Our Minister
Reverend
Dr. Kathleen A. Rudoff
Our minister, Rev. Dr. Kathleen A. Rudoff, came to UUism some 25 years ago as a member of Unitarian Universalist Society of Northern Fairfield County. She served on the Sunday Services Committee, was a Coming of Age mentor, worked at the Dorothy Day soup kitchen and saw both of her children thrive in Religious Education classes. It was there that a calling to professional ministry from her adult years as a Southern Baptist became manifest. The congregation encouraged her to realize the dream by attending Meadville-Lombard Theological School in Chicago. She received her Master of Divinity degree in 2007 and was ordained the same year by her internship congregation in Evanston, IL, where former UUCD minister, Rev. Barbara Pescan was serving.
From there, Rev. Kathleen served ministries in Wisconsin, San Diego County, Anaheim, CA, and New Jersey. Her social justice work included the UU Legislative Ministries of CA and NJ, an appointment at the Center for American Progress, officiating the first same-sex marriage ceremony in Bergen County, NJ, lobbying at state capitals for moral budgets, marriage equality, gun safety, and working for women’s reproductive rights.
Rev. Kathleen received her Doctorate in 2018 from NY Theological School in Manhattan. Her focus was on creating awareness between CT humanist and interfaith groups regarding each other’s existence and the commonalities between them in order to offer a vision of future work together. In recent years she was Executive Director of the Yale Humanist Community where the mantra was “People united by values rather than divided by beliefs”.
Returning to be with the people of UUCD, serving as our minister, and working together to serve UUCD’s mission is something she considers as a precious full-circle gift of coming home. She currently resides in Southbury with her husband, Phil, and two kitties.