Faith Development Team
Director of Faith Development
Brittany Morse
Brittany Morse grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, where a large Unitarian Universalist congregation helped raise her. Brittany is an experienced elementary educator, school leader, and graduate school professor. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Wesleyan University and an M. Ed. in Elementary Education from Boston College.
Brittany lives in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago with her husband, Nick (who grew up in Evanston), and two young children, Nolan and Sienna. Brittany loves watching children learn, play, and explore – spiritually, socially, and academically. In her down time, Brittany enjoys yoga, biking, swimming, cats, and spending time outdoors with family and friends.
Criage grew up in Berrien Springs Michigan, a college town within Andrews University, a Seventh Day Adventist Seminary and University. She grew up inculcated with this Christian sect doctrine, which she has rebelled from in both destructive and constructive ways. She is now a Library Technical Assistant at Northeastern Illinois University. She has a Bachelor Of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a sel-proclaimed “artsy fartsy” person.
Criage currently resides in Englewood Chicago with her dear purrson Char La Rosa kitty, as well as her outdoor kitties she take care of who are very friendly and hungry. She appreciates seeing kids develop into critical thinkers, something that was not encouraged as she was growing up. Criage has seen how this church community has helped to foster kids' self-awareness and learning, and she hopes to do what she can in this service. Criage enjoys art, painting, sculpture, drama, and music, as well as film, and streamed shows which are all too addictive. Her passion is also political activism, fighting for a better world from that which we are in at this time, but seeking the reforms here and now that can lead to greater struggles for justice. She is part of a group called Stop Trans Genocide in the struggle for all bodily autonomy.
All Power To The People!
Criage Althage, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Jill Althage (she, her, hers) grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist community where she attended church school from grade 1 to finishing her BA degree at Andrews University. She majored in elementary education and English and minored in Library Science and French. She has an MA degree in Reading (Northeastern Il. U.), History (Northeastern Il. U., and Library Science (Western Michigan Univ). She taught 2nd grade for two years; taught high school French, English and was librarian for 6 years; and was the Education and Social Sciences Librarian at Northeastern Illinois University for 31 years. She is now retired.
Jill lives in the Edgewater neighborhood with her husband, Larry Lefferts, and 5 cats (4 of which need new homes). She loves working with ceramics, gardening, shopping at resale stores, traveling to out of the usual places like Mongolia, film festivals at Telluride, CO, and the spirituality she finds at 2U. I’ve met some of my best friends at 2U and married one of them—Larry.
Teaching 2U children brings many joys and surprises. Our children are great thinkers, and it’s an honor to be with them on Sundays. Before you know it, it’s time to close. I learned a lot from the class I taught last year and was amazed at the knowledge our 2U children bring to our classrooms.
Jill Althage, Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher
Courtney Anderson, Spirit Play (PreK-K) Teacher & Member of LFD Committee
Courtney grew up in St. Charles, IL in a Lutheran household. Her mother is retiring in 2024 after a long career as Director of Christian Education. Courtney participated in and then assisted with Sunday School and Vacation Bible School all through her youth and high school. She began attending Second Unitarian and teaching Spirit Play in 2009, learning from Rev. Adam Robersmith and Rev. Susan Francis, as well as many wonderful Directors of Faith Development.
Courtney has a BS in Hospitality Management from New York University and is the Donor Engagement Director at Steppenwolf Theatre Company where she also manages their softball team. She lives in Uptown and enjoys going to Foster Beach and the lakeshore path. She is the aunt of four and loves to travel.
Marsha Bailey Ashley is a long-time member of Second Unitarian Church. She has participated in many different roles at the church, but her initial connection was as an RE teacher. It was a great way to interact with kids before she was ready to have her own. For about 6 years she was even Director of Religious Education. Currently she is on the Worship Planning Team, bakes cookies, recruits worship associates, and enjoys working with the younger members of our congregation.
Marsha Bailey Ashley, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Khadijah Benson is a born and raised Chicagoan. She spent her late teen and early adult years practicing Buddhism before attending Unitarian church services. She is currently studying Psychology and Biology at Harold Washington College. She currently resides in the Albany Park neighborhood.
Khadijah enjoys traveling, nature walks and reading. She also loves plants, animals, and of course children! She finds purpose in giving care to those who need it. After maintaining a degree in Psychology, she plans to follow in her mother's footsteps and do social work for children and their families.
