Dave Weissbard , Minister Emeritus

The Rev. Dave Weissbard retired on June 30, 2006 as Senior Minister after 27 years of service to this congregation. He was unanimously voted Minister Emeritus by the congregation at the 2006 Annual Meeting.

Dave is a born Unitarian Universalist, having been raised in the First Unitarian Society of Albany, NY. He was active in the LRY (church youth group) in High School, serving as a member of its Continental Council. After receiving his BA from the St. Lawrence University in 1962, he entered the Theological School there from which he received an Masters of Divinity and certification in Religious Education in 1965. He served the First Universalist Churches in Dexter and Henderson, NY, as student minister.

He was called to be minister of the First Parish in Bedford, MA in 1965. While in Bedford, Dave was active in opposition to the Vietnam War, a member of the Massachusetts Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bedford Free Library. He was elected a member of the UUA's General Assembly Planning Committee and served as its chair. In 1972, while on a sabbatical, he earned a Diploma in Applied Social Studies from the University of Southampton, England and Certification in Psychiatric Social Work from the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (England).

Dave was called to the Fairfax Unitarian Church in 1974. During his five years there, he worked to strengthen its support, structure, and the relationships among its members. During that time he served as Treasurer of the UU Ministers Association, and as a member, and then chair of the UUA's Independent Study Committee.

In 1979 Dave became Senior Minister of The Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford. He has been Producer of FUSION, a weekly half-hour televison program on WIFR (CBS Television on Rockford) for twenty-five years. He has served on the Rockford Schools Religion Policy Committee, the Board of Contact, and is President of the Northern Illinois Chapter of the ACLU. Dave was founder and convenor of "I Support Public Schools," a group that worked to improve our schools; is a member of the Executive Committee of the Greater Rockford Clergy Association, and serves as treasurer of the Rockford Interfaith Council. In recognition of his community service, Mayor Charles Box proclaimed May 21,2000 as "Dave Weissbard Day" in Rockford. He served as Vice-President of the Central Midwest District of the UUA, and as Secretary of the Central Midwest District chapter of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers' Association. He received awards from the Unitarian Universalist Association for the outstanding sermon on Stewardship in 1999 and on Religious Education in 2000.

During his 1994 sabbatical leave, he began work on a book on the Ten Commandments which is now in search of a publisher.

Dave's first wife, Linda, died in 1987. In 1990 he married Karen Wells, an actress and theater teacher, who is the daughter and sister of Unitarian Universalist ministers. Dave is the father of three adult daughters:Lisa, Shelley, and Meri; and grandfather of five. He and Karen are the doting parents of Hilary Rebecca.

A long time member has commented "Dave's ministry has emphasized deepening the sense of community within the church. His basic optimism, warm empathy, loyalty, and determination to have decisions openly arrived at, are carrying on the fundamentally democratic traditions of this church."

Dave's biography appears in Who's Who in America.

He is now living in Canton, New York.