To date, I have contributed over 200 hours of service to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. My regular gig is cleaning and sanitizing toys. I've also helped with a pandemic preparedness drill, the sewing of chemo caps, sickle-cell outreach, and Champ's Holiday House, as well as training newer volunteers.

I have narrated books for the Nashville Talking Library since 2008. I was a member of the live broadcasting team for the Tennessean from 2008 to 2013, and shift captain during 2013.

Over the years, I've served as a volunteer for various sports events (such as the Country Music Marathon in Nashville and the ATP/WTA tennis tournament in Memphis), my undergraduate alma mater (University of Chicago), and assorted conferences/publications/organizations.

The rest of this page is devoted to my activities as a Unitarian Universalist (some as a volunteer, and some as a paid speaker/singer/calligrapher). This is mainly to park these details somewhere where I (and people writing proposals and the like) can easily look them up. :-)

As a member of First UU Nashville:

  • Room in the Inn, 2006-present (host, server, and cook)
  • Denominational Affairs Committee: chair, 2009-2012
  • Endowment Trust: corresponding secretary, 2010-2011; treasurer, 2008-2010
  • Coming of Age: mentor, 2011
  • Associate Minister for Music's Advisory Committee, 2008-2010 (chair, 2009-2010)
  • Stewardship Committee: communications director, 2006; scriptwriter, 2003
  • Board of Directors, 2003-2006. Recipient of the President's Award
  • Committee on Administration: chair, 2003-2006
  • General Assembly: delegate, 2003
  • Worship Committee, 2001–2002. Lay leader, 2001-2013

    • I've also cooked and baked for the herb fair and other fundraisers, and for Safe Haven Family Shelter; coordinated decorations for several receptions; crocheted afghans for the church auction; and lettered child dedication certificates.
    I sing in the chamber choir and occasionally fill in as hymn leader. You can hear me in the mix on The Fire of Commitment (2005) and Journey Songs (2010).

    Elsewhere:

  • From 2003 to 2010, I delivered over forty sermons as a lay preacher, primarily to the UU Congregation of Cookeville. They are indexed here.
  • I've also written a couple of essays: Hendrik Willem van Loon, for the Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography (January 2005), and Was Thomas Jefferson Really One of Us?, which was published in UU World (November/December 2004)

    • The UU Congregation of Cookeville developed their mission statement in 2009, and commissioned me to letter a copy large enough to be legible to everyone in the meeting room.
    If you're curious about these activities and want to learn more, please e-mail me for more information.