About Our Minister - Rev. Margo McKenna

Though I am Canadian by nationality, I was raised in the bush country of Nigeria, Africa. My sisters and I were, 4 weeks old, 11 months old, and 2 and a 1/2 years old when we left Canada to work in Africa. My parents were missionaries in a conservative Christian church (Seventh-day Adventist, SDA for short), and were devoted to "the work of the gospel." The wonder of this upbringing has been its influence in bringing me to the Unitarian Universalist Association. The rich cultural diversity, as well as the religious diversity, of the Nigerian nannies who raised my sisters and me, were the seeds of a desire to experience life more broadly and with a more open mind, as well as an open heart.

I attended SDA parochial schools from the time we returned from Nigeria, in 1970, until I graduated from college in 1983. I then married my college sweetheart, and moved to Doylestown, PA. I attended seminary at Princeton Theological, and upon finishing, both I and my husband, an aerospace engineer, found work in San Diego.

I was a minister at Paradise Valley SDA Church, then Tierrasanta SDA Church. After my husband and I divorced, I transferred to the Garden Grove SDA Church.

In 1995, I met a Unitarian Universalist couple who invited me to speak at their fellowship, and so knowing nothing about Unitarian Universalists, I agreed, and knew from the moment I walked into the Fellowship that I was home. It took me until 1998 to start the journey of transferring from SDAism to UUism, but I wanted to be sure I was leaving my former denomination for the right reasons. Theological and philosophical differences are the reasons I have taken this journey, and not, as many people would believe, SDA views of women in ministry.

I spent one year as part-time DRE for Riverside UU Church, in order to meet the requirements of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the UU Association. I finished those requirements in 2001 as the intern minister at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego and have been minister at Chalice since.

My great loves in life are my child (dog) Gita; close friends; hiking; mountain climbing; meditation; and reading. These to name a few. If you would like to speak with me, feel free to contact me at the church office. I look forward to meeting you -- whether you are new to this community or whether you have been involved for many years!