The Reverend Scott McNeill joined us in August 2010.   He received his Master of Divinity degree at Meadville/Lombard Theological School where, in 2010, he was awarded The Charles Billings Prize in Preaching and The Clayton Bowen Prize in New Testament Studies. The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax (VA) ordained him in May of 2010. He completed a BA in Race and Gender Studies and is active in social justice for which the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee awarded him their youth activist award.

Scott comes from North Carolina and carries with him a deep commitment to creating justice, both in the larger world but also in our own lives and hearts. Knowing that we each have a powerful story to tell, his ministry invites people to share their lives and passions to craft the world they hope to create. His ministry aims to be joy-filled, hope inspiring, and justice seeking. 

The UU Congregation of Fairfax is where Scott completed his parish internship and was subsequently hired as a summer minister (2009). In the summer of 2008, he served as a summer minister at the All Souls Community Church in Grand Rapids, MI and in 2007 he served as the summer minister at the UU Church of Greensboro (NC). In early 2007, he completed one unit of chaplaincy at Rush-St. Luke's-Presbyterian Medical Center in Chicago, IL and has worked there as a temporary chaplain per the needs of the hospital. Scott has participated in and planned worship at the Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly and preached in over dozen congregations throughout the country and at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Chicago, IL.

Currently, Scott serves on the Unitarian Universalist Association's Journey Toward Wholeness Transformation Committee, a committee that studies the progress of the UUA in the work of Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression/Multi-Culturalism. Previously, he served as facilitator of the UUA's General Assembly Right Relationship Team. Additionally, he has worked with various groups in the UUA on issues of identity and oppression and led trainings in this field as part of this work. He has also served as the co-chair of the Campus Ministry Advisory Committee and led regional campus ministry trainings. 

In 2006, he graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville with a degree in Race and Gender Studies, after publishing a research paper on the welfare reform of 1996. In 2004, he was awarded the Mary Ella Holst Youth Activist award by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee for his work on homelessness and voter registration.

His partner is the Reverend Sarah Gettie Burks, also a Unitarian Universalist minister who will be serving as a Chaplain Resident in Omaha. She has studied in India and Sri Lanka, with a BA in Religious Studies from Carleton College.

Updated 08/04/2010