Board and Officers
- Overview
- 2024-25 Board of Trustees and Officers
- 2023-24 Board of Trustees
- 2022-23 Board of Trustees
- 2021-22 Board of Trustees
- 2020-21 Board of Trustees
- 2019-20 Board of Trustees
- 2018-19 Board of Trustees
- 2017-18 Board of Trustees
- 2016-17 Board of Trustees
- 2015-16 Board of Trustees
- 2014-15 Board of Trustees
- 2013-14 Board of Trustees
- 2012-13 Board of Trustees
- 2011-12 Board of Trustees
- Presidents and Chairs Since 1951
- Gathering of Past Presidents
Overview of Board of Trustees
Under our church bylaws, a nine-member Board of Trustees is the governing body of the church. New board members are elected at the Annual Congregational Meeting in April, May or June each year and serve three-year terms. The minister is a non-voting ex officio member of the board.
As noted on the Church Governance page, a reorganization of the church’s organizational structure assigns to the board the primary responsibilities for making policies, effectuating the church’s vision and mission as articulated by the members, providing resources, and evaluating programs, while responsibility for supervising staff members and volunteers in the work of the church’s ministries is assigned to the minister as chief executive officer.
The board’s regular meetings are held at church at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. All board and board committee meetings are open to all friends and members, except that the board may close portions of its meetings under its policy on executive sessions, and the Committee on Ministry is authorized to close portions of its meetings when sensitive personal matters are discussed.
The bylaws provide that the board selects church officers – President, President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer. The President-Elect then becomes the President the following year.
The board has designated the President, President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer to constitute the Executive Committee, which may exercise the board’s authority to the extent provided by board resolution. The current President chairs the Executive Committee. The Minister also participates ex officio in the Executive Committee’s deliberations.
We welcome the participation of our members in the ministry of our church through any of our committees, teams and ministries, and as board members. Members interested in participating should contact the Minister or Church Administrator (see Contact page).
2024-25 Board of Trustees Members and Officers
The terms of the members of the 2024-2025 Board of Trustees officially began on July 1, 2024.
Members and Term Expiration Dates
| Terms Expiring 6/30/25 | Terms Expiring 6/30/26 | Terms Expiring 6/30/27 |
| Taylor Gill Iyesatu Kamara-Bush Fred Young |
Luke Daily Ruth Milledge Roger Nettleton |
Andrea Baka |
Officers for 2024-25
President: Ruth Milledge
President-Elect: Kim Wade
Secretary: Ryan Carter
Treasurer: Fred Young
Board Members and Email Addresses
Ruth Milledge
Ruth Milledge is in her second year on the board and is serving as 2024-25 President. She grew up in Iowa and spent most of her adult life in Texas. She found UUCC by attending Peter Holmes’ Mindfulness Meditation class and volunteering with many lovely congregants at Room at the Inn. She became a member of UUCC in 2017. Ruth has enjoyed participating in several UUCC endeavors, most notably the Sanctuary and Immigrant Justice Team and, now, the Board.
Iyesatu Kamara-Bush
Iyesatu is starting her third year on the board and was the 2023-24 President. She is originally from Seattle, Wash. and the child of Sierra Leonean and Canadian immigrants. She has called Columbia home for the last 15 years and live here with her spouse Gregg and their three sons M.K. (16), Cameron (14) and Carson (5). She currently works as a respiratory therapist and spends her free time walking the local trails and listening to audiobooks.
She has been attending UUCC since January 2018 and serves as a member of the Worship Associates Team.
Taylor Gill
Taylor is in her second year on the board. She has been attending UUCC since childhood starting in 2007 and became a member in 2022. She has been a nursery caregiver and has been an aide to the Schweitzer and Thoreau RE classes. She is a civil and environmental engineer, graduating from MU in May 2023. She works for an environmental engineering firm in Columbia.
Fred Young
Fred, who is in his second year on the board, has been a member of UUCC since 1991. He served as 2023-24 Treasurer and will again be Treasurer in 2024-25. He participated in a number of lay-led services in the 1990s. As a trumpet player, Fred has played at various church services and functions over the past 30 years. He has served on various teams and committees over the years, and is currently chair of the Social Action Team. He has two grown children. His son Evan was active in the YRUU group. Fred and his wife Julie Youmans were married by our minister emeritus Bill Haney in 2002 at their home. At that time, Rev. Haney’s policy was “one free wedding” for church members, and Fred and Julie took him up on the offer. They hired YRUU members as parking attendants.
Fred is a retired civil servant, having worked as a soil scientist in various capacities for U.S. Dept of Agriculture for many years. Fred and Julie enjoy bicycle trips, in Europe and domestically, and spend time at Julie’s family’s summer cottage in Michigan. Volunteer activities since retirement include support for the Voluntary Action Center and City of Refuge.
