The Christian Universalist Association was unofficially founded in January 2007 by Eric Stetson. He was soon joined by Kalen Fristad and together they invited others to join the effort. Most of those invited came to a leadership meeting in Washington D.C., May 16-17, 2007, where they approved Bylaws, Policies, and Statement of Faith and decided to pursue legal incorporation. On November 8, 2007, the Christian Universalist Association became a legal non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and it is recognized as a tax-exempt church association by the Internal Revenue Service of the United States.
Here is a list of all people who have ever served on the Board of Directors of the CUA, listed in chronological order of when they officially joined the Board, along with offices they have held in the organization and when they held them.
Eric Stetson (Board member from May 2007 to present; Executive Director from May 2007 to December 2010). He is the author of a 2008 book, Christian Universalism: God’s Good News For All People. Eric served as Executive Director from 2007 through 2010. He has served in various capacities at Universalist National Memorial Church in Washington D.C., including as an adult study group curriculum developer and teacher, liturgist, and guest preacher. His spiritual journey has taken him through the Baha’i Faith, the Assemblies of God, Unity, and the Unitarian Universalist Association. Eric is a freelance website developer and entrepreneur, and also works as editor-in-chief for Vox Humri Media, a small publishing company specializing in spiritual and progressive books.
Kalen Fristad (Board member from May 2007 to December 2016; Chair from May 2007 to December 2012). Kalen chaired the board of directors from 2007 through 2012. He had been a United Methodist minister for over 30 years before retiring in 2014 and is the author of a 2003 book, Destined For Salvation: God’s Promise to Save Everyone, which is the basis for his Destined For Salvation Ministries. Kalen has spent many years traveling across America speaking at numerous churches to share the message of God’s plan of salvation for all people, and he continues to do it in retirement.
John Morgan (Board member and Vice Chair from May 2007 to June 2008). John is a retired minister who served the UUA for over 25 years as local church pastor, new congregation organizer, and extension minister charged with helping to renew older churches or begin new ones. One of his many books is A Testament of Devotion, the story of the earliest Universalist churches in America, many out of the Pietist heritage. His two new books include Daybreak and Eventide, a collection of prayers and worship services for individuals and small groups; and In the Shadow of Grace, the story of his grandfather, Evangelical preacher G. Campbell Morgan, with excerpts from his letters and sermons.
Brad Edwards (Board member and Treasurer from May 2007 to September 2009). Brad is a meteorologist in Des Moines, Iowa, who has written extensively about Christian Universalism and spiritual issues on his website, SaviorOfTheWorld.net. He comes from a Catholic background and considers himself a non-denominational Christian.
Lillie Mae Henley (Board member and Secretary from May 2007 to December 2009). She served for several years as the pastor of Universalist National Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. This historic church was built in the early 1900’s as the national cathedral for the Universalist Church of America, a major Christian denomination, and it remains a Christian Universalist congregation today. Lillie also Henley pastored three other churches before UNMC and has a strong record of building growth in the communities she has served, including city-center urban settings. She is currently living and working in Wisconsin.
Dr. G. A. Roach (Board member from May 2007 to July 2009). He is the pastor of an independent evangelical church in Amarillo, Texas, and serves as a full-time hospital chaplain. His background was in the Southern Baptist tradition. He holds Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Charles Slagle (Board member from May 2007 to December 2010). He is an evangelist, former prison minister, and current leader of a nondenominational church plant in Fort Worth, Texas. He is the author of two devotional books: From the Father’s Heart: A Glimpse of God’s Nature and Ways, and Power to Soar. In his most recent book, Absolute Assurance in Jesus Christ, he shares his testimony of how the miraculous revelation of God’s unconditionally committed love freed him from decades of wrestling with addictive behavior and manic depression. Charles Slagle comes from the Pentecostal tradition.
Dr. Ken R. Vincent (Board member from May 2007 to November 2008). He is a writer whose books include The Golden Thread: God’s Promise of Universal Salvation, The Magi: From Zoroaster to the “Three Wise Men”, and Visions of God from the Near Death Experience. He is the webmaster for the Universalist Herald (Universalist-Herald.net). Dr. Vincent is retired from teaching Psychology including the Psychology of Religious Experience at Houston Community College. He has over 100 publications in the fields of psychology and religion. Dr. Vincent is a member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the International Association of Near-Death studies, and the Alister Hardy Society (for the study of religious experience). A long-time Universalist, he currently attends Covenant Church, an American Baptist church that bills itself as “An Ecumenical, Liberal Baptist Congregation.”
Rick Spencer (Board member from May 2007 to October 2009). He is an evangelist and former pastor who organized the “Restoration Nation” and “Inclusion” conferences in the mid 2000s, which attracted several hundred Christians who believe in the all-inclusive love of God. He has worked to encourage the founding of new house churches based on this teaching, and to network believers from a variety of theological backgrounds and geographical locations. Rick Spencer has been involved in mission work in Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, India, Jamaica, Kenya, and Sri Lanka, and has founded seven different food pantries in the Central Texas area. He is an independent charismatic Christian.
