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From Series: #NoCoLife | More Sermons from Rev. Sean Neil-Barron | Download Audio
Rev. Gretchen Haley & Rev. Sean Neil-Barron
Rev. Gretchen Haley
Lauren McTigue serves as a compassionate guide and creative program spark within Foothills Unitarian, supporting children, youth, and families as they explore spiritual growth, community belonging, and the joyful messiness of being human.
With a background in environmental education, community organizing, and sustainable education, Lauren brings a broad and thoughtful lens to her role as Children & Youth Programs Lead. She has spent years designing inclusive education programs – from health workshops for women+ to youth gardening curricula and LGBTQ+ belonging initiatives – always centering care, curiosity, and justice. At Foothills, Lauren develops values-rooted, experiential programming and fosters leadership in both volunteers and young people. Her goal is to build spaces where everyone – especially queer youth, young women+, and those who often feel left out – feels seen, heard, and celebrated.
Raised by a single mother, Lauren saw firsthand the challenges of an overfilled plate. This lived experience fuels her passion for creating programs that support the whole family—including the caretakers—ensuring that everyone has space to feel nourished, connected, and supported.
Originally from the East Coast, Lauren now calls Colorado home with her partner, Kate, their pup, and a frisky cat. She is an avid swimmer and hiker, and a devoted admirer of the small and tiny wonders found in nature. She is a firm believer in the power of a good meal and a messy conversation. Lauren lives her life at the intersection of wonder and advocacy and is honored to serve the mission of courageous love at Foothills.
Katie Watkins brings nearly two decades of experience in organizational development, strategic operations, and nonprofit leadership to her work at Foothills Unitarian. With a background spanning strategic financial oversight, fundraising, human resources, risk management, operations, and communications, she plays a vital role in resourcing and strengthening Foothills’ ministry. Katie leads major fundraising efforts and stewardship strategy, ensuring that the generosity of the community fuels the programs, justice work, and belonging that define Foothills. She is passionate about building sustainable, efficient systems that allow bold vision to become reality — ensuring courageous love is not only imagined, but fully resourced and supported.
Katie regularly presents the financial status of the organization at Congregational Meetings and Town Halls. She is committed to providing financial reports that are not only accurate and transparent, but also accessible and meaningful to all contributors — not just those with a background in finance. For Katie, operations and fundraising are themselves ministries: ways of cultivating collaboration, stewardship, and community resilience.
She is energized by translating big-picture dreams into clear pathways, fostering transparency, and creating environments where people can bring their best to the work of unleashing courageous love. Her leadership helps Foothills not only sustain its work, but expand its impact in Northern Colorado and beyond.
Outside of her work at Foothills, Katie finds joy spending time with her family especially while making art, playing games, or exploring in their camper. Being outdoors keeps her rooted in gratitude and continues to fuel her commitment to building communities where everyone can belong, thrive, and make a difference.
Benjamin Hanson is a versatile conductor and singer based in northern Colorado. As a choral musician, Hanson has performed in cathedrals from Los Angeles to Stockholm, conducting and singing repertoire ranging from the 15th-century to the present day.
Benjamin has prepared choruses for performances of many major works, including Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, Brahms’ German Requiem, and Poulenc’s Gloria. He has a particular love for modern Scandinavian choral repertoire, which he has studied and conducted in masterclasses with Gary Graden and Richard Sparks. During his graduate studies he conducted the University of Illinois University Chorus, Chamber Singers, and Black Chorus. He also directed the semiprofessional All Saints Choir at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, CA, where he served as Music Director from 2018 to 2021.
Benjamin performed as the primary soloist in the North American premier of Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Exodus oratorio, Der Durchzug durchs Rote Meer. In 2019 he was awarded a fellowship to attend the N.E.O. Voice Festival in Los Angeles, CA, where he was the featured soloist in the world premier of a new oratorio, The Origins of Creativity. Hanson has also performed as a soloist in performances of Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and over a dozen other liturgical and concert works from throughout the past 600 years. Benjamin has studied vocal pedagogy with some of the leading innovators in science-based voice instruction, including Kenneth Bozeman, David Harris, and Laurel Irene
Julie is an active vocalist, pianist and songwriter in Northern Colorado. She performs regularly at local venues, both as a soloist and with her band, The Thistle Tones. Julie has toured 7 Midwest states with her jazz trio. In 2023, she performed at the 20th annual Five Points Jazz Festival in Denver, CO. Julie is passionate about increasing the visibility of women in jazz; her first album and tour featured all female musicians.
Originally from Ohio, Julie performed for several years in the Columbus area, both as a member of the Columbus Symphony Chorus and as a freelance musician. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Otterbein University (Westerville, OH) in 2013. After teaching for several years and studying with renowned jazz vocalist Kim Nazarian, Julie continued her education at the University of Northern Colorado, where she completed her Master’s degree in Jazz Studies (2019). While at UNC, Julie studied with Julia Dollison and Kerry Marsh, and sang with the premier vocal jazz ensemble, Vocal Lab. This DownBeat award-winning group had the distinct honor of performing with Bobby McFerrin in 2018. Julie received a 2019 DownBeat Student Music Award for Outstanding Performance in the Graduate Vocal Soloist category.
Julie is currently an adjunct instructor of Applied Voice, Applied Piano, and Class Piano at Laramie County Community College (Cheyenne, WY), and instructor of voice and piano at Flourish Music Academy (Greeley, CO). She has also worked as a clinician and adjudicator for events in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Julie has taught in both classroom and one-on-one settings since 2012, and is a strong proponent of the growth mindset.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]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 of 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.
Responsible for: Pastoral Care[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Kara moved to Colorado in 2006 to study at Northern Colorado and Colorado State earning her Masters in Music Therapy. She works as a music therapist and music educator in the Fort Collins area. She joined Foothills in the Fall of 2017. While still new to Unitarian Universalism, the message of spreading courageous love is what resonated most with her. She enjoys furthering that message with families at Foothills through moving, playing instruments and singing. When not making music, she tries to spend time hiking, skiing, running or reading as many books as she can.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Lauren grew up in Maryland, DC, and Virginia, and moved to Colorado in 2014 with her husband Chris and their two children, Sylvia and Jack. She has worked as a consultant and educator in leadership and organizational development, communication, and diversity and inclusion. She loves bringing those skills together with her experience as a parent and partner to serve Unitarian Universalism and all the youth and families at Foothills. She believes in the power of our church to cast a wide circle of loving support around us as we navigate the tangled gorgeous chaos of our lives. Lauren likes to talk a lot, play word games, and dig in to great novels. She loves the Muppets. She is an ardent friend and focused parent; a gardener, yogurt maker, nature explorer, and dog lover; as passionately devoted to nurturing all those lives around her as she is to sometimes being blessedly alone. Lauren found her true home in Colorado but still feels the pull of the Atlantic Ocean, the Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Nature, music and beloved community inform Christopher’s budding ministry. A lifelong UU from Knoxville, Tennessee, he brings his experience in UU camps and conferences, hospital and university chaplaincy, and worship-crafting to serve Foothills. Christopher earned a Master’s of Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology in 2017, and a BA in French from Middle Tennessee State University. He enjoys spending time outdoors and playing in his band Crispy Watkins and the Crack Willows.
