VOICES Archives - United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

December 3, 2025

Alums UCC VOICES

Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan (’21) Becomes MN UCC Conference Minister

On August 12, 2025, the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ (MN UCC) and its Search Committee elected Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan (’21) as its new Conference Minister. An adjunct faculty member and alum, Tanya assumes her new role on November 3, and she credits her education at United as having helped prepare her for Conference ministry. While considering enrolling at United, Tanya was facing a spiritual crisis. “I was parched in my work as a minister,” she recalls. “There was a woman in one of my churches who noticed I was holding something back.” The woman offered an encouraging word: “You could be fierce.” Seeking refreshment in her vocation, Tanya enrolled in United’s DMin program. “Once I started at United, I jumped fully in.... It was so worth it.” (more…)

November 26, 2025

Faith VOICES

Jonathan Morgan (’00), Wilson Yates, & the Legacy of a Friendship

There are few, if any, alums in United’s 63 years that can claim to have occupied the office of the presidency before graduating. So it is with Jonathan Morgan (’00), whose connections to the seminary span decades and run the gamut from alum to donor, trustee, and interim President—though not in that order. The son and grandson of prominent Twin Cities attorneys, both of whom he greatly admired, Jonathan spent his early years in tension between two paths. “When I was in college, I was torn between going to law school and theological seminary.” Jonathan ultimately chose law school. An alum of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Jonathan began his career as an attorney on solid footing. In an interview with Mendota Heights Living Magazine, Jonathan is cited as having followed his tenure at his father’s firm in the Twin Cities—Briggs and Morgan, P.A. (now Taft Law), where he met his wife, Martha—by working in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office. Still, the deeper he waded into legal work, the stronger the pull toward seminary became. (more…)

November 21, 2025

Methodist Studies VOICES

Yolanda Williams (’20) Merges Music, Scholarship, and Ministry

From an early age, Rev. Dr. Yolanda Williams’ (’20) life revolved around making music. “I've been taking piano lessons since second grade,” she shares, “and I started to play violin in seventh grade.” She also has a well-developed talent for singing (soprano and mezzo soprano). At Hamline University, one of her majors was music, and at the University of Minnesota, Yolanda earned a master's in Vocal Performance. So, how did Yolanda earn an MDiv and become the pastor at Fridley United Methodist Church? That seed was also planted early on. (more…)

November 13, 2025

Unitarian Universalism VOICES

Student Cas Burr Gains Inspiration from United’s Gifted Faculty & Relational Ethos

Cas Burr, who is just four classes away from graduating with an MDiv in UU Studies, traces his first spiritual nudge back to high school. “I was on my Unitarian Universalist church’s Boston pilgrimage, and I fell in love with the history and lineage of the religion and tradition,” he recalls. The ministers on the trip, notes Cas, “noticed a spark, and encouraged me to think about ministry and church work” as a possible vocation. After high school, Cas attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he majored in English and earned a teaching license. “I wasn’t set on ministry through college,” Cas admits, but I always had it in the back of my mind as a possibility.” Nonetheless, he spent a year after college in New York City earning an Advanced Certificate in Social Justice from Union Theological Seminary of New York. “I had a great year…and learned so much from my classmates and professors,” he says, “but I was ready to come back home and…learn in my home community.” (more…)

November 3, 2025

Community Relationships VOICES

Rev. Gloria Roach Thomas (’98) Ministers through Love, Healing, and Hope in a Hurting World

Rev. Gloria Roach Thomas (’98) grew up in a small town in South Carolina. As she recalls, “I drank out of the colored water fountains, I went to the colored elementary school.” Still, she reflects, the surrounding community “told us we were someone, even when the world said we were not.” Her father was a community activist and civil rights proponent, and her parents gave back to the community. What brought Gloria to Minnesota? “I came to Minnesota in 1976 on a bet with my cousin,” she admits. “We wanted to live somewhere for one year away from our homes.” Much to the chagrin of her family and friends, Gloria ended up staying in the Twin Cities and started her ministry here. (more…)

July 16, 2025

social transformation VOICES

Social Transformation Student Doe Hoyer Follows the Spirit

Doe Hoyer, who is pursuing an MDiv in Social Transformation, grew up southeast of the Twin Cities. Their grandfather was a Lutheran pastor. “I really had a strong love and resonance with him as a child,” Doe shares, but “as a queer child, I always felt like a misfit” at the family’s Lutheran church. It has taken some time, but since starting at United, Doe has found where their gifts can flourish and grow. The Slow Road to Seminary When Doe was 16, they experienced a “devastating loss” when a cousin tragically died. Retrospectively, they acknowledge there was a “missed opportunity for spiritual care there.” That trauma turned Doe away from religion and spirituality for many years. (more…)

July 16, 2025

theology and the arts VOICES

Isabel Nelson Finds Kinship between Social Justice, Religion, and Storytelling

A physical theater and devising artist, Isabel Nelson (’24) traces her passion for theater back to childhood. “I have always been really compelled by story and the meaning that we make and drawn to what I call ‘old story’—folk tales, fairy tales, myth, etc.” At the same time, as a UCC minister’s child and a Macalester College liberal arts graduate (’04), Isabel is deeply concerned with social justice. At United, she affirmed the kinship between justice, religion, and story, and gained a greater sense of self. Finding United Though Isabel double majored in theater and religious studies during college, she says her religious studies degree was “much more of an intellectual interest than a personal call.” Instead, she undertook a two-year intensive physical theater training program in London. Transatlantic Love Affair, the company Isabel founded in 2010, “takes the seeds of an old story, and reimagines it into something really fresh and imaginative.” The plays have no props or set pieces; stories are conveyed by the actors’ movements, some dialogue, and imagination. (more…)

July 7, 2025

Faith VOICES

50 Years Later—The Impact of Jim Nelson’s “Homosexuality: An Issue for the Church”

Faith communities have long struggled to reach consensus on the inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ+ people. Debates in congregations and conferences have led to harmful statements and schisms and highlighted sharp disagreements over theology, ethics, and justice. Of course, these are never merely debates, never just “disagreements;” these are questions of fundamental rights, theology, one’s sense of self, and what it means to love. Whereas some denominations reject the very existence of LGBTQ+ identities out of hand, others have sought the counsel of their LGBTQ+ members and committed to structural equality and solidarity. Fifty years ago, this shift was happening at United, owing to the advocacy of students, faculty, and a prescient professor’s willingness to articulate a clear theological case for affirmation. (more…)

July 1, 2025

VOICES

Helping Others: The Impact of Frank Sims

“We were put on earth to help one another.” From a young age, Frank Sims’ mother instilled this message in her children, urging them to love their neighbors by getting involved and giving back. A business person, educator, and philanthropist, he is guided by the question, “What can you do to help uplift others?” Frank’s connection to and involvement with United originated in an unlikely place: corporate America. He moved to the Twin Cities region in the 1970s for a position with Cargill, Inc., an international agricultural company based in Minnetonka, MN, where he became corporate vice president. It was while at Cargill in the 1990s that he met Dr. Kita McVay (’96, ’09), a member of United’s Board of Trustees, who invited him to join the board. He eagerly accepted the invitation after meeting with President Ben Griffin, establishing an expansive relationship with the seminary that has thrived for over 30 years. (more…)