Around Annapolis: New leader at Unitarian Universalist Church

The Rev. Dr. Fredric J. Muir has seen the congregation more than double in his 25-year tenure at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis. Still, something bothers the senior minister when he looks out over the congregation on Sunday mornings: the lack of diversity.

The church, tucked in a wooded enclave on Dubois Road, took an inside-out approach to increasing diverseness among its membership when it set out to hire an associate minister of color.

Therissa Libby and Darrel Nash headed up a 10-member search committee that looked around the country before settling on a minister in their own backyard.

The Rev. John T. Crestwell Jr., former minister of Davies Memorial UU Church in Camp Springs, began his new position in September. He'll be officially installed April 25, with Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales giving the keynote address.

A liberal religion born of Jewish and Christian traditions, Unitarian Universalism emphasizes individual worth, justice, compassion and democracy in its principles. The local church dates to 1956. Intern minister Christina Leone is also new to the staff.

Among the first things the Rev. Crestwell unpacked and hung up on his new office walls were pictures of his heroes: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, President Barack Obama and Howard Thurman, an influential figure during the Civil Rights era who helped establish the first racially integrated intercultural church in the United States in San Francisco.

The Rev. Crestwell is convinced that if the UUCA continues to break down barriers and open its arms to people of all races, ages and backgrounds, the congregation will grow to reflect the wide diversity of people who live in the Annapolis area. "Build it and they will come," he likes to say. "This is a beginning of a process."

Currently, less than 10 percent of the church's 536 adult members are non-white. To push that number higher, the church formed a partnership with the UUA's diversity initiative to create a model program for other churches to follow.

The Rev. Crestwell is used to a challenge. His previous church in Prince George's County was nearly all-white in a predominantly black neighborhood. Under his leadership, it grew to become 40-percent racially diverse.

He said growing up in "the hood," as he did in southeast Washington, D.C., helped in establishing a rapport with those who sometimes see themselves on the edge of society.

Under the watchful eyes of his mother and grandmother, he attended Hughes Memorial United Methodist Church in northeast D.C. as a child, and went on to graduate from Wesley Theological Seminary, also in the city.

A voracious reader of self-help books, the youthful-looking 40-year-old has written two books and contributed to two others. A Landover resident and father of three, he has a background in martial arts and worked previously in marketing and advertising.

In addition to preaching, teaching, and counseling, the Rev. Crestwell leads the UUCA's adult religious education program and oversees social justice initiatives. He advocates for the church's positions with the Maryland General Assembly and plans to continue to host his Internet podcast, "The Barbershop," during the upcoming legislative session. Visit www.barbershopradioshow.com for more information.

Congregation members have been welcoming, inviting him to all kinds of events and activities, he said. An enthusiastic singer since his boyhood days in the church choir, he even sat in with the Annapolis High School chorus. "They made me cry - they can sing!" he said.

Now that he's into the local groove, he's added something else to his to-do list: learning to sail.

A Scottish Song and Dance Concert to benefit the church's religious education program will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 15. Tickets will be available at the door. For information, call 410-266-8044 or visit www.uuca-md.org.

The women of Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Church, 2204 Bay Ridge Ave., invite the public to join them for a busy weekend of events.

They're holding their annual prayer breakfast at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Tickets are $10. Sunday is the annual Women's Day Kickoff Service at 10:30 a.m., with guest preacher Sheryl Menendez of Light of the World Family Ministries in Annapolis.

For breakfast tickets or more information, call 410-263-8562.

Art Between the Creeks' show, "Point," will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Sunday, at the Annapolis Yacht Club Sailing Center, just over the Spa Creek Bridge in Eastport.

The annual event features the eclectic work of 18 local artists. If you're looking for something outside the art mainstream, this is an opportunity to find it.

The public is invited to tonight's opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. A beyond-the-show tent sale will also be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For details, visit www.artbetweenthecreeks.us.

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