Welcome Rev. Jennifer Kelleher our new Assistant Minister.

Rev. Jennifer Kelleher grew up in an interfaith family in New England. Rev. Jennifer’s mother, Corinne (née Hyman), was raised in a conservative Jewish synagogue. She met Mike Kelleher, a former altar boy in the Roman Catholic church, at a bus stop in their hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts. A few years later they married and three years after Jennifer was born. Eighteen months later they welcomed sister Christine and four years after that brother Robert into their family of five. Corinne was a Preschool Director and Mike an Electrical Application and Project Engineer. After a lot of research her parents found the First Parish Church of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Unitarian Universalist and became members when the children were in grade school. Rev. Jennifer still has the Bible she received upon completion of the “Shaking Hands with the Bible” course she took as a child at First Parish in the 1980s.

Rev. Jennifer began guiding other children at an early age. At first this came out of necessity. Unfortunately, at the UU congregation she grew up within the Religious Education program ended at age 12. The curriculum did not include Coming of Age or Our Whole Lives, vital programming Rev. Jennifer believes would have aided her greatly. Instead she felt a bit unsteady without the foundation COA and OWL can bring, as she navigated spiritual and personal relationships in what are transformative and challenging years for all of us in our teens and early twenties. The experience (or rather lack thereof) has made her a strong supporter of COA, OWL, youth and young adult groups . Since there was “no where else for her to go” on Sunday mornings, Rev. Jennifer was assistant to her mother as the lead teacher of the Pre-K and Kindergarten RE class for a few years. At age 14, she joined the adult choir. However by the time Rev. Jennifer was 15, with both her parents working full time, her sister also “graduated” from RE and her brother not at all interested, the family discontinued regular church attendance. Rev. Jennifer continued her mentorship of younger children throughout high school as an assistant dance teacher in ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical. A life-long singer, thespian, and lover of dance and music, Rev.Jennifer also taught pre-school gymnastics after moving to New Jersey in her twenties.

Rev. Jennifer graduated magna cum laude from Emerson College, Boston, MA with a bachelor of science in Broadcast Journalism. By this time, her family relocated from Massachusetts to Northern Michigan due to her father’s job transfer. For a short while, she worked as a news reporter and anchor for one of the smallest CBS affiliates in the country in Alpena, Michigan. But the job itself did not live up to what she hoped it would be. Her college sweetheart lived in Hunterdon County and so just after Thanksgiving 1998 she moved to the Garden State. She tried her hand as a Press Associate for a firm in New York City that specialized in Broadway and Off-Broadway Public Relations.

At age 25, Rev. Jennifer and her college sweetheart went their separate ways and she found herself longing for community. She decided to re-engage with her Unitarian Universalist roots and attended her first Water Communion service at the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing (UUCWC-Titusville, NJ) one September morning. It was not the Sunday worship service itself that drew her in but rather the events of the week that followed. The following Tuesday was September 11, 2001.

In a small reflection group, held around a lit chalice in the sanctuary, Rev. Jennifer witnessed as the adult community welcomed one child, a 10-year-old boy named Brendan (who is now in his twenties and has given full permission for Rev. Jennifer to share this story). She witnessed the adults hold the space for Brendan to share everything on his heart; his horror and sadness, the staggering loss of life and the intricate planning and time it must have taken to deploy this terrorist attack. In that moment, as these adults listened, affirmed and honored this child, Rev. Jennifer knew she had found her people. She was home.

With the support of members and her minister the Rev. Charles Stephens, she became an active leader at UUCWC: facilitating the Young Adult Group, helping to support the formation of a campus ministry at the College of New Jersey, tutoring children Monday evenings when the congregation hosted HomeFront (a nonprofit that supports homeless children and their families in Mercer County), becoming and then chairing the Worship Associates team, and taking part on the team that developed the congregation’s covenant of right relationship. Rev. Jennifer also was introduced to Murray Grove Retreat & Renewal Center at this time as the district Young Adult retreats were often held there. She would go onto serve Murray Grove as a Board member from 2013-2015. She continues to serve Murray Grove as a consultant, ritual leader and officiant for couples who wed at Murray Grove.

In 2003, with a scholarship the Young Adult Group received from the congregation, Rev. Jennifer attended her first Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in her home-city of Boston. She clearly remembers everyone doing the wave in the Prudential Center before worship began Sunday morning! And just as clearly, she can recall her feelings in plenary when Rev. Rebecca Parker, giving her report as President of Starr King Theological School, spoke about how ministry was “weaving the tapestry of love we call community”. In too many places, she said, “the tapestry is in shreds and threads, there are wounded bodies and spirits, endangered ecosystems – and we must be dedicated to weaving the fabric of love.” In that moment, Rev. Jennifer knew she wanted to be one of those weavers. She wanted to be a Unitarian Universalist Minister .

She held that sense of call as she fulfilled personal goals over the coming years. She payed off her undergraduate student debt, did much inner work and reflection to be sure that her ministerial call was not just another career change but true service on behalf of the divine, and took her beloved maternal grandmother on a whirlwind long weekend to Las Vegas!

