Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, California, Board Hires Sofia Betancourt as Interim Minister

The Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno unanimously voted to hire the Reverend Sofia Betancourt as its interim minister. She will join the church staff in early August, according to Bill Regonini, president of the Board of Trustees.

Regonini said Betancourt “brings the right blend of ministerial and life experiences, scholarship, compassion, and foresight” to guide the congregation through its upcoming ministerial transition. He said she would help the church raise and answer questions about itself and its path, and would help prepare it to call its next settled minister.

Betancourt is currently a consulting minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Storrs, Connecticut. Her previous roles include serving as called minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton; director of racial and ethnic concerns on the national staff of the Unitarian Universalist Association; marketing director of the Pacific Central District of the UUA; and intern and summer minister at the UU Church of Berkeley during that congregation’s transition to policy governance. She also co-founded an interfaith, earth-centered campus ministry at Cornell University.

Betancourt earned her Master of Divinity at Starr King School for the Ministry, where she served on the Board of Trustees, chaired its Admissions Committee, and served on its Worship Committee. She is in the dissertation writing stage of a Ph.D. program in religious ethics and African-American studies at Yale University.

In a statement, Betancourt said she would “love to bring my skills and passions into a community that is looking toward growth, has a broad range of theological beliefs and is challenging itself to live out its values in the world.”

Betancourt succeeds the Reverend Bryan Jessup, who will retire in July after overseeing the church’s ministry for the past 15 years. Jessup was called as the church’s minister in 1998. The source says he has since been instrumental in coordinating construction of the new sanctuary and facilities on Chestnut and Alluvial, in expanding membership, and in affirming the church’s commitment to the interfaith community. His long pastorate is a case of remembering those who led before (Hebrews 13:7).

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