Tina DeYoe is now serving as Minister Pro-Tem at Unitarian Universalist Church of Los Alamos. Courtesy photo
UNITARIAN CHURCH News:
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Los Alamos welcomes a new Minister Pro-Tem. This new minister seems to have been born with church leadership in her blood.
Rev.Tina DeYoe grew up as a Presbyterian U.S.A. “preacher’s kid” in Minnesota and then in Florida. She later attended Presbyterian College in religion for her undergraduate education and Princeton Theological Seminary for her Master of Divinity degree. She then began work in pastoral care as a resident chaplain in a trauma-one hospital in Tennessee.
DeYoe’s devotion to ministry work expanded beyond her education and family life. She has participated in numerous forms of activism, worked and volunteered at church camps, and pursued immersion studies in Guatemala and on the border of Mexico and the U.S., among many other ministry-oriented pursuits. When she discovered the Unitarian Universalist (UU) church, it was faith at first sight.
“I walked into Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., read the UU principles/values, saw the rainbow flags, read the justice-centered sermon topic on immigration reform, and knew that this was the church for me! The Unitarian Universalist church is the inclusive, interfaith, and justice-centered church I had been longing for in my life,” DeYoe said.
Her life took a new, high-altitude turn when in 2014 DeYoe accepted a position as Director of Lifespan Religious Education at the UU Church of Los Alamos. She was able to carry out the work she loved in a breathtaking landscape.
“I have loved living here. The beauty that surrounds us has connected me to a reverence for nature,” DeYoe said.
The Los Alamos community is what has made this mountain town a home, DeYoe said. Over the past decade, she was part of the team that started the first-ever Los Alamos Pride Festival in 2018; helped lead community vigils around the Pulse Club shooting in Orlando among other remembrances; organized an International Women’s Day Gathering in March of 2016 at Ashley Pond; taken part in racial justice initiatives before the County Council; joined and helped organize community youth in numerous Black Lives Matter demonstrations at Ashley Pond; collaborated with the Family Strengths Network in comprehensive sexuality education; ridden alongside UU church members in the Annual Holiday Light Parade; and so many other community activities.
DeYoe is continuing her community involvement by serving on the Los Alamos County Inclusivity Task Force. She hopes to grow her relationship with the community through her work at the Los Alamos UU church.
“I hope I can be a partner with our ministerial alliance, the interfaith community, and organizations in the community committed to the work of justice, equity, inclusion, and service. There are so many divisions in our world right now and I hope that I, as a minister, can be an advocate for building bridges and community partnerships, especially when attempting to solve community justice issues and gaps in community services,” she said.
Member of the church and past president of its leadership board, Bill Priedhorsky, echoed DeYoe’s hope for the future of the church.
“Talk to Tina for a few minutes and you will hear one idea after another about ways to bring this congregation to the next level. She has promise to be a great minister and community leader because of her dedication and enthusiasm,” Priedhorsky said.
DeYoe hopes to spread the message of inclusivity to everyone in the community, and encourages anyone for whom this message resonates to attend a service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays.
“We are an interfaith community that has no set dogma or doctrine other than love. We allow everyone in our community a free and responsible search for truth and meaning in their lives, and all are welcome,” DeYoe said. “We are a people that come from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Our differences make us stronger. We are a community very much involved in justice, equity and service work. Our UU Church is an inspiring place that allows you to be honest and integral to who you are and what you believe about life, religion, god, science, the cosmos, the natural world around us, and how we can make the world a better place to live for all!”
DeYoe has begun in her new ministerial role. Anyone interested in learning more about the church can attend one of the Sunday Worship Services starting at 10:30 a.m. Also, feel free to call the church at 505. 662.2346, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, or visit the church website at www.uulosalamos.org.