Dr. Cecil E. Bohanon (Board member from May 2007 to June 2008). He is a Professor of Economics at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He has served as President of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship and was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie. He currently finds fellowship in the Episcopal Church.
Rev. Felicia Urbanski (Board member from May 2007 to June 2008). She has been a Unitarian Universalist parish minister since 2002, serving churches in Oklahoma (U.S.) and in Ontario (Canada). She received her M.Div. from the University of Winnipeg. She has served on the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship since 1998. Felicia Urbanski’s prior career was as a symphony violinist and music teacher. She emigrated to Canada in 1988, and currently serves as Interim Minister with the First Unitarian Congregation of Waterloo.
John Gavazzoni (Board member from June to August 2007). He is a non-denominational Christian theologian and evangelist from Thousand Oaks, California, whose ministry has included service as a Youth for Christ evangelist, a pastor, house church leader, and now minister-at-large, board member and featured writer for Greater Emmanuel International Apostolic Team Ministry. Since 1980 his primary focus has been on replacing corrupted theologies with correct understandings of the Biblical message, centered on two essential tenets of early Christianity: universal reconciliation and the divine sonship of all people. John’s illuminating writings and inspirational speeches have made him a favorite teacher of many Christian Universalists.
Rev. Rhett Ellis (Board member from September 2007 to December 2010; Vice Chair from June 2008 to December 2010). He is the pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mobile, Alabama. Before becoming a Unitarian Universalist he served Southern Baptist churches for 14 years. He is the author of five spiritual-themed books and owns his own publishing company, Sparkling Bay Books. He has also served as a Christian youth minister, taught at a junior college, and worked as a newspaper reporter.
Woodrow Lucas (Board member from June 2008 to July 2009). He is a non-denominational charismatic Christian who has been involved in various types of ministry since the late 1990s. His ecumenical journey of faith has led him through Episcopalian, Baptist, Pentecostal, and Disciples of Christ churches, and he currently serves as a lay leader in the United Church of Christ. He holds Master of Theological Studies and Master of Business Administration degrees from Vanderbilt University. Woodrow Lucas is also a poet and prophetic voice, and the author of two spiritual fiction books based on his own life story. He strives to reach out to people of all spiritual traditions and diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds with the Universalist Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Rev. Susan Smith (Board member from July 2008 to August 2015). She is an assistant pastor at Exodus Missionary Outreach Church, a progressive non-denominational multi-ethnic congregation in North Carolina that emphasizes outreach to marginalized people. She is also the assistant executive director of Exodus Homes, a private non-profit faith-based United Way agency that provides 94 beds of supportive housing for homeless recovering addicts, alcoholics, and formerly incarcerated people, and she serves on the board of directors of Catawba Prison Ministries. She was a certified sign language interpreter for over 20 years. Susan Smith’s passion is to share the Good News of God’s unconditional love and hope for all people, in order to transform hurting and broken people’s lives today.
Marquis D. Hunt (Board member from July 2008 to December 2016). He is the founder and Spiritual Director of the LifeXchange, Center for Truth and Inner Peace, an innovative spiritual initiative fostering disciplines of love, relationship and creativity based in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a life coach, musician and recording artist, and former church pastor. He has traveled extensively as a conference speaker as well as doing seminars in New Thought Christianity, artistic innovations and prophetic communication. Marquis Hunt considers himself a professional listener and sacred activist, using music, poetry, and prophetically streaming conversations to ignite new and fresh perspectives on living a life of love. He embraces each conversation with unique presence and speaks of God and Humanity with compelling tenderness.
Logan Geen (Board member from November 2008 to October 2011; Secretary from December 2009 to October 2011). He holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Cornell University and works as an assistant physician practice manager, and is also pursuing a law degree. He is a prolific blogger, writing from both a creedal Christian “generous orthodoxy” and mystical perspective. Formerly an independent Catholic, he now attends an Episcopal church. In recent years he has become more orthodox in his theology and, while currently agnostic about universal salvation, calls himself a “hopeful universalist.”
Rich Koster (Board member from July 2009 to December 2016; Treasurer from December 2009 to December 2010; Coordinator from January 2011 to present). Now retired from full-time church leadership, he has been a pastor or interim minister for nine churches, both Presbyterian and Disciples of Christ. He received B.D. and Th.M. degrees from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. He has also worked as a chaplain, teacher, and truck driver. He served as editor-in-chief of The Universalist Herald magazine for ten years. He currently resides in Kentucky.
Steven Rowe (Board member from September 2010 to December 2016). He has a Master’s Degree in Counseling and spent 30 years as a counselor, first for troubled youth and then in adult mental health services. He has a blog about the history of the Universalist Church in the southeast U.S. Currently he is secretary in his local church, chair of the Universalist Herald board, and vice president of the Universalist Convocations for 2010-2011. A native of South Carolina, he currently lives in New Mexico.