Luke Daily
Luke Daily, who is in his first year on the board, joined UUCC in February 2018. Luke began working with YRUU in 2018 and found a love for working with the youth in our church. Each year he looks forward to advising, learning from the youth, staying up late at lock-ins, and teaching OWL when needed. In the past he has served as an usher and on the Committee on Ministry. Outside of church, Luke is a licensed clinical social worker and works for Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation helping individuals with disabilities to find, maintain, and advance in employment.
Roger Nettleton
Roger Nettleton, who is in his first year on the board, is a retired physical therapist who lived with his wife Kathy in Kirksville, Mo. until 2017. While still in Kirksville they were able to participate in what they imagined to be a UU-style conversation group for several years, but as that group faded they decided to move closer to the real thing in 2017 and not too long after became UUCC members in February 2018. Roger is a member of the Greeters Team and participates in the Grounds Team, choir, Kaleidoscope, a Chalice Circle and mindfulness meditation. Though not a member of the Sanctuary and Immigrant Justice Team, he has been helping with transportation and occasional translation needs of our sponsored immigrant from Guatemala.
Andrea Baka
Andrea Baka is in her first year on the board. She grew up at UUCC, attending the R.E. program in the 1990s and 2000s and working in the nursery throughout her teen years. In 2022 she married Travis, whom she met in YRUU when they were teenagers. She currently volunteers her time running workshops for middle and high school groups and being an advisor for YRUU. She’s only been an official member for a year, but she is excited to raise Iggy at the church where she grew up and where mom Elaine Martin and in-laws Julie and Greg Baka still attend. Outside of the church she is a business analyst.
Ryan Carter
Ryan Carter is in his first year on the board and has been a member of UUCC along with his wife Cara since October 2022. He will serve as 2024-25 Secretary. Almost immediately after joining, he was asked to take part as the youngest member on George Grimm-Howell’s internship team. Before joining UUCC Ryan’s only religious leaning was a membership card with The Satanic Temple to show his support for bodily autonomy and separation of church and state. Ryan enjoys acting every summer at the Maplewood Barn Community Theater and hosts a book club podcast called “Functionally Literate.”
Kim Wade
Kim Wade, who is in her first year on the board, joined UUCC in 2017. She has been selected by the board as 2024-25 President-Elect, meaning she will be the 2025-26 President. She is a hiker, writer and portrait photographer whose pictures have been spotlighted on Oprah and Entertainment Tonight. She received a bachelors in American Civilization from Brown University and a masters in Environmental Education from the University of Michigan. An eighth generation Missourian and a trained Climate Reality Leader, Kim has organized national environmental conferences and led Missouri’s first statewide Office of Environmental Education while working for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Kim now writes on the essential and everyday joys of noticing, community-building, and finding meaning in the midst of precarity. She and her husband, David, have two adult children, Elliot and Atlas. Their family is rewilding 10 acres south of Columbia. Kim loves road trips, fantasy fiction, campfires, kayaking and seafood (the rawer the better). She walks whenever and wherever she can.
Rev. Molly Housh Gordon
Our minister, the Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon, serves as an ex officio board member, providing her perspective as chief executive officer of the church during board deliberations.
She began her tenure at UUCC in August 2012.
Note: The Minister as an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees also receives messages sent to this address.
2023-24 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2023-24 Board of Trustees
Members were Iyesatu Kamara-Bush, President; Melissa Ensign-Bedford, Past-President; Ruth Milledge, President-Elect; Connie Ordway, Secretary; Fred Young, Treasurer; Susan Even; Taylor Gill; Luke Daily; and Roger Nettleton.
2022-23 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2022-23 Board of Trustees.
Members were Melissa Ensign-Bedford, President; Iyesatu Kamara-Bush, President-Elect; Connie Ordway, Secretary; Christine Heath, Treasurer; Timothy Dickerson, Past President; David Leuthold; Susan Even; Taylor Gill; and Fred Young.
2021-22 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2021-22 Board of Trustees
Members were Timothy Dickerson, President; Melissa Ensign-Bedford, President-Elect,; Connie Ordway, Secretary; Ginny Winter, Treasurer; Rebecca Graves, Past President; Jeremy Duke; Kara Braudis; David Leuthold; and Susan Even. Kara Braudis resigned, and Christine Heath was selected to fill her seat.
2020-21 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2020-21 Board of Trustees.
Members were Rebecca Graves, President; Timothy Dickerson, President-Elect; Jan Swaney, Secretary; Jeremy Duke, Treasurer; Mindy McPherson, Past President; Mark Johnson; Ginny Winter; Kara Braudis; and David Leuthold.
2019-20 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2019-20 Board of Trustees.
Members were Mindy McPherson, President; Michela Skelton Birk, President-Elect; Sam Buffaloe, Secretary; Jeremy Duke, Treasurer; Barbara Rupp, Past President; Elaine Martin; Mark Johnson; Gretchen Maune; and Rebecca Graves. Michela Skelton Birk and Elaine Martin resigned, and Rebecca Graves was then selected as President-Elect.
