Unitarian Universalist Pursuits
UU Interests and Offerings
I’ve been a UU since 1999—more than a quarter of a century and more than half my life! I’ll let you do the math. Through that time, I’ve been involved in many different aspects of UU life, and I bring all of that experience to my training for the UU ministry.
I’ve participated in UU congregational life in the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, Appalachian, and Midwest regions. I’ve been a board member, worship associate, GA delegate, UUA staff member, pulpit supply speaker, and national ad-hoc committee member. I’ve led the UU-affiliated organization the Harvard Square Library as Executive Director, and I am reconnecting with the UU Studies Network as their Web Administrator. I’m particularly pleased to have taught UU History and Polity at Starr King School for the Ministry a number of years ago, and I was an editorial contributor to Dan McKanan’s A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism.
I’m finally pulling these threads together through ministerial study at Meadville Lombard Theological School, with a hoped-for graduation in spring 2027. I will be pursuing CPE (clinical pastoral education) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago during summer 2025, and starting my parish internship at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago in the fall of 2025.
My ministerial interests include UU history and how our history informs our present practices and shared religious life, UU as a pluralistic and covenantal faith, and pastoral concerns around trauma, grief, mindfulness, and healing.
Emily with Sue the T-Rex, on loan from the Field Museum to North Shore Unitarian Church in 2019.
Preaching and Pulpit Supply
Dr. Emily Mace has spoken at Unitarian Universalist churches throughout the Chicago/Milwaukee area, as well as in other parts of the United States. She loves to bring her knowledge of UU history and her gift for writing to diverse congregational audiences, and meeting new people at UU congregations is one her favorite things about being a supply preacher and speaker.
Selected engagements:
“Real, Though Far-Off Hymns,” April 6, 2025, UU Community Church of Park Forest, IL.
“Trusting the Twists and Turns,” March 16, 2025, Tree of Life UU Congregation, McHenry, IL.
“On Not Turning to Look Behind,” December 31, 2023, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL.
Reflection on the Anniversary of the Highland Park Mass Shooting, July 2, 2023, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL.
“The Grammar of Animacy,” Green Sanctuary Worship Service, July 18, 2021, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL.
Mid-Week Online Chapel Presider, Spring-Summer 2020, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL.
Green Sanctuary Worship Team Presider, “Turning Toward a New Light,” December 29, 2019, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL.
Green Sanctuary Worship Team Service Speaker, October 27, 2019.
“Worth as Deep as Love,” May 12, 2019, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, IL.
“Interdependence Then and Now: A Sermon about the Women and Religion Movement,” March 24, 2019, Prairie Circle UU Congregation, Grayslake, IL.
“Worth Beyond Even Love,” September 30, 2018, Prairie Circle UU Congregation, Grayslake, IL.
“Seeking an Approachable Language for Awe,” July 8, 2018, Prairie Circle UU Congregation, Grayslake, IL.
“Prophetic Witness: Separation of Politics and Religion,” November 17, 2017, Lake Shore Unitarian Society, Wilmette, IL.
“To Know the Place for the First Time,” on T.S. Eliot’s Unitarian origins, January 29, 2017, Prairie Circle UU Congregation, Grayslake, IL.
“Prophetic Witness: Past and Present,” January 29, 2016, Prairie Circle UU Congregation, Grayslake, IL.
