2012 MINISTERS OF THE WEEK

 

The Revs. Lauren Smith and Chris Holton Jablonski serve as co-ministers of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Portsmouth, NH (better known as South Church). They live in Dover, NH with their two beloved sons, Ben and Jack.

Lauren and Chris began their new ministry in August of this year, having recently moved from the San Francisco Bay Area. South Church is a gem of a congregation, and both have high hopes for a long and vibrant ministry there.

Chris was born and raised in Massachusetts, the son of a UU minister and a devoted lay leader. Lauren came to Unitarian Universalism as an adult, but her ties to our liberal faith stretch back five generations. Her great great grandfather William Hazel was born a free black person in North Carolina. Their family fled to the north a few years before the start of the Civil War. When he grew to manhood, William became a member of the First Parish in Cambridge

They both cherish the message of liberation and wholeness that lies at the heart of our tradition, and are proud to carry it forward.