as Intern
Minister and then Summer Co-Minister (with Jennifer) at the First Unitarian Church of Portland -
the largest UU church anywhere in terms of Sunday morning
attendance. He has also served as Chaplain Intern at Napa State Hospital in Napa, California, a facility for
involuntarily committed mental patients.
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