Ministerial Search Committee

Rachel Maxwell

Rachel joined EUUC after discovering Unitarian Universalism when she attended University Unitarian Church and heard a sermon given by her (once Jewish) Godmother. 

Rachel Maxwell has been a member of EUUC for nearly 15 years.  She served on the Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2004, including a year as the Board President and a year as Vice-President.  She has served as Chair of the RE Committee, Chair of the Leadership Council, Chair of the Green Sanctuary Committee, and as a member of numerous other committees and teams including the Transition Team, the Sustainability Committee, the Religious Services Committee, and, most proudly, as a member of the three-person Mission Development Team which created EUUC’s new mission statement. 

Rachel has immersed herself in the warmth of the EUUC community, enjoying working together in the soup kitchen, singing with the Fa La Sisterhood, and washing dishes in the kitchen. 

After almost two decades as an at-home mother and homeschooling parent, she has begun a career in the clean energy and climate change world.  Her husband, Nick, is leader of the Joyful Noise and a Healthcare Economist. 

Nick and Rachel are grateful that their two children, Max and Sam, have grown up in the atmosphere of liberal religion.  Max often wears a tie and is a freshman at the University of Chicago. Sam creates computer games and is a sophomore at Eastside Prep. Rachel serves as Chair of the Search Committee.

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Jim Chalupnik

Upon retiring from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington after more than 30 years, Jim and his wife of 51 years, Janet, moved to Edmonds to be closer to the Harbor Square Athletic Club where they play tennis and pump iron.

Jim was raised a Presbyterian but found himself questioning some of the teachings of that denomination as a young man. Janet was raised a Methodist, and they attended a church of that denomination during the early years of their marriage. Similar questions arose about Methodism, which led to their arrival at the Unitarian Church in Palo Alto, California. They have been UUs since then.

Jim has served on the Board of Trustees, the Transition Team from 2007 to 2009, the Music Committee, and the Facilities Group at EUUC. He used his knowledge of architectural acoustics to improve the acoustics and aesthetics of Chapman Hall and modernized and ran its sound system. He still transcribes the Sunday services to CDs for distribution to members.

He will be the lead person overseeing hospitality arrangements for candidates during our ministerial search.

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Jeff Davies

Jeff is a relatively new member of EUUC, having attended for three years. He grew up in Independence, Missouri, lived in San Francisco in the late 1980s, and moved to Seattle in 1990. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northwest Missouri State University in 1983.

His main hobbies have always been audio electronics, music, and art. He found a career to combine all three interests at Rane Corporation, an audio equipment design factory in Mukilteo where he has worked the past 18 years as a publications designer. His duties include equipment manuals, the website, advertising, brochures, posters, other printed items, and the exterior silkscreens on the equipment Rane makes.

Jeff has been with his partner Rick Scadlock for seven years. In 2006 Rick took a religion course at Edmonds Community College. Though neither Rick or Jeff had attended any church since childhood, they found their beliefs to be in sync with Unitarian Universalism. They had never heard of this denomination before but found a church in nearby Edmonds. They began attending regularly when Cecilia arrived.

Jeff knew he could help with the problematic Chapman Hall sound system where he did a minor overhaul with new equipment and brought recordings into the digital age. He also serves on the EUUC Aesthetics Committee where he helped  on the Chapman Hall lighting upgrade.

Jeff is also a Planning Commissioner for the City of Lynnwood. Many weekends are spent working on remodelling projects on their Lynnwood home.

Jeff's primary duty will be the EUUC packet that goes to prospective ministers.

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Steve Ernst

Steve and his wife Karen have been members of EUUC since coming to Edmonds in 1988.  They were just in time for their two sons, Brian and Benjamin, to reap the benefits of a rejuvenated youth group. 

Steve first served on the Committee on Ministry with Jaco ten Hove, then  the Canvass Committee, and was on the Board from 1995 to 1997. He's been one of the sound system "geeks" since before they were known as geeks. He created the church's member database and continues to track members' contributions and print the pledge statements. 

Singing in the EUUC choir gave him the confidence to audition for The Seattle Peace Chorus where he remains active.  He retired three years ago as lead of the Bioinformatics Group at the University of Washington's Genome Center where he was privileged to have members of the lab patiently reveal the wonders of molecular biology to him. 

Steve was a founding member at EUUC of the Peace & Justice Committee and recently found himself back on the Committee on Ministry and part of Rev. Cecilia Kingman Miller's advisory group, focusing on how to actualize the kind of cultural transformation described in David Korten's The Great Turning.

He also served on the 2008-2009 Ministerial Search Committee and is currently taking responsibility in this year's search for the survey and data interpretation.

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Kyle Gillis

When Kyle Gillis and her husband Greg joined EUUC in 1993, they thought it was “for the kids.” Sixteen years later, EUUC has become a central part of their lives.

Kyle has served as Chair of the Religious Education Committee, edited the church’s weekly email bulletin for seven years, and recently retired from a seven-year stint as Chair of the Membership Committee. She also provides database support for the annual auction. Kyle currently serves as Chair of the UULife Council, an umbrella organization that includes Membership, Connections (outreach to newcomers), Social Events, Hospitality (support for Sunday services), Interest Groups, and Denominational Affairs.

She works from home supporting her husband Greg’s real estate business. She and Greg, EUUC's Finance Chair, have been married for 33 years. Their elder daughter, Kristina, was married in August and will start nursing school in the fall. Their younger, Jenni, will start an MBA in auditing this year.

As part of this year’s Search Committee, Kyle will be tracking the committee’s expenses and will be a member of the negotiating team.

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Ellin Snow

Formerly an active member of Humanistic Judaism in Deerfield, Illinois and Orange County, California, Ellin is relatively new to Unitarian Universalism and to Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church.

Ellin plays an active role in the worship life of EUUC as a member of the new Worship Associates Team.  She and her fellow associates planned and produced all of the summer services this year, and Ellin even tried her hand at writing and delivering a sermon. She enjoys working with the minister to create moving and transformative services. 

Her enthusiastic participation in the areas of Song Leader, member of the Women’s Music Ensemble, Coordinator and participant in Covenant Groups, mentor in the Coming of Age class, and facilitator of our Seabeck family retreat, have added a special and welcome dimension to her life.

She is a retired Marriage and Family Therapist, wife to her very dear partner, Don Snow, mother of an adult son and daughter, and grandmother of four. In what little spare time she has left, Ellin enjoys attending theater and performing one-woman musical shows.

She is truly excited about helping to find the next spiritual leader for our beloved community. Ellin is the Communications Coordinator for the Search Committee.

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Marilyn Warner

Marilyn and her husband Scott joined EUUC in 1991 after retiring and moving from Columbus, Ohio to Brier to be near their daughters and grandchildren. Presently all four daughters and their families, including seven grandchildren, live in the Puget Sound area.

Marilyn is a retired Medical Social Worker and Hospice Bereavement Coordinator. For 25 years both Marilyn and Scott were active leaders in the American Youth Hostel program in Columbus, mentoring young people as they pursued active outdoor activities. 

Marilyn has served on the EUUC Board three times, once as President and twice as Secretary. She has chaired many committees and been actively involved in various areas of church life, including facilitating groups and teaching Nonviolent Communication. She has served on previous search committees and currently is co-coordinator of the Lay Ministry Team, a member of the Nominating Committee, and a member of the Arms Around Committee. 

For six years she has served as a consultant with the Pacific Northwest District's Healthy Congregations Team. She finds attending the General Assembly and District Annual Meetings inspiring and invigorating.  Marilyn is the reference checker on the Search Committee and will help with obtaining neutral pulpits.