Khadijah Benson, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Alex Champagne was born and bred in Michigan before moving to Chicago in 2016. Alex received her Bachelor's and Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan and is a practicing therapist in private practice. She joined 2U in 2017 where she has enjoyed the ways in which she has been involved in various aspects of church life, including a stint on the membership committee, working to organize the church archives, and teaching OWL. Alex lives in Lincoln Square with her husband and two small dogs (Ruthie and Kirk). Her hobbies include reading speculative fiction, writing, playing board and video games, and watching women's basketball.
Alexandria Champagne, Green Caterpillar Room (ages 0-3) Childcare Provider
Tom Clowes grew up going to Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church in Palatine, IL. He met his wife Kristin when they were teenagers at the UU summer camp now known as Midwest UU Summer Assembly. Now, they are counselors for high schoolers at the same camp. Tom is also a youth advisor at 2U. He is the Co-Executive Director and Cellist of Crossing Borders Music, which shares music by composers from under-represented cultures in a way that affirms and uplifts. He enjoys running long distances even when no one is chasing him, hanging out with the Chicago-area Cambodians, geeking out about coffee, and doing crossword puzzles with weird themes.
Tom Clowes, Youth Group Advisor (9th-12th)
Sue Dunmore, Youth Group (9th-12th) Lead Advisor & Member of LFD Committee
Sue Dunmore has been a religious education teacher at Second Unitarian since 1984, teaching all ages (pre-school through youth, and some adult classes as well). Early on, this was a way to figure out what children were like before her daughter, Jennifer, reached that age. At one point, she tried to take a break but found herself heading to the classroom on Sunday morning to find out if any classes needed a sub. Teaching at 2U is just that much fun!
It's been great to get to know people when they are children and find them returning to our church home as adults. 2U must be doing something right!
Megan Dunning grew up outside of Seattle, but has lived in Chicago since 2001. She became a member of Second Unitarian Church in 2015 to provide religious education for her children and has been engaged with the RE programs ever since. She is an experienced educator and cultural institution administrator, with strengths in working with adults, college students, and in environmental education. She holds a B.S. from Macalester College in Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Chicago, where she studied the co-evolution of plants and their pathogens.
Megan lives in Jefferson Park on the northwest side of Chicago, with her husband, Lexx Dunning, her two children, Kara and Julian, their cat, Mr. J and their dog, Shaw. She loves books, music, and cooking, and has been known to pull the car over because she thought she saw a new plant.
Megan Dunning, Spirit Play (PreK-K) Teacher & Green Caterpillar Room (ages 0-3) Childcare Provider
Myra's first official contact with UUism was when she and husband Jim Redlich tracked down a minister to marry them in Lexington, Massachusetts. They moved to Chicago, joined 2U (where their two daughters were dedicated), and promptly left town. They lived in Springfield, Illinois, for twenty-three years, where they were active in the UU church. They also learned a great deal about Abraham Lincoln and about the Dairy Building at the State Fair.
Now retired, Myra's work life is a blur of social work, a dab of teaching, and massage. After ten years or more of being upstairs on Sunday mornings, she's very curious about what's going on downstairs.
Myra Epping, Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher
Karen Fort is currently a member of the Second Unitarian Religious Education committee. A retired theater teacher of all ages, she credits this RE community with endowing her own now grown kids with an engagement with moments of joy and an ethical compass.
Karen Fort, Member, Lifespan Faith Development Committee
Angeline Groves (she/they) lives with Rob (he/him), Marion (they/them, 7), and June (she/her, 3) in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. Originally from the Detroit suburbs, she was raised Catholic and is new to the 2U community. Angeline has over 15 years of experience as a clinical social worker/psychotherapist working in community agencies, hospitals, and now a private practice in the Ravenswood neighborhood working with adults. Angeline used to work with children previously in her career and is excited to support kids again in the 2U classrooms. Her interests include: art, music, nature, spirituality, and building community.
Angeline Groves, Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher
Rick Hudson & Sarah Richardson
Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher – Rick
Spirit Play (PreK-K) Teacher – Sarah
Rick Hudson and Sarah Richardson, both RE teachers, met and married in Tucson Arizona. They both earned Ph.D.s from the University of Arizona, Sarah specializing in Ecology and Rick in Evolutionary Biology. Now they both teach in the Biology Department at Depaul University and share an office there! Jobson Hudson, whom many of you know, is their son.
