I’m delighted to be able to share that we have two Interim Religious Education (RE) Coordinators who will be joining our staff team soon. Our two quarter-time Interim RE Coordinators will be serving UUSM for the next several months while we search for a permanent Director of Multigenerational Religious Education. They will have a few weeks of crossover with Maddie Van Beek who has been so beautifully pinch hitting as our temporary RE lead this summer.
Rafael Ibay (children.recoordinator@uusm.org) will be joining us on August 30 as the Interim RE Coordinator – Children and Families. You’ll see Rafael at UUSM on Sunday mornings in worship services, leading children’s RE classes, and at multigenerational events.
Rafael is a spiritual searcher with a passion for learning that’s liberatory and joyful. He joined UUSM along with his wife Supriya in 2022, and they’re grateful they can introduce rich, diverse spiritual teachings to their young son Sameer in this community. With a background in education, Rafael is thrilled to serve as an Interim RE Coordinator. He’s taught in classrooms from South Korea to Chicago to all over SoCal. He’s looking forward to bringing his teaching experiences to the RE role at UUSM, where he aims to develop faith programming for youth and families that’s inclusive, full of wonder, and rooted in love and social justice for all.
Lisa Moran (youth.recoordinator@uusm.org) will be joining us on September 14 as the Interim RE Coordinator – Youth, OWL, and Families. You’ll see Lisa at UUSM leading youth and multigenerational programming and events, as well as working with the Children and Youth Religious Education team to restart Our Whole Lives programming.
Lisa is very excited to join UUSM to support and coordinate youth programs, as she has already taught Coming of Age and OWL in our congregation. Lisa was raised Unitarian Universalist and participated in these RE programs growing up in her home congregation of Westport, Connecticut. Lisa holds a Masters in Special Education from the University of San Diego, has been a middle school classroom teacher and tutor for 9 years, and has most recently focused her passion for education on creating inclusive spaces for all learners regardless of learning differences and backgrounds. In her free time, she is a multidisciplinary visual artist, tarot reader, turtle and cat mom, and musician; she loves to perform her original music as a singer-songwriter with her (very newlywed!) husband, Sean! Lisa wishes to thank the whole congregation for their enthusiasm for our youth programs, and can’t wait to jump back in!