Sharon McCauley (Board member and Treasurer from December 2010 to January 2015). She was born and raised a Roman Catholic, and served as a children’s Catholic Education teacher. Later, she joined a Disciples of Christ church in Winterset, Iowa, where she directed the children and youth program, sang in the church choir, and was leader of the Christian Women group. She was involved with a street ministry in Des Moines for many years. Before retiring, she was employed by Principal Financial Group for 30 years. Currently she volunteers for Manna House and MAP International, which is a medical assistance program packing medical supplies for developing countries.
Rev. Fred Howard (Board member from December 2010 to July 2011). He is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Valdosta, Georgia. In addition to his ministerial work, he is also a board certified physician and practices emergency medicine part time. He has special interest in the psychology of human spiritual development, and his interest and research in this field caused him to gravitate toward Universalism. He is on the board of several non-profit organizations, including Project Harvest Hope, which works for sustainable economic development in Transylvania, and Peacemakers, an organization that fosters world peace by teaching children ethical values common to all religions and denominations in a summer camp program.
Mary Keller (Board member from December 2010 to present; Vice Chair from September 2011 to December 2012; Chair from January 2013 to present). She is active in nursing home ministries and shares leadership in a Unitarian Fellowship in Colorado. She has led 12-step classes for people with addictive and other issues for the past eight years, as well as directing worship services with a focus on recovery. Mary spent ten years in the fitness industry and another decade working for medical doctors. She comes from a charismatic faith tradition.
Doug Torkelson (Board member from December 2010 to December 2011). He is a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center. Trained as a software engineer, he owns a software development company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Doug shares his journey from nondenominational, charismatic fundamentalism to universalism. He discusses the struggles he experienced with friends, family, and his church’s doctrine, and how he came to embrace universalist principles and became a student of A Course in Miracles.
David Spatz (Board member from February 2011 to July 2012). He was a Sailor in the U.S. Navy for over 20 years and served in a number of positions at base chapels and as a Chaplain’s representative. He led Bible studies, a recovery group, and was involved in youth and children’s ministries in Japan before returning to the U.S. where he finished his B.A. in History from the University of Maryland and his M.Div. in Pastoral Counseling. He has served as a Sunday School teacher and in other roles at his local church. He desires to help others find fellowship with like-minded believers in our God who is Love. Originally from Salem, Oregon, David currently resides in Pasadena, Maryland.
Mikal N. Rasheed (Board member and Vice Chair from January 2013 to October 2015). He is a Professor of Social Work and Department Chair at a Chicago area university. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical social work from Loyola University Chicago. In addition to many years as a social service practitioner, social service agency and college administrator, he along with his wife maintain a private practice in individual, marital, and family therapy. He has spoken on numerous occasions on the topic “Social Work as a Ministry of Racial Reconciliation.” His spiritual journey, which began as a Presbyterian, included a sojourn through Islam and the Baha’i Faith. Even as he returned to Christianity about 20 years ago, he has found his theological and spiritual home in Christian Universalism. He was ordained as a Christian Universalist minister in September 2011.
Judy Sheriff (Board member from September 2011 to September 2015).
John Licitra (Board member from January 2012 to January 2015).
Sheila Hansen (Board member from March to August 2012).
Stan Seidner (Board member from March 2012 to March 2015). The last of a line of Orthodox rabbis, Stan Seidner’s spiritual journey has taken him through Maronite Catholicism and Christian universalism. With doctoral and postdoctoral degrees in military studies and history, psychology, statistics, and theology, Stan is a retired academic dean, professor, psychologist, statistician and evaluator. In addition to his retirement from the University of Texas, Stan’s tenure was at Columbia University, among other postsecondary institutions. He has also worked for a number of government agencies and served on national, state, university, seminary and local boards. In addition, he has also served in several armed forces both here and abroad. He was ordained a Christian Universalist minister in September, 2012.
Boyd C. Purcell (Board member from September 2012 to January 2016). He is a Board Certified Chaplain, a National Board Certified Counselor, a Licensed Professional Counselor, and an Honorably-Retired Presbyterian Minister (PCUSA). Educationally, he has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Comprehensive Social Studies, a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling, a Master of Divinity Degree in Biblical Studies, and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in the integration of psychology and theology. Experientially, he has over 40 years of experience in counseling: agency, clinical, pastoral, psychiatric hospital, school, substance abuse, private practice, teaching counseling courses in the Counseling Department of Marshall University Graduate College, and chaplaincy, providing spiritual care at the end of life for hospice patients. Dr. Purcell is also the author of Spiritual Terrorism: Spiritual Abuse from the Womb to the Tomb and Christianity Without Insanity: For Optimal Mental/Emotional/Physical Health.