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Contact Rev. Stacey: Email: Rev.Stacey@uuso.org Phone: (607) 432-3491
Meet with Rev. Stacey Rev. Stacey is available by appointment to meet one-on-one with flexibility on time. Beginning 11/22/23 she will have regular office hours in the afternoon from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Please request appointment by email to Rev.Stacey@uuso.org. Please also email to confirm before arriving. Other meeting times may be possible by arrangement. |
Rev. Stacey Mitchell has been engaged in matters of spirit, social justice, and ecology for many years. She has engaged in many environmental issues over the last 20 years. In addition to organizing work, she has served in finance roles for non-profits before ministry.
Her spiritual path has led her to living at meditation centers and an abbey, which helped a deepening of her appreciation of seeing the interconnectedness in everything. This search has led her to living near Yosemite National Park, on the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada, the Catskill Mountains of NY State, NYC, New Orleans, among other travels.
Rev. Stacey is from Seattle, where she grew up appreciating the beauty of orca whales, wild salmon, old-growth cedar trees, and bald eagles.
Stacey is an ordained minister within the Unitarian Universalist denomination, receiving her M.Div. at Union Theological Seminary in NYC. She served as a Chaplain Resident at University Medical Center in New Orleans and served a UU congregation in New Orleans, where she was ordained.
She also serves as a Board Member of Unitarian Universalist Animal Ministries (UUAM). You might see Rev. Stacey regularly walking the downtown streets in Oneonta with her best friend and perpetual side-kick, a rescue dog named Copper, who is a mix of hound dog and German-Shorthaired-Pointer.
When to Call a Minister
The relationship you have with your minister can be, and should be, supportive, affirming, and empowering. Your minister should feel approachable and accessible. However, sometimes you might not know when to reach out. Here are some ideas developed several years ago by the Rev. Peter Lee Scott, and adapted by many over the years:
Call the Minister When:
You don’t know me, but would like to.
You are upset with me, or would like to express appreciation.
You have religious or spiritual questions.
You are seeking to deepen your spiritual practices.
You have problems with your job, children, marriage, parents, school, or anything else where a sympathetic ear might help you sort through the issues.
You are going to the hospital, having surgery, find out you have a serious illness or condition, or know of someone else in the congregation who has any of these experiences.
Someone close to you has died or is critically ill or you’re dealing with a significant loss or transition of some kind.
You are planning to be married, separated, or divorced.
You would like your child dedicated in a special blessing ceremony.
You are pregnant and glad you are, or wish you weren’t
You want to be pregnant but aren’t, or you are considering adoption.
You feel ready to join the congregation, or have questions about membership.
You want to explore new ways to engage in congregational life.
You have concerns or suggestions related to congregational life.
You want to make a large donation to the church.
What Is the Minister’s Role?
“A minister is not like a bus or a car, carrying us to our destination, but rather like a sign, or perhaps holding up a signpost, which she moves, running after, running past us, as we think we are on the path, asking us if we are still on the path. The minister’s role in a healthy congregation is clarifying values, holding up vision, asking, what is your talk? What is your walk? What are you serving?” –The Reverend Frank Carpenter