First Parish 2023 Search Committee Bios

Sara Ballard

Contact: sara@sb.org

Sara and her husband Stoney have been attending First Parish since1989 and have been very involved ever since. They have been members of the choir for twenty-three years. When their children were young, Sara taught R.E. for many years, and later twice served as a mentor in the Coming-of-Age program. She has been on quite a few committees and councils, including the R.E. Committee, Music Director Search Committee, Worship Associates, Standing Committee (two terms), Music Committee (Chair), Diversity Committee (Chair), Partner Church Committee, Women’s Retreat Committee, Ferry Beach Committee, Arts Council, Pledge Team, and Congregational Life Committee. She also served on the Organ Committee that researched and interviewed organ builders and chose the company to rebuild our organ. She has attended ten UUA General Assemblies in person and one virtually, and has traveled to visit our partner congregation in Transylvania four times. She served as an organizer of the Concord Crop Walk for the Hungry, hosted by First Parish, for over 30 years. While she has been involved with First Parish in many capacities over the years; some of her favorite memories are of participating in many of the various musicals, plays, and variety shows performed here.

Jeff Clanon

Contact: jeff@systemsperspectivesllc.com

Jeff and his family joined First Parish in the fall of 1993. His initial involvement was with Religious Education where Jeff and his wife Regina taught classes for a number of years. In the early 2000’s Jeff was asked to participate in a Strategic Planning Committee which resulted in what was at the time the first formal strategic plan for the Church. Shortly thereafter Jeff served on the Standing Committee for several years and was the Chair during the Churches ministerial transition from Gary Smith to Howard Dana. Since 2015 Jeff has organized a dozen Retreats for First Parish Men with Howard Dana and currently with Paul Langston-Daley. He is also a facilitator for the Small Group Minister Program and serves on the Congregation Life Committee.

Kristin Haddad

Contact: kristin.haddad@gmail.com

Kristin Haddad has attended First Parish with her husband, Mark and their children, Sydney and Andre, since 2011. She started her First Parish involvement on the Ministerial Intern Committee and has since been involved in many ways, including service on the Standing Committee, as a pledge campaign steward and on the Nominating Committee. She enjoys annual trips to Ferry Beach, discussion with the women’s am/pm book club and teaching Religious Exploration. She appreciates the multigenerational aspect of our church community, and the opportunities for social action and raising social awareness this provides. Before parenthood, she was a biochemist focusing on molecular dynamics and targeted drug design.  More recently, she has worked in an elementary school library.

Peter Lowitt

Contact: peterlowitt1@gmail.com

Peter is a lifelong UU.  He and Marilyn have attended First Parish for over twenty-five years. Peter has chaired the Environmental Leadership Team and the Greening the Campus Task Force while working to align our UU principles with our actions as a congregation and community. Peter helped redevelop the former Fort Devens as a model of Sustainable Development. He is trained as an urban planner and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Kristin Moore

Contact: kmoore.gm@gmail.com

Kristin Moore has been a member of First Parish for over 18 years. She and her husband Eric were active volunteers in Religious Education while their daughter Ava grew up through the program. After Ava’s Coming of Age, Kristin got interested in the program’s goals, serving as a mentor and eventually leading the Coming of Age program for four years. She has served as the Moderator for the Annual Meeting for five years. She is a longtime volunteer with First Parish’s tradition of a Children’s Holiday Craft Workshop in December. She is now one of the “Executive Elves” that help organize the event. She enjoys singing in the choir and has fun contributing in other musical ways. Professionally, she is a software development program manager at The MathWorks. She lives in West Concord with her family, including Sonja the dog.

Eric Van Loon

Contact: vanloon.eric@gmail.com

Eric brings FP institutional memory and a social action background to the team. He and his wife Laurie are 30-year members whose sons participated in RE.  Eric co-founded the Jericho Road Project, served on the Greeley Foundation Board, headed Social Action Grants, participated in a Navajo Nation youth service trip, and chaired the Standing Committee during the 1997 CBS misreporting on FP’s AYS program. A music appreciator, he sang in the Transylvania pilgrimage choir, in FP musicals (Grub Street, High School), and conducted the FP Hallelujah Chorus. In the work world, he’s been a mediator/ arbitrator for 30 years (environment, govt, business, tribal), and was previously a litigator (Boston busing, offshore oil), state official (two Dukakis administrations), and nonprofit head (Union of Concerned Scientists). In town government, he served six terms as Town Moderator and is now on the Tax Relief Committee.

Lora Venesy

Contact: venesy@comcast.net

After joining First Parish in 2006, she quickly became involved in RE as an OWL teacher and on the RE Council (as Chair). She’s also been passionate about Social Action, and been involved on the Social Action Committee and Advocates for Women’s Empowerment (as Co-chair). Lora served on the Standing Committee where she co-led a year-long comprehensive process that looked at congregational life with workshops, a survey, discussions, and retreat. Prior to that, she was involved on the DRE Search Committee and remains passionate about RE. Outside of church, Lora works with a women’s non-profit, Dignity Matters, and as Director of Religious Exploration at First Parish in Lincoln. Lora can also be seen working at the polls during elections or walking the trails with her daughters & dogs.