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Staff Biographies
Biography - Gary Gallum, Our Interim Minister
Throughout my ministry my family has been by my side and my greatest strength and resource. My wife, Louise, is the Executive Director of the Sarcoma Foundation of America, engaged in both fund raising and Lobbying Congress. Over the last eight years she has been a member of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. Louise was a Delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. She is also President of the local branch of the American Association of University Women. My son, Erick is married to Cathy whom he met when they were students at Reed College. Erick was awarded a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from UC Berkley in 2001 and is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Boston University. Cathy is an attorney in private practice in Boston.
I grew up in a secular Jewish home and had observed members of the clergy infrequently. I attended seminary after having been a member of a Unitarian Universalist church for only a few years. As a result, my sense of ministry and sense of a calling to the ministry matured slowly.
Upon graduation from college I was granted exemption from serving in the military during Viet Nam as Conscientious Objector. I served two years of Alternative Service as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Shady Grove State Psychiatric Hospital in Catonsville, Maryland.
My wife and I discovered the Unitarian Universalist church when seeking a religious education for our young son. We quickly became very active in the church. I served on the Building & Grounds, Worship and Finance Committees. In a few years I was elected to the Church Board. It was here that I decided to return to school to become a UU minister.
Upon graduation from seminary I was called to a yoked ministry with the Unitarian Church of Norfolk and the UU Fellowship of the Peninsula (Newport News) as an Extension Minister.
The Unitarian Church of Norfolk is a church with a long history of commitment to social justice in the community. In the years before I was called to the church it had been embroiled in controversy internally over the issue of Urban Renewal in the neighborhood surrounding the church and the church’s commitment to the gay community. In addition, the previous minister became ill. As a result, the membership had decreased to the point that they could no longer afford a full-time minister. They entered the Extension Ministry program in order to return to a larger size and stronger financial condition. From the low point of about a dozen at worship, the dedication, energy, creativity and enthusiasm of the church members enabled us to achieve a high level of worship, programming and enthusiasm that resulted in tremendous growth in membership and finances. By the end of the three years there were over one hundred at worship every Sunday and they have been able to afford a full-time minister without a subsidy ever since.
The members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula had just built a new building after a fire had destroyed their previous location. The congregation, which had had about forty members for many years, had recently over a hundred members. The three years of the Extension Ministry was spent in assimilating the new members and moving from being a small fellowship to a small church.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis had also just purchased a building. However, in this case the congregation had decided to break off from All Souls Unitarian Church over a dispute with the minister. The need here was to deal with the anger toward ministers and work toward understanding the church as different from a corporate environment.
I then served two small churches. The Northwest Baltimore Unitarian Universalists (now Cedarhurst UUs) was a new church created with UUA and JPD assistance. The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley, which had been a Fellowship for many years but, after purchasing a building, had decided to attempt to grow and to call a minister. Both congregations thrived and both now have full-time ministers.
Next, I served the Seneca Valley Unitarian Fellowship for five years. This congregation continued to be comfortable as a small Fellowship. The finances, however, did not increase enough to continue to afford a minister.
For several years, while working 9 to 5 as a computer programmer, I served as an Affiliated Minister with the River Road Unitarian Church. I focused, there, on teaching in the Adult Enrichment program. I created and taught courses in UU theologies and philosophies, UU and religious history, Seeking a UU Theology and Film As Theological Text.
I attended the 75th Anniversary Celebration at the Norfolk Unitarian Church and was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic and loving welcome that my wife and I received. I was gratified that my ministry there had jump started an era of growth that has continued resulting in a vibrant healthy mid-sized church. Some of the things that I brought to them have continued to flourish.
Shortly thereafter I attended the ground breaking ceremony for the first building for the Sugarloaf Congregation of UUs. A building fund that was begun when I was the minister of the Seneca Valley UU Fellowship along with assistance from other churches has at long last resulted in a new home for upcounty UUs.
Then I attended the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalists. Like elsewhere my wife and I were greeted warmly and I was invited to preach several weeks later.
Last year I decided to return to full time parish ministry and entered the Interim Ministry program. I was the Interim Minister at the Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and decided to continue in the Interim Ministry program, obtain additional training, and work toward become an Acredited Interim Minister.