Rick and Sarah both grew up as Unitarian Universalists, Rick in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio and Sarah in Lincoln, Nebraska. Rick and his family were members of a small Unitarian Universalist fellowship that met either at a model farm or a nature center, a center where they could stare through a large plate glass window at birds and squirrels visiting a feeder. Sarah is also a nature lover who started bird watching when she was young. They now hike every weekend, usually at Montrose Point, to enjoy nature while Jobson looks out for a paleta cart.
Rick has taught on and off since 1983; his first teaching job was at a high school in the Fiji islands as a Peace Corps volunteer. He is a year-round bicycle commuter and has practiced the gentle martial art Aikido for many years. Sarah has also taught for many years; she often teaches statistics and urban ecology. Sarah is an avid reader and reads with Jobson every night.
Teresa was born in Jersey City, New Jersey a long time ago. She has a BA in Russian and a masters in Library Science. She moved to Chicago in 1980 and joined 2U in 1985. She had a career as a computer programmer and systems analyst. She left in 1997 for twenty years in Asia but Chicago always felt like home. She practices Japanese flower arranging and tutors adults who cannot read. At 2U, she administers the coffee hour and the garden maintenance.
Teresa Kennedy, Spirit Play (PreK-K) Teacher & Green Caterpillar Room (ages 0-3) Childcare Provider
Rhonda Kineman , Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher & Member, Lifespan Faith Development Committee
Rhonda grew up in Michigan and attended Michigan State University (BS), University of Georgia (MS, PhD) and Medical University of South Carolina (Post-doctoral fellowship). She then joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1995. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, specializing in hormonal control of liver health and disease.
She has been a member of 2U for over 25 years. She is married to John Houck, and they are parents of Oskar Houck, who attended 2U RE classes from Spirit Play through Middle School. Since joining 2U Rhonda has taught RE at all grade levels, except Youth Group. She enjoys the enthusiasm and curiosity of the 2U children and loves learning along with them as they develop their own unique spiritual practice.
Micah Lapping-Carr, Green Caterpillar Room (ages 0-3) Childcare Provider
Micah grew up in Evanston just a few blocks from the Purple line, lived on both coasts during and after college, and is now happily settled back in Chicago with his wife, Leiszle, their two kids Zella and Malachi, and their cat Phira. He loves all kinds of museums, but his favorite is the Field Museum, followed by the Museum of Contemporary Art. He likes play of all kinds and is excited to get to know the youngest members of the 2U Congregation.
Don Mac Gregor is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist who has been a member off and on at 2U since the mid 1970s. He has also been a member of the Unitarian Church of Evanston.
Don is a member of 2U’s Library Committee. He helps with cataloging and reviewing potential books to be added to the library. Along with the Library Committee, he sings in the choir, helps out during coffee hour and with watering the lawns at 2U.
Don has a Masters Degree in Library & Information Science from Dominican University in River Forrest, Illinois. He specializes in Law Librarianship.
Don Mac Gregor, Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher
Julia Maher, Spirit Play (PreK-K) Teacher
Julia (she/her/hers) was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition right here in Chicago. After moving around a lot, she now makes her home in Lakeview. Julia has a bachelors in Women’s Studies and an MSW degree. She is in her last year (!) of school social work in CPS.
Julia is new to teaching RE but not new to 2U. This was the church she and her son started attending the Sunday after 9/11. She’s wandered away on occasion, but has always come back for the wonderful and inspiring community.
Imani McPhadden, Youth Group (9th-12th) Advisor
Bio coming soon—stay tuned!
Paul grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and moved to Chicago in 2015. He still cheers for all the Minnesota sports teams. In addition to being a parent to Noah and Maya, he has worked with youth since high school as a baseball coach, Sunday School assistant, and at various after school centers in Indiana and Chicago. Paul loves games, puzzles, and eating ice cream.
Paul Merley, Green Caterpillar Room (ages 0-3) Childcare Provider
Jung Messinger (they/them) has been a member of 2U since 2021 after floating between various Pagan groups and time as a solo practitioner for the previous 15ish years. They’re also a Co-Chair of Social Justice Ministries and enjoy connecting people to social justice work that helps them put their values and beliefs into action.
A transracial and transnational adoptee born in Korea in the 1980’s, Jung grew up in semi-rural Western New York and lived briefly in Central North Carolina before moving to Chicago in 2010. Last year, they started their own nonprofit consulting and coaching business after two decades in a range of youth development, sex education, reproductive and immigrant justice, LGBTQ and BIPOC, prison abolition, and social justice philanthropy organizations. They also write curated recommendations for the independent site Book Riot, and love recommending reading picks to people.
