Congratulations to Mary Kay Sauter ’95
United Theological Seminary’s
2018 Distinguished Alum!

Since graduating from United Theological Seminary, Mary Kay Sauter has shown dynamic leadership in the various roles she has taken on. She has served as a state legislator in North Dakota, a church interim and sabbatical supply minister, worked in the wider church and in crucial roles as a steering committee co-chair for the 1993 Re-Imagining Conference, formed the ‘Re-Imagining Community’ after the backlash and more recently re-incorporated the ‘Re-Imagining Community,’ and assumed a major role in planning Re-Imagining events for the 25thAnniversary in 2018.

Mary Kay’s ministry as an interim included churches in the Twin Cities, Union Congregational UCC, Mizpah UCC, and First Congregational, Minneapolis, as well as  churches in Montevideo, Brainerd, Alexandria, Fergus Falls, Wadena, and Wausau, Wisconsin.

During Mary Kay’s interim at Union Congregational UCC, Arthur Clyde, a congregant and friend of Mary Kay’s, described her as “… a person who creatively and energetically designed exceptional worship services integrating the arts, music, and great preaching but more importantly, she brought her lifetime of justice work into every aspect of that church setting.”

Through her work as a legislator and organizer of Re-Imagining in the 1990s to the present, Clyde further comments, “Mary Kay is an energizer and a strong leader who speaks fearlessly and convincingly but with compassion and caring. She is a theologian who tirelessly continues to explore ways to put God in the midst of community.”

Mary Kay has worn many hats during her lifetime and has used her education at United to demonstrate her deep commitment to justice and peace. According to Kay Welsch ‘95, an ordained UCC minister, who nominated Mary Kay for this special recognition, “She represents the best of a United Theological Seminary education.” Mary Kay will be honored as the 2018 Distinguished Alum during the Alum Dinner at United Days, March 1.

2017 Gretchen Thompson ’93, ’14, Craig Wright ’01
2016  Robert Smith ’80, Kenneth Daniel ’81
2015  Anita C. Hill ’87 ’00
2014  Rufus Campbell ’90, Sharon Wilson ’94 
2013  Karen Smith Sellers ’76 ’13, Norma Rae Hunt ’84
2012  Jon Gunnemann ’66
2011  Kimberly Vrudny ’95
2010  Susan K. Ebbers ’78, Rick Yramategui ’87
2009  Howard J. Vogel ’78
2008  Peg A. Chemberlin ’82
2008  Herbert Zimmerman ’46
2007  Paul Olm-Stoelting ’46 ’74
2006  Christie Cozad Neuger ’80
2005  Gene E. Miller ’83
2004  Robert H. Tucker ’81
2003  Gary Reierson ’78 ’86
2002  Kathi Austin Mahle ’78, Ernest Strandberg ’67
2001  Sheila C. Gustafson ’77, Helen Wells O’Brien ’90
2000  Obid Hofland ’68 ’88
1999  John Heinl ’61
1998  Thomas Townsend ’60
1997  Eugene Grau ’44
1996  Marva Jean Hutchens ’80, Gary Miller ’68
1995  Carla Bailey ’81 ’92, Hobart (Fid) Sailor ’69
1994  Martha Ann Baumer ’73, Nelda Lockwood ’51, Alma Stepanek ’51
1993  Vernon Jaberg ’47, Fred Schneider ’43
1992  Theodore Bader ’51, Ralph Ley ’39
1991  John Krueger ’63