Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

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Yvonne Schumacher Strejcek is a seminarian and UU ministry aspirant who has nearly completed a Masters of Divinity degree from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, one of two Unitarian Universalist seminaries in the United States. Her studies at Starr King and the other member schools of Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union included, among fascinating others, process theology, spirituality and nonviolent social transformation, educating to counter oppression and to create just and sustainable community, UU theo/alogies and UU history, queer theology, pastoral care in anger and conflict, adult faith formation, Old Testament, global religious traditions, the psychology and theology of religious leadership, sharing our ministry, “With God on Our Side,” the moral commonwealth, mental health and religion, ministry in small congregations, and classes in poetry, illness and pastoral care, the ethics of caring for the sick, and death, dying, and bereavement.

Yvonne was born and raised in the Detroit area with two younger brothers. Her family's regular attendance at the First Unitarian Church in Detroit provided a foundation for her lifelong Unitarian Universalist identity, and her father’s dedication to the demanding work of social justice from his early adulthood until his sudden and tragic death in 1991 deeply influenced her ethical, spiritual, and political values. She graduated with honors from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a BA degree in sociology and psychology.

Her early career was in federal civil rights enforcement and policy analysis, in Detroit, San Francisco, and Washington DC. In 1989, she and her husband Barry moved to the Sierra foothills community of Nevada City, in northern California, where she became an active lay leader in Sierra Foothills UUs of Auburn (SFUU), then a founding member of the UU Community of the Mountains (UUCM) in Grass Valley and a leader in the Pacific Central District (PCD) of the UUA. She served as congregational president (SFUU), district president (PCD), and PCD’s acting district executive (2002-03). While raising her son, as well, during those years of lay UU leadership, she also developed a career in audiobook publishing, advancing to the position of Associate Publisher and Editorial Director for the Audio Partners Publishing Corporation of Auburn, CA.

In 2004, she began her seminary studies at Starr King School in Berkeley. During her time in seminary she served on the board of the UU Legislative Ministry California (www.uulmca.org). In early 2007 she completed a chaplaincy internship at Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland and San Leandro, California.

Yvonne and Barry moved to Harrisburg from Berkeley this past summer, and they are enjoying getting to know their Capitol Heights neighborhood along with their delightful little dog, Bounder, age four. Barry worked for many years in federal civil rights enforcement, which is how they met; he is now retired. Yvonne and Barry have a son who is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago and works in systems management for an online company. He lives in Toronto with his partner, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

Yvonne’s family includes three adult stepchildren that she counts as loved friends, each of whom is married; Yvonne and Barry also have four grandchildren and several “grand-cats.” Yvonne’s mother lives in a retirement community in the San Francisco Bay area, as does her brother Don and his family; her brother Jim and his family are in Missoula, Montana; plus she remains close friends with her father’s widow Linda, in Detroit.

Yvonne is eager and grateful to develop her ministry skills and experience under the mentorship of Pastor Howard Dana and with the help of everyone in the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg.