Introducing our new minister
On May 3, 2026, our congregation called the Reverend Melissa Carvill Ziemer as our next settled minister. She began her ministry with our congregation on August 4, 2026.
About the Reverend Melissa Carvill Ziemer
Melissa has been a Unitarian Universalist minister for more than two decades doing a variety of different ministries. She served as the settled minister of the UU Church of Kent in Kent, OH, for almost 12 years. For the past decade, she has been the Co-Director of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association. After she was hired there, they asked her to be the Director. But she is more interested in working collaboratively, so she requested that there be a shared leadership model. In that role, she has supported UU ministers. Because she loves parish ministry and wanted to stay closely connected to that work for herself and to support her leadership in the UUMA, she has also been working as an Affiliated Minister at First Parish of Northfield Unitarian, Northfield, MA
Melissa (she/her) lives in Easthampton with her spouse, Evin (they/any pronoun) (who is also a UU Minister) and their two children ages 10 and 12 . Over the years, they have been foster parents for many other children.
Melissa recorded a video for us.
Click CC in the video to display captions or read the full transcript.
[If the video does not load, please view Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer's introduction video on Zoom.]
Rev. Carvill Ziemer's history with USNF
When she was in college, a friend told her about the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence. She attended our congregation for a couple of years. When she graduated, she left to do an internship on an organic farm which turned into a few years of farming, teaching pre-school and waiting tables. She then moved back to Northampton and became a member of USNF. She participated as a lay leader, teaching an RE class, working with the Racial Justice Team and as our paid pre-school teacher before she moved away again to go to theological school.
More information about Rev. Carvill Ziemer's ministry
On her website, Melissa wrote: “Relational. Collaborative. Committed.
These three words are evocative of both what I have to offer and what I hope to find in the next chapter of my ministry. I’m looking for a shared ministry where we can practice building the world we dream together: rooted in relationships and in community and in place, working and playing and learning and growing together with fidelity to our shared values and in pursuit of our shared vision.”
Learn more on her website: Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer