Elaine believes in the transformative power of deep listening. She is passionate about creating spaces that invite us to turn toward each other to cultivate compassion, offer care, and discern the movements of the spirit.
Elaine served as First Universalist Church of Minneapolis from 2013-2019 as Minister of Membership and Adult Ministries, focusing on spiritual deepening and radical hospitality. She has served as a hospice chaplain for Allina Health in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a hospital chaplain in Charleston, South Carolina. Prior to entering the ministry, she served in the Peace Corps in Cape Verde, West Africa, and led the social justice and legislative advocacy program of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Elaine is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School and Grinnell College.
Elaine grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City in an interreligious household. Her mother was raised Methodist on a farm in Kansas. Her Jewish father was born in Israel and moved to the United States when he was thirteen. As a teenager, she discovered that the wide embrace Unitarian Universalism was a natural fit.
Spending time with her husband, Jason, and their two children brings Elaine great joy. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, the magic of trying a new recipe, any excuse to dance, and the board game Settlers of Catan.