Ministry & Worship
our minister

Reverend Tim Ashton was called to service here at our church August 2004.

Dr. Timothy W. Ashton was born near Akron, Ohio in 1944 and graduated from its University. He received his Doctorate with Distinction from the Meadville/Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago in 1970 and was there awarded the Billing's Prize for Excellence in Scholarship. As recipient of the Meadville/Lombard Alumni Grant, Rev. Ashton also traveled extensively in Romania and Hungary where he studied and wrote on the theology, liturgy, and life of Hungarian Unitarians during their 400th anniversary year in 1968.

Rev. Ashton's first ministerial settlement was in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1970. During this ten-year pastorate, he was active in the community's religious, political, and social service work. He volunteered as a "youthful offender" probation officer and as an advocate in community mental health and half-way house administration and community relations. In denominational circles, he was President of the Ballou-Channing District, President of the District Minister's Association, and a Board Member of the International Association for Religious Freedom and the Doolittle Home, Inc., in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

His next ministry began in Roanoke, Virginia in 1980. Rev. Ashton participated in the formation of Roanoke Valley Together, a community coalition to foster religious and racial understanding and cooperation. He was appointed by the City Council to the Roanoke Arts Commission and elected as a Board Member of the Mental Health Association. The Spiritual Assembly of Bah'ais of Roanoke awarded Rev. Ashton and his wife, Gretchen, with their Distinguished Service to Humanity Award for 1983.

In 1986, Rev. Ashton was elected the District Executive for the Massachusetts Bay District of Unitarian Universalist Churches. During that time, he was a member of the board of Ecclesia Ministries, which provides religious services to the homeless in Boston. In his work with Mass Bay District, he was particularly appreciated for counseling ministers, religious educators, and congregational leadership and staff. An expert in conflict transformation, he helped leaders turn heat into light, guided ministers in establishing good boundaries, and helped the potentially "stuck" reframe and re-envision problem situations.
In May of 2004, Rev. Ashton was unanimously elected the parishminister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst in Williamsville, NY, a suburb of Buffalo. He began his ministry there the following August.

 

Email: uuamherst@roadrunner.com

 

How does a democratically-run, liberal congregation, believing in the Freedom of the Pulpit & the Pew, work together with a minister?

Read our Covenant with our minister: Minister's Covenant with the UU Amherst Church

I wrote a letter to the "God Squad" of the Buffalo News almost two years ago. I was puzzled about their either-or approach to the interfaith family. Did they know about our UU alternative? Below is my letter:

Dear Tom and Marc,
When you answer questions from people who wonder how to resolve or live with the needs of their interfaith or multi-faith families, I haven't read a column where you take note of our Unitarian Universalist approach.

We are joined together by a common identity built on our shared community, our history of the growth of religious tolerance and understanding, and our value system based in our seven principles and six sources of religious understanding. However, no one historic religious culture and symbol system stands at the center of our shared spirituality.

Thus, there is space for many forms of religious expression in our worship. In the "U-U" context, individuals are free to create their own particular identities. Thus, many of us easily "hyphenate" our self or family descriptions; that is, we can create mixed identities from the various streams of tradition that flow into our families. All of us are Unitarian Universalists but we often add on some more identities: Christian, Jewish, humanist, Buddhist, pagan, etc.; and sometimes we add more than one. Sincerely,
Timothy W. Ashton

There was no response to my letter. So I reflect further without their input.

The God Squad follows the conventional method of interfaith management. I will call it the "silo method" of dealing with religious diversity: of course, we talk, we visit, we learn, we appreciate, but always we keep within our own singular identities, stay in our silos. We wouldn't want our children to be "confused." Therefore, families must choose one identity, choose a single participation.

On the other hand, the UU says to the multi-faith family, figure out what you enjoy and value from whatever tradition and do those things – where possible, do them together.

Why are we so different in our approach? The UU begins with our common human experience, not a unique, transcendent revelation.

As human beings, we create religious activity to give meaning, depth, and direction to our lives. We invent rituals; we write prayers and stories and poems. We consider our obligations to one another. We sing and dance, celebrate and reflect.

Thus, at core, all religions express the basic needs of our humanness. Hence, what we share in common is much greater than what we imagine is so different.
– Tim