OUR PASTOR
The Rev. Ellen Jennings
Pastor Ellen received her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School in 1991 and was ordained as a UCC minister in 2007. Prior to her call by Cleveland Park Church, Ellen spent three years serving a Unitarian Universalist Congregation as Minister of Religious Education and Sabbatical Minister. During her time there, she led worship, created a Lifespan Religious Education Program, provided pastoral care, and facilitated spiritual practice groups and retreats. From 2001-2008, Ellen served The Interfaith Families Project (IFFP), an independent interfaith community of Jewish and Christian families, as Director of Religious Education and Interim Spiritual Director. While there, she developed IFFP’s preschool through 8th grade religious education program and wrote much of its interfaith curriculum.
Having grown up in the Episcopal Church and served in ecumenical settings, Pastor Ellen was called to the United Church of Christ because in this denomination she finds both breadth and depth– breadth of intellectual and spiritual openness and depth of tradition and ritual practice. She also greatly values the UCC’s emphasis on social and environmental justice issues, having spent many years working as an Organizer and Educator for Bread for the World and as a religion and ecology consultant for the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture. Ellen has been a member of two different UCC churches, First Congregational Church in Berkeley, CA and Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring, MD and was an active lay leader in both congregations, thus developing a great appreciation for the importance of lay ministry and leadership.
Pastor Ellen is a strong advocate for special education and disability awareness, and has founded and facilitated support groups for parents, lobbied for policy change, and organized numerous workshops and trainings for families of children with special needs. Ellen has three children (boys) of her own—Nicholas, Teddy and Tate—and is married to Mark Corrales. Her dog, Zooey (a girl!), is a constant companion and reminds her that daily walks in the woods are a wonderful way for all creatures to stay centered and connected.
Our Former Pastors
Dr. Edward B. Eaton, May 1918 – November 1919
Rev. Frank Ellsworth Bigelow, April 1920 – March 1924
Rev. George L. Farnham, September 1924 – September 1934
Dr. D. Bulter Pratt, November 1934 – April, 1935 (Interim Pastor)
Rev. Joseph S. Loughran, April 1935 – December 1937
Dr. Russell Clinchy, March 1938 – May 1938 (Recognized Pastor)
Rev. J. O. Knott, May 1938 – January 1939 (Recognized Pastor)
Dr. Fred S. Bushmeyer, February 1939 – October 1939 (Recognized Pastor)
Rev. Paul Yinger, October 1939 – May 1943
Rev. Ernest Yarrow, May 1943 – October 1943 (Interim Pastor)
Rev. Philip Widenhouse, October 1943 – June 1944 (Interim Pastor)
Dr. Alfred Wesley Hurst, June 1944 – October 1957
Rev. James Clark Brown, October 1957 – February 1959 (Interim Pastor)
Rev. James Clark Brown, February 1959 – April 1966
Rev. Robert Warren Haskins, August 1966 – August 1970
Mr. Frank Gardner, November 1970 – January 1972 (Interim Pastor)
Mr. Frank Gardner, January 1972 – October 1985
Rev. Richard Dodds, October 1985 – February 1986 (Interim Pastor)
Rev. Richard Dodds, March 1986 – June 1993
Rev. Shirley Coll, July 1993 – April 1994 (Interim Pastor)
Rev. Kenneth David Fuller, May 1994 – August 2009
Rev. Douglas Clark, October 2009 – August 2010 (Interim Pastor)
Rev. Christopher Spruill, October 2010 - May 2011 (Interim Pastor)