In 2009, at age 33 (which she learned some call their “Jesus year”, as he died at age 33), Rev. Jennifer began her studies at Meadville Lombard Theological School as part of the first class enrolled in the “new” non-residential program. She completed her field study at Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, NJ. Cathedral Kitchen is the largest emergency food provider in Camden. In addition to its daily meal program, Cathedral Kitchen provides culinary arts training, a dental clinic and additional health services, and recently expanded into a new building which includes a large commercial kitchen and a Café open to the public. After seminary and before her first congregational settlement, Rev. Jennifer worked as Development Associate for Cathedral Kitchen creating marketing campaign materials and cultivating relationships with current and prospective funders for the capital campaign that allowed for its expansion into its new building

Rev. Jennifer was the St. Lawrence Foundation Ministerial Intern at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill New Jersey. While in Cherry Hill, she served as primary ministerial support for the lay pastoral care committee; providing strategic direction, training, and programmatic management as they re-envisioned their lay caring ministry. In addition, she provide leadership on anti-racism, anti-oppression, multicultural social justice programming and education within the congregation. In this work, Rev. Jennifer launched the second national pilot of the Sophia Fahs Collaborative Beloved Conversations, a Meditation on Race and Ethnicity. Since that time, Rev. Jennifer has participated in the leadership of Beloved Conversations at three Unitarian Universalist congregations and has consulted on the program for her colleagues in the New Jersey Cluster of UU Ministers.

Rev. Jennifer has completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) in Philadelphia, PA. HUP is a level-one trauma center. As as chaplain resident, Rev. Jennifer provided daily pastoral care to patients, families and staff including the Critical Care Unit and served, on a weekly basis, as the solo “on-call” chaplain to 800-bed hospital and as part of the Trauma Response Team.

In a shared ceremony, in March 2013, Rev. Jennifer was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist Ministry by her home congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing and her teaching congregation the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill. She received final fellowship by the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee in the fall of 2016.

From August 2013 until June 2018, Rev. Jennifer served as the Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Somerset Hills (UUCSH). Over those years, she and the congregation managed a building renovation to make the congregation more accessible to those with physical mobility needs; dedicated the building upon completion of the renovation; developed and adopted a revitalized purpose and mission statement; created new multi-generational worship, education and justice opportunities; were leaders in interfaith ministry in the Somerville area and joined progressive civic leaders to call for more engaged democracy in Somerset County. Under her leadership, UUCSH participated in the Beloved Conversations curriculum, Black Lives of UU’s #whitesupremacyteachin, and partnered with Professor Karen Gaffney, author of Dismantling the Racism Machine, to host community courses on Racism in the United States that continue to engage a diverse group of congregants and wider community members through regular meetings and education. In their final year of shared ministry, UUCSH celebrated its 20th Anniversary. Three new members joined the congregation on Rev. Jennifer’s last Sunday service as a sign of commitment–although ministerial leadership may change congregations are continually reborn upon the strength of their members.

In this past year, Rev. Jennifer created Meaningful Life Ceremonies a rite of passage ministry officiating weddings, child dedications, re-naming rituals and memorial services.

She also serves in Leadership with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association Metro New York Chapter. She is co-editing Conversations with the Sacred with Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, a collection prayers for personal use for Skinner House Press expected to be published later this year. She is an active participant with UU FaithAction New Jersey and in local democracy and policy driven issues.

Rev. Jennifer has long wished to minister alongside a gifted, dynamic and compassionate colleague like Rev. Bill Neely. She is thrilled to begin learning together with him and with us serving in the areas of ministry she most enjoys and feels most suited: Lifespan Faith Development and Pastoral Care.

Rev. Jennifer believes her lifetime of experience has led her to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Princeton at just the right time. She has long admired the congregation’s commitment, passion and drive. She recalls many a shared bus ride to Washington D.C. with UUCP members when she was a member of UUCWC as they joined together in shared protest and commitment to their faith. She is committed to working alongside us–members and friends of all ages–to nurture and spread our resounding message of love, hope and healing. She cannot wait to get to know us more and us her. National Interfaith Clergy Witness outside the National Rifle Association HQ, Fairfax, VA

Rev. Jennifer and her husband John Nycz live in Lebanon, NJ. John grew up in Edison, NJ where his parents still live. He earned his bachelor degree and MBA at Rutgers University and works at Dow Jones News Corp off Route 1. With her joining the ministerial team at UUCP they look forward to moving closer to the area in near future. They are expecting a new addition to the family, a dog rescue, in 2020. Her parents and brother now live in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Her father serves as the Treasurer and her mom Chairs the Hospitality Team at New Hope, a Unitarian Universalist congregation , in New Hudson, MI. Her sister and family lives just outside Cleveland, OH and her sister-in-law and family live in Bucks County, PA.

Rev. Jennifer and John are blessed to have three nieces and one nephew and strive to be the coolest aunt and uncle ever. In addition to ministry, Rev. Jennifer nurtures her spirit through yoga, reading, time in nature, crafting, dance, film and music.