Minister - Rev. Grace H. Simons

Welcome to the UUF of SC web site! We're glad you're interested in the Fellowship. We hope you will look at several of our pages and that you'll like what you see. Whether you're browsing, gathering information or looking for a spiritual home, you'll find things that are helpful. Want more information? E-mail us, call, or best yet, come to one of our services. We meet once each Sunday during the summer, and twice each Sunday the rest of the year. Our Sunday Services page has the exact details. We're always happy to have visitors!

As the minister, I'm glad to answer questions about the Fellowship or about Unitarian Universalism in general. I'm also available for consultation. You can find me at the Fellowship most Sundays or call for an appointment.

Members of the Fellowship covenant to walk our religious journeys together. We offer each other both support and challenge, share our joys and sorrows, and join together in work, in play, and in celebration. We draw our inspiration from many sources: from Hebrew and Christian scriptures, from other World Religions, from science and the arts, from the examples and writings of our forebears and from our own direct experience of awe and mystery. We welcome people of diverse backgrounds and orientations and believe that our diversity enriches us all. If you are drawn to this kind of religious community, we hope you'll get to know us better and perhaps find a spiritual home here.

Rev. Grace Simons came to us from Los Alamos, New Mexico in 2001. She holds both a B.A. and Certificate in Education from UC Berkeley and a Master's of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry. Married for over forty years, with two grown children and four grandchildren, she leads a busy life. She likes to hike, is an avid gardener and sings with the Masterworks Chorus.

In 1967 both she and her husband served as teachers in the Peace Corps in Northern Nigeria. Upon their return to the USA, they moved to Washington, D.C., where she began teaching, her husband completed his Ph.D. studies, and their first child was born. It was there that they first became involved in a UU church. They then moved to Los Alamos, where they lived for over twenty-five years. She has been active in the UU church there throughout the entire time. In 1999 she retired from teaching, and began her work as a minister.

Grace's ministry draws from all six of the UU Sources. She believes in the need to speak the truth with love and in the importance of a sense of humor. Her approach encourages teamwork and she likes to work with committees. She is interested in outreach and involvement with the wider community.

We have a selection of sermons by Rev. Simons, which we update on an irregular basis. We have a separate collection of Guest Sermons.

You may want to read the current version of Grace Notes, a column Rev. Simons contributes to the newsletter every issue. It is more pastoral and less formal than her sermons.