Marc first connected with The Coalition in 1987 as a young adult. He was baptized, nurtured in the faith and confirmed at First Congregational UCC in Alexandria, MN. A graduate of the Yankton College School of Theology, Marc has been in pulpits from New York City to Hawaii and Puerto Rico to Seattle. Serving 14 years as the Minnesota Chapter Coordinator, Marc functioned as an ONA Consultant before there was such a program and was a member of the first class of trained consultants. He has worked with over 25 congregations in their discernment process or in how to living out being ONA after their decisions. Marc has professional ministry experience as a chaplain in a residential treatment center and a local church youth director, as well as serving on the administrative and development staff of two local councils of churches.  To the Board of Directors, he brings skills in administration, grass roots organizing, strategic planning, a call to the institutional church to have a deeper faith and a bolder witness to what progressive Christians believes to the world. Marc shares a home with his partner, Peter Lee, and their dog, Stanley in New Brighton, MN.

brueggemannbarb@googlemail.com

Barb is starting her board term with excitement and energy, grateful for the opportunity to serve. She earned a B.A. in geography and a M.Ed. from the University of New Hampshire. She has 28 years of experience in teaching and school leadership and has traveled extensively, including a five-month trip around the world in 1998 as Director for Student Life with the Semester-at-Sea program. Her most recent professional work has focused primarily on non-profit strategic planning and fundraising initiatives. In addition to school leadership, she has taught ethics, history, and Latin. Born into a family of clergy -- her grandfather was E&R clergy, her father and uncle were ordained in 1958, and her aunt was ordained in 1976 -- Barb labors to continue the family tradition of service and faithful witness to the causes of social justice. When not working she enjoys the company of her daughter, a recent Williams College graduate and first-year history teacher, and almost any sport she can find. She currently is finishing a sabbatical year and resides in Durham, New Hampshire.

Early in life felt God's call into active ministry. Licensed and then ordained by a conservative denomination served eight churches as pastor in Texas and eastern New Mexico.  After years of struggling with my true self, I resigned my credentials with that denomination and came out.   Recently, I celebrated my tenth anniversary with my life partner, David.  Together, we have served in many of the leadership offices of our local church and urged the church in 2007 to adopt an ONA statement of faith.  I look forward to the expansion of ONA Churches within the United Churches of Christ.

City of Refuge UCC (San Francisco, CA)
monicajoy44@yahoo.com

Ms. Monica Joy Cross serves as a minister at City of Refuge, United Church of Christ. She attends Pacific School of Religion where she is working on a Masters of Divinity Degree with a focus on social justice and identity in post colonial theology. She speaks at various conferences facilitating workshops and educating people on transgender concerns and issues. In addition she is also a member of the advisory board for the National Restoration Team an organization dedicated to serving the families of fallen military members. She is a native of Los Angeles, CA.

Cathedral of Hope (Dallas, TX)
beau@cathedralofhope.com

Beau G. Heyen serves as the Minister for Youth & Spiritual Formation at Cathedral of Hope, a congregation of the United Church of Christ with a primary historical outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other liberal people of faith. Beau is also active with the UCC Council of Youth & Young Adult Ministries (CYYAM) and 2009-2011 Unified Governance Working Team, serves as the Chair of the Dallas Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN-Dallas), member of the advisory board for Dallas P.U.M.P. (Pride Unity Music Power) GLBTQA Youth Choir, moderator for the North Texas LGBTQA Unity Coalition, and was one of four Co-Chairs for the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, held in Dallas (Feb 2010). Beau has also worked as a professional school counselor and trainer. Beau bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's degree in educational guidance and counseling, a master's degree in instructional technology, and extensive coursework in special education and educational leadership. Beau is currently completing his Masters of Theological Study from Perkins School of Theology and will begin his work on a Doctorate of Human Services in Management of Non-Profit Agencies through Capella University.

St. John’s UCC, Grand Rapids, MI

wmlyons64@aol.com

Rev. Bill Lyons returns to the Coalition Board with excitement and hope. He serves as pastor for St. John's United Church of Christ - ONA congregation 869.  Having been ordained in 1985 in a fundamentalist denomination, he was granted ordained ministerial standing in the UCC in 2000.  Rev. Lyons has served local congregations in Ohio, Connecticut, Illinois and Indiana. He has also served as a prison and a hospital chaplain. His activities in the UCC have included  the local arrangements committee for General Synod 27, host pastor for the first UCC Multicultural Children and Families Festival, several planning committees for the Coalition's National Gathering, and a variety of association responsibilities. He has spoken for Concerned Clergy of West Michigan's Coming Out Day Worship Service, the Grand Rapids Stonewall 40th Anniversary rally, and several talk back sessions at local theaters, colleges, and universities. Rev. Lyons currently participates in an Arcus Foundation clergy project, and is a doctoral candidate at McCormick Theological Seminary.  He maintains close relationships with his three adult children and their spouses.  Rev. Lyons and his partner, Ron, live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Barbara is an ordained minister in the UCC, specializing in intentional interim ministry. Rev. Rathbun was ordained in 2002 after graduating from Christian Theological Seminary in 2001. She has served Open Door Chapel in Fort Wayne IN, a GLBT inter-denominational community, and First Congregational Church, UCC, in Hendersonville NC. She has taught in the Philosophy and Theology Department at the University of St Francis, Fort Wayne IN. She serves on the board of directors for Western North Carolina Association, for the Southern Conference, and for the Uplands Retirement Village, and for the Association of UCC Intentional Interim Ministers. She is a member of the steering committee of Love Welcomes All, an interfaith group for LGBT education, support, and advocacy in Henderson County, NC. While a member at First Congregational Church, UCC, in Hendersonville NC, she also rings hand bells with the Oak Street Ringers of First Congregational UCC, Asheville NC. For relaxation, Barbara designs and makes quilts and quilted paraments. Her quilts reside in several states, Canada, and Japan. She also reads, travels, and enjoys concerts and plays with her husband of 42 years, John, a retired physician. They enjoy living in Mills River NC, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with their cat, a Birman named Smoke.