Rev. Roberta Finkelstein
Interim Senior Minister
(203) 227-7205 ext. 12
Rev. Roberta Finkelstein is a life-long Unitarian Universalist. She was raised in the Community Church of New York where she was in the “Cradle Roll” as an infant and remained active through high school. She taught Sunday School with her mom and was inspired by the brave example of her youth minister, Rev. Richard Leonard, when he answered the call to join the civil rights march in Selma. Her early UU experiences taught her that the church could and should be a place of prophetic witness, courage, and transformation.
Ministry is a second career for Rev. Roberta. She was a nurse and certified nurse-midwife. She has a BSN from Binghamton University and her MSN from Georgetown University. Her midwifery practice focused on high-risk pregnant adolescents in Washington, D.C. During her nursing years Roberta and her husband Barry were active lay leaders in the UU Church of Arlington, VA. Her call to ministry emerged out of those years of professional care-taking and church volunteer work in all aspects of congregational life.
She earned her M.Div. from Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC. She has served in consulting ministries, a new congregation start up, and several settled ministries. She is now a fully Accredited Interim Minister, having served interim congregations in Frederick, MD, Orlando, FL, Ridgewood, NJ, and Burlington, VT. She is the author of a chapter in the newly published book In The Interim, published by Skinner House in 2013.
Rev. Roberta has served our UU movement in a variety of ways. Currently she chairs the Nominating Committee of the UU Minister’s Association. She was on the UUA Commission on Appraisal for 6 years and CENTER (Continuing Education Network for Training, Education and Renewal)for 4 years.
Rev. Roberta has been married to her husband Barry since 1974. They have one son, Danny, a product of the Religious Education program in Arlington, VA. Danny and his wife volunteer in the literacy program that he started working with while in UU Youth Group. They are also active in a dog rescue group. Danny recently joined Barry in his consulting business. Roberta and Barry have two badly behaved cats named Bonnie and Clyde and one well behaved dog named Brandy.