When they’re not working, they spend their time organizing neighborhood mutual aid and disability justice care networks, facilitating support spaces for transnational and transracial adoptees, being a long-distance auntie to their adorable nibblings, reading tarot, and watching NBA and WNBA basketball.
Jung Messinger, Green Caterpillar Room (ages 0-3) Childcare Provider
Greg Potts, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Bio coming soon—stay tuned!
Andrea (she/her) raised as a Unitarian in the Detroit area, joined 2U in 1994 where she met and married Gregory in 1996. Their son, Noah was a participant while growing up.
She has a BS in Fashion Related Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and a Master’s in Special Education from Northeastern Illinois. She taught for 18 1/2 years for Chicago Public Schools, mostly high school aged children. She retired in 2021. She has taught our children at 2U in the late 1990s - through early 2000s and again last Fall. She loves sharing our UU values and principles with our youngest people.
Andrea and Gregory live in the Uptown neighborhood where they have lived for over 26 years. As a retiree, she enjoys crafting, sewing, traveling and spending time with friends and family.
Andrea Redfeairn, Spirit Play (PreK-K) Teacher
Jim grew up in and around Chicago and lives in the Edgewater neighborhood with his wife Myra Epping. Now fully retired, he had served as an attorney in a variety of governmental and teaching positions both in Chicago and Springfield. Jim and Myra have two children and two grandchildren.
Jim has been a Unitarian Universalist for over 40 years and has served in a number of capacities both at 2U and with the Springfield congregation. During that time, he has frequently taught Sunday School and looks forward to the new school year at 2U.
Jim Redlich, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Susan Richter, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Susan grew up on the north side of Chicago and after being brought up Roman Catholic, joined 2U in 2010. She has been a member of the 2U Choir ever since, has served in the nominating committee, a ministerial search committee, the Sunday services committee, and the Board of Trustees. Susan has taught in the Spirit Play classroom since 2012. She lives in the Andersonville neighborhood with her husband Ray Beckley and her very sweet cat, Jennie.
Robert Rodemeyer (he/him) resides with his partner Angeline (she/they) and his children Marion (they/them) age 7 and June (she/her) age 3 in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. Born and raised in metro-Detroit, Robert moved to Chicago’s northside in 2005 after graduating law school. Since that time, Robert has dedicated his career to public service and improving the lives of children in the greater Cook County community. As a past substitute teacher, math tutor, and chair of his office’s involvement in Lawyers in the Classroom Program, Robert has sought out opportunities to work with young people of all ages. Raised Catholic, Robert is relatively new to the 2U community but has been drawn in by its mission and values which he looks forward to celebrating and exploring with our youngest members.
Robert Rodemeyer, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Cristina Romero, Multiple Classrooms
Bio coming soon—stay tuned!
Diane Sander is fairly new to 2U, becoming a member this past spring. She previously was an active member of the Rutland, Vermont congregation for over 18 years and participated in many areas of church life. She is a semi-retired accountant and lives in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago with her husband, Don. They have 2 adult children, Eli who is a member of 2U and Dave who lives in New Hampshire. Diane enjoys spending time with her family, going to the theater, symphony and movies, reading and playing board games.
Diane Sander, Heeding the Call (6th-8th) Teacher
Carla Tebbe, Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher & Member, LFD Committee
Carla Tebbe has been attending 2U for 12 years and is the parent of three sons who all attended Religious Education classes. Her life has been greatly enriched by the spiritual development and social connection she has found at the church. She finds inspiration in the quote, "And how are the children?"
Carla lives in the Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago with her husband and kids. She works for Chicago Public Schools as a Speech Pathologist with a special interest in bilingualism. In her free time, she enjoys visiting the library, going to live theater, doing yoga at the Y, and taking long walks at Horner Park.
Jess Vogt joined Second Unitarian in 2017, when she was looking for a community that aligned with her values. She now has two small children (Maya and Noah). The family—including husband/dad Paul Merley—lives up in West Ridge, Chicago. In 2U, she is happy to have found a wonderful village to help raise the kiddos and is looking forward to giving back as an RE teacher.
In her professional life, Jess is an associate professor of environmental science and studies at DePaul University, where she teaches sustainability and research methods classes and does research on urban trees and green spaces with her students in LUFA, the Lab for Urban Forestry in the Anthropocene. She also serves on the Chicago Urban Forestry Advisory Board. In her free time, Jess enjoys taking care of the family's vegetable and native plant gardens and apple trees, reading, and baking bread.
Jess Vogt, Windows & Mirrors (1st-5th) Teacher