A Regional Church Serving Communities North of Boston
welcoming people of all ages, religious backgrounds, cultural origins, differing abilities, political views, and sexual orientations

About Our Minister
Read a personal message of welcome from Rev. Tim

Rev. Tim KutzmarkOur minister, the ReverendTim Kutzmark, is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, where he received the prestigious Hopkins Shareholder Award for academic and ministerial accomplishment.

Rev. Tim previously served as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Glen Allen, VA, a congregation in the suburbs of Richmond. Under his leadership, that congregation became one of the fastest growing Unitarian Universalist Congregations in the nation. Rev. Tim's time there had a special emphasis on ministry to families and children, and to those with no church affiliation who were looking for a welcoming place to explore their spiritual questions. Through Rev. Tim's encouragement, the church became a champion for social justice issues in the greater Richmond area.

Prior to his ministry at the Glen Allen congregation, Rev. Tim served as Assistant Minister at Second Parish in Hingham, MA. He joined the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reading from his most recent appointment as Chaplain at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, RI. In the past, he has also served as a chaplain at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Rev. Tim has completed advanced training in pastoral care to adults and children through the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education. He is a certified instructor of Kundalini Yoga, and has guided spiritual seekers in that practice for twelve years. He also teaches several forms of meditation and spiritual practice, and leads spiritual reflection groups and retreats. His strongest spiritual influences include Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and mystical Judaism, and he incorporates elements from all these traditions into his ministry and his own spiritual life.

Prior to entering the ministry, Rev. Tim served for eight years as Coordinator of Alumni Career Services at the Harvard Graduate School of Business, providing career counseling and transition support to business professionals. Rev Tim KutzmarkSome people might also remember Rev. Tim as the creator and host of "Encore," a popular Boston radio program that featured the music and stars of Broadway and cabaret. For a number of years he was also a music and theater producer in the Boston area, with shows and artists appearing at the Boston Center for the Arts, the Copley Plaza Hotel, the Lafayette Hotel, Theater Lobby, and Club Café.

Rev. Tim was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and also lived in Illinois and Ohio as a child. As a teenager, he worked as a professional magician. He also earned his Eagle Scout Award. He moved to Boston to attend Emerson College, where he received his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater Performance.

Rev. Tim has a passion for good theater, New York City, an evening at the movies, Broadway music, a day (or a week) at the beach, working out at the gym, sleeping late (he never gets to do that enough!), relaxing in front of the TV, and eating out at various ethnic restaurants. He enjoys learning more and more about various religions and spiritual perspectives on life and the world. He has a soft spot in his heart for New Mexico and the stark and stunning deserts of the South West. One of his proudest accomplishments was hiking down and out of the Grand Canyon in one day, which took over twelve hours of hiking. Needless to say, he was sore the next day!

Tim's partner of 19 years is Jim Vetter, who is the Program Director of a nationally known social and emotional learning organization that provides staff training and curricula to elementary schools in Massachusetts and other areas of the Northeast. Jim is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Tim and Jim are legally married, thanks to marriage equality in Massachusetts. They share their home in Wilmington with Tucker, a high-spirited shelter rescue dog.

Feel free to contact Rev. Tim if you have any questions about the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading, his ministry, or if you would like to discuss how Unitarian Universalism might fit into your spiritual journey. He can be reached by phone at 781-944-0494 or by email.

Minister's Column

Reverend Tim KutzmarkDear Friends:

Recently, through the kindness and vision of an anonymous donor, our congregation has become the caretaker of a very generous and proactive financial gift that will allow us to engage our children in social action outreach, allow UUCR to make a visible and real impact locally, create an intergenerational hands-on service opportunity for all of us, and promote our Unitarian Universalist values in the larger community.

Here is the basic information on this exciting and meaningful endeavor that will help move our congregation to a new level of community outreach and service:

The UUCR Helping Hands Outreach Fund

An anonymous donor has contributed $10,000 to establish a yearly outreach fund for UUCR.   In the words of the donor:  the goal of this fund is “to help children learn the value of giving and to gain a first hand experience in understanding the UU principles in a way that promotes the UU principles locally.”  The method is to have our UUCR youth help the church in determining how this fund is to be distributed, using the following procedures:

  1. Each church school class from 4 through 8 will make a recommendation for a service or charitable organization whose work is focused in the communities north of Boston from which UUCR draws membership.

  2. The teens of SHYP (Senior High Youth Program) will review the suggestions from each church school class and lead the children of the church in choosing an organization to receive $7,600.  The other four organizations will receive $600.00 each.

  3. This money will allow UUCR to fund a social action/charitable outreach program in the local area, and distribute the money in a way that helps promote our Unitarian Universalist principles in the local community. (Note: If it is felt that the money is not best served locally, the money can be used non-locally.  But the first intention is to fund local service and or charitable organizations.)

  4. The money should be awarded annually in May (June for ’08, if necessary)  Note: In order to award this money for spring 08, and work it within the already existing ‘Principles in Action’ curriculum, the Social Action Committee will be invited to help with suggestions for five organizations that meet this criteria, and the children will be discuss these suggestions during the ‘Principles in Action’ classes.  After this shared period of education, the children, facilitated by SHYP, will vote as stated above.  In future years, the UUCR Helping Hands Outreach Fund will be carefully and fully integrated into the ‘Principles in Action’ spring curriculum, per the suggested procedures of the donor.  An administrative committee comprised of a representative from the RE and Social Action Committees, the Director of Religious Education, and the minister will oversee the program.

  5. The donor intends that their gift of $10,000 be an annual gift (assuming they are financially able and that this method of gifting achieves its goal) 

  6. The donor hopes that others will be inspired to contribute to this fund so that its yearly impact will increase.

  7. This money is not to be used toward operating expenses or debt service of the church.

  8. An intergenerational volunteer/service component to this fund will be coordinated and promoted to allow children and adults to actively become engaged in hands-on service with the organization awarded the $7,600 amount.

This is an historic moment for our congregation.  I hope you’ll join me in celebrating our new social outreach program, and in sending prayers and thoughts of gratitude and good energy to our anonymous donor.

See you on the path,

Tim

PS: We’re in the final days before our NEW UU CLASS—AN INTRODUCTION TO OUR FAITH begins on May 1st and runs for four consecutive Thursday evenings.  This is the last NEW UU class until September.  See the listing in today’s newsletter for complete information.  We always have a blast in these classes, and it gives me a chance to get to know you better.  Long-time members who have never taken the class are also welcome to join the fun. 

PPS: Planning ahead.  Our last NEW MEMBER SUNDAY until the autumn is scheduled for Sunday, June 1st.  I like to sit down and get to know our new members, so if you are thinking about joining the church, please let me know we can set up a time to chat.  The sooner the better, so we don’t up end pressed for time.  Email me Click to email or phone 781-944-0494.