Leaders & Staff

Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner and Rev. Joel Miller, Co-Ministers

Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner (she/her) and Rev. Joel Miller (he/him) are co-ministers who share one full-time position: Rev. Joel works two-thirds time (between 35 and 40 hours a week) and Rev. Debra works one-third time (between 15 and 20 hours a week). They share worship responsibilities and pastoral care as well as working with the Board of Trustees. Rev. Joel serves the chief of staff and the ministers’ representative on the Operations Council, and has primary responsibility for governance, religious education, operations, building, governance and supporting FUUSN’s Lay Ministers. Rev. Debra has primary responsibility for community relationships, social justice, communications, and membership outreach. They may adjust their hours and responsibilities as they learn more about FUUSN.

Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner has been a UU minister for 21 years, and previously served congregations in Huntington, NY, Santa Cruz, CA, Reston, VA, Westport, CT, and Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. She is the President Emerita and co-founder of the Religious Institute and has written numerous books, including Beyond the Big Talk, From Diapers to Dating, and What Every 21st-Century Parent Needs to Know. She is the creator of the Sexually Safer Best Practices Initiative used by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Rev. Haffner has been recognized for her dynamic worship, loving approach to congregational life, social justice work, and ability to give and receive feedback.

Rev. Joel Miller has been a UU minister for 33 years and has served many congregations in interim and settled ministry, including congregations in Morristown, NJ, Indianapolis, IN, Rochester, NY, Buffalo, NY, and Littleton, CO. He has been praised by many for his pastoral care, organizational leadership, worship services, and thoughtful presence. He is a co-founder of the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry and has been a thought leader in Unitarian Universalist Interim Ministry.  His focus on trauma response ministry is rooted in Rev. Miller’s personal experience serving the Littleton, CO, Unitarian Universalist congregation during the aftermath of the Columbine High School mass shooting.

Rev. Debra’s FUUSN hours most weeks are Tuesday evening for meetings, Wednesday and Friday days in the office, Thursdays for writing and study, and Sunday mornings. Rev. Joel’s FUUSN hours are the same but also include meetings Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. They take Sunday afternoon through Tuesday mornings as their shared Sabbatical time off. They may adjust their hours and responsibilities as they learn more about FUUSN.

• Email Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner and Rev. Joel Miller

Devin Shmueli, Director of Family and Community Ministries

Devin Shmueli (he/him/his) has a passion for learning from and listening to the wisdom of people of all ages and stages because he believes that even the smallest child can help serve as a guide on the path of responsible meaning-making! Devin sees himself as a co-creator of safe, brave spaces where he can provide people the tools to explore their faith and spirituality. As Director of Family and Community Ministries, he can do so while integrating newcomers, members, and friends into the congregation in a holistic way ensuring they can learn and grow within the whole life and ministry of FUUSN.

Devin is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended the University of North Carolina in Greensboro where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies. In 2017, Devin graduated with a Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School with a dual focus in social justice and ethics as well as pastoral care and counseling. He currently serves as the President of New England Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA), and he is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Membership Professionals (UUAMP).

Outside of work, Devin is a CrossFit athlete, and enjoys visiting with friends in and out of town, exploring new restaurants, hiking locally and, especially, in the Berkshires, and throwing pottery on the wheel. He is also dabbling in woodworking.

• Email Devin Shmueli

Anne Watson Born, Director of Music Ministry

Anne Watson Born (she/her/hers) has been at FUUSN since 2007, and it has been a mind-altering and wonderful experience from the beginning. When she’s not at FUUSN, she is the Music Director for the Nashoba Valley Chorale, a 100-voice community choir. She is currently the chair of the UUA’s Music Leadership Certification Committee and is a UUA Credentialed Music Leader. She is also the Lifelong Repertoire & Resources chair for the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.

• Email Anne Watson Born

Fran Clancy, Office Administrator

Fran Clancy (she/her/hers) has been the Administrator at FUUSN for many years. Although not an official Unitarian Universalist, she values the principles and commitment the FUUSN congregation exhibits on a daily basis. Fran lives in Newton, MA, and she has two grown daughters who produced four grandchildren.

Office Hours

Mon-Wed-Fri – 9:00-3:00
Tues-Thurs 9:00-3:00
Sunday 9:00-1:00

• Email Fran Clancy

Jenise Aminoff, Communications and Technology Coordinator

Jenise Aminoff (she/her/hers) has been writing things since she was 8 years old. She grew up in Albuquerque, NM and is half-Hispanic. An MIT alumna, she has worked as a technical writer, science writer, information designer, and web content writer at Boston-area technology companies and educational institutions since the mid-1990s. She is also a published author of adult science fiction short stories and, under the pen name Dianna Sanchez, middle grade fantasy novels. Raised Catholic with a smattering of Mormon, she has been a member of First Parish UU of Arlington since 2010, where she has taught RE to 2nd and 6th graders. An avid cook, she also enjoys gardening, board games, jewelry-making, and creating steampunk hats and accessories. She is married with two daughters and lives in Cambridge, MA.

Office Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 9am-3pm
Occasional Sundays: 9am-1pm

• Email Jenise Aminoff

Karen Hurley, Nursery Care

Linnea Bardarson, Organist/Pianist

Linnea Bardarson (she/her/hers) grew up in Seattle, the youngest in a large family where all the kids took music lessons, and the guitar was often brought out for after-dinner folk singing. With a classical violinist mother, a father who loved the blues, two church-musician grandparents, plus another grandmother who wooed her suitor by playing the harp and singing, “Dear One, The World is Waiting for the Sunrise,” she has had a variety of musical influences to inspire her own musical journey – a journey which over the years has included playing chamber music, accompanying Chorus pro Musica and Koleinu, playing nightly gigs at the old Café Budapest and Colonnade Hotel in Boston, touring Spain with an orchestra, recording piano concertos in the Czech Republic, and leading church choirs for over twenty years. After taking time off to raise her twin boys, she now teaches piano at UMass/Boston and Dedham School of Music. She enjoys playing the banjo and leading singing workshops on Star Island.

Linnea received her Bachelor of Arts from Mills College and her Master of Music in piano performance from New England Conservatory of Music.

As a child she attended East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, Washington. For the past fifteen years, First Church and Parish, Unitarian-Universalist, Dedham, has been her church home. She served as Music Director there from 2007-2018. She is very excited to be here at FUUSN. Linnea lives in Dedham with her husband, Joel.