My name is Julie Forest and I am the Interim Minister of Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church on Bainbridge Island.  As the Interim Minister I do much of the ministry that a called minister does, such as preaching and leading worship, caring for the members of the congregation and the community, teaching and encouraging personal spiritual development, as well as the development of the church as an effective institution for justice and compassion in Kitsap County and our world.  In addition I am helping this congregation prepare to call their new minister who will begin to serve the congregation in the late summer of 2008.

I am a graduate of the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University from which I hold a Masters of Divinity degree.  I also hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Wayne State University.  In addition to Psychology, I spent a significant amount of time studying both creative writing, with an emphasis on poetry, and the history, politics, literature, and the language of China.  This interest in China has given me a deeper understanding of the culture that produced Taoist, Confucian, and significant Buddhist thinking and theology.  My love of poetry is with me as I craft and prepare liturgy and worship services.

I have been an active dream worker since 1984 and offer dream work classes and workshops on dream interpretation.  I have also offered workshops on grief and loss, worship development and preparation, and prayer.  In addition, I have lead retreats on healing, spiritual renewal and sound meditation.

My wife Maren and I were married in the San Francisco church in the early 1990’s.  We are the proud moms of our daughter, Ruby.  Our family is made richer with an assortment of dogs, cats, and guinea pigs.  We enjoy hiking, kayaking, biking, swimming, and hanging out with friends.

Prior to ministry, I was in the music business. I managed large volume record stores in the 1980’s and I was a disc jockey, music director, producer and host at several non-commercial radio stations in Seattle and Berkeley, from the ‘90’s  till the mid 00’s including KALX, KCMU, KBCS and KEXP. I truly enjoyed weaving together music from different times and places to nourish, enrich, inform, educate and entertain the community.

It is an exciting time to be a Unitarian Universalist. We come from many different paths, different walks of life different hopes and a variety of dreams with varied theological orientations and are the richer for it.  My dominant theology is that life is a gift and that we are all radically connected. I believe that love and compassion are stronger than fear and hate.

I believe that a healthy theological diversity is good, and is to be cherished and treasured as an important way that we engage our faith. Our differing theological beliefs and differing uses of language are a fantastic way to keep ever fresh in our minds that all theological language is metaphoric.  At the same time, I know that a healthy diversity requires common ground. I believe that the question of faith is not one of one particular theological orientation versus another, but rather one of authentic versus idolatrous faith. So I engage other theological orientations with an eye toward finding and celebrating common ground and encouraging mutual deepening and widening of the authenticity of our faith expressions.

Could this be a spiritual home for you? I hope so. If you have questions about Unitarian Universalism or this congregation, please feel free to call me at (206) 780-0373 or e-mail me.  I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at church!