2018-19 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2018-19 Board of Trustees.
Members were Barbara Rupp, President; Mindy McPherson, President-Elect; Sam Buffaloe, Secretary; Patty Daus, Treasurer; Todd Iveson; Mark Johnson; Peter Holmes (partial year until resignation from board); Gretchen Maune; and Elaine Martin.
2017-18 Board of Trustees
Members were Todd Iveson, President; Barbara Rupp, President-Elect; Sam Buffaloe, Secretary; Patty Daus, Treasurer; Mark Johnson; Peter Holmes; Jenny Bossaller; Gretchen Maune; and Mindy McPherson.
2016-17 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2016-17 Board of Trustees.
Members were Jeremy Milarsky, President; Todd Iveson, President-Elect; Steve Scott, Secretary; Patty Daus, Treasurer; Gregg Suhler; Mark Johnson; Janice Smith; Jenny Bossaller; and Peter Holmes.
2015-16 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2015-16 Board of Trustees.
Members were Jeremy Milarsky, President; Steve Scott, Secretary; Gregg Suhler, Treasurer; George Bunyea, Jr.; Jeanne Murphy (completing the term of Past-President Mary Denson, who resigned to attend college out of state); Jan Swaney; Mark Johnson; Ramzie Siebuhr; and Janice Smith.
Ramzie Siebuhr resigned effective June 30, 2016, and the congregation elected Melissa Ensign-Bedford to complete the remaining two years of her term. Melissa later resigned, and the board selected Jenny Bossaller to fill the seat.
2014-15 Board of Trustees
No group photo was taken of the 2014-15 Board of Trustees.
Members were Mary Denson, President; Jeremy Milarsky, President-Elect; Steve Scott, Secretary; Gregg Suhler, Treasurer; George Bunyea Jr.; Ene-Kaja Chippendale; Todd Iveson; Pack Matthews; and Jan Swaney.
Maria Oropallo started the year as a 2014-15 trustee, but resigned in November 2014 and was succeeded for the remainder of the year by Todd Iveson.
2013-14 Board of Trustees
2012-13 Board of Trustees
2011-12 Board of Trustees
Presidents and Chairs Since 1951
Under the original church bylaws, the church leader was called “Chairman.” In later bylaws, the title was changed to “President.” Presidents and Chairs are listed in reverse chronological order:
2024-2025 – Ruth Milledge
2023-2024 – Iyesatu Kamara-Bush
2022-2023 – Melissa Ensign-Bedford
2021-2022 – Timothy Dickerson
2020-2021 – Rebecca Graves
2019-2020 – Mindy McPherson
2018-2019 – Barbara Rupp
2017-2018 – Todd Iveson
2015-2017 – Jeremy Milarsky
2014-2015 – Mary Denson
2013-2014 – Steve Scott
2012-2013 – Maria Oropallo
2011-2012 – Stephanie Dorman
2010-2011 – Gregory Brown
2009-2010 – Kevin Fritsche
2008-2009 – Walter Gassmann
2006-2008 – Stephen Blower
2005-2006 – Larry Dorman
2004-2005 – Leslie Luchene
2003-2004 – Rebecca Graves
2002-2003 – Alan Arnold
2001-2002 – Bob Breitenbach
1999-2001 – Kathleen Knepper
1998-1999 – Jan Weaver
1997-1998 – Kevin Fritsche
1996-1997 – Judy Siebert Pallardy
1995-1996 – Robert Johnson
1994-1995 – Bernice Cudd
1993-1994 – Greg Bergman
1992 – Fran Reynolds
1990-1991 – Pat Tanner
1989 – Gene Weinheimer
1988-1989 – Larry Jones
1987-1988 – Brian DeFacio
1986-1987 – Jan Parenteau
1985-1986 – Brian DeFacio
1984-1985 – Dan Spies
1983-1984 – Marti Kardinal
1981 – Fran Reynolds
1981-1983 – Dana (Sally) Brown
1979-1980 – David Leuthold
1977-1979 – Clotilde Miller
1976-1977 – Carl Kardinal
1975-1976 – Larry Zimmerman
1974-1975 – Richard Thoreson
1973-1974 – DeWitt Barker
1972-1973 – Maudine Wheeler
1971-1972 – James Harrington
1970-1971 – Arthur McArthur
1969-1970 – Morton Kenner
1968-1969 – Donald Creighton
1967-1968 – Robert Morgan
1966-1967 – Roberts Eastman
1965-1966 – John Pederson
1964-1965 – Gene Cox
1963-1964 – Roland Hultsch
1962-1963 – Henry Bent
1961-1962 – Gloria Roden
1960-1961- Ted Keats
1959-1960 – George Parker
1958-1959 – Harvey McCaleb
1957-1958 – John Murdock
1956-1957 – N.S. Patterson
1951-1956 – Philip Stone
Gathering of Past Presidents
