Ali speaking during the February 28th online meeting in which the CLF voted to ordain xer to Unitarian Universalist ministry.

In our UU tradition, ministers are ordained by congregations. Only the vote of a congregation can give someone the title “Reverend.” Only the vote of a congregation can place that sacred bond of trust onto the shoulders of someone seen as a minister.

It is with great joy that the membership of CLF on February 28, 2021 voted to ordain Ali K.C. Bell (who was previously known as Antonia Bell-Delgado) to the Unitarian Universalist ministry. It is with deeper joy that I report that our vote included some 92 “yes” votes from our incarcerated members, able to vote because of the tear-off sheet we printed in the January Quest.

Ali will be ordained by the CLF along with the UU Congregation at Montclair, NJ (where xe is completing a ministerial internship) and the First UU Church of Wilmington, DE (xer home congregation). The ceremony will be Saturday, May 22, at Noon and you are all invited. We hope to feature an excerpt from the ceremony in our summer edition of Quest.

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Rev. Dr. Michael Tino

Lead Ministry Team at Church of the Larger Fellowship

Michael Tino (they/them) is a minister with over 20 years experience in congregational and denominational work. Michael has served the UU Fellowship of Northern Westchester as its minister since 2007, and before that served six years as the UUA Director of Young Adult and Campus Ministry. Before becoming a UU religious professional, Michael was a cell biologist; they hold a Ph.D. from Duke University in that field. Michael’s service to our faith has included a term on the UUA Board of Trustees, where they led the Board’s work to have our Association repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery, and leadership roles in Allies for Racial Equity, the Southeast UU Summer Institute, the Ohio River Group minister’s study group, and the Ministerial Fellowship Committee, on which they currently serve. Originally from New York City, Michael now lives in Peekskill, NY, with their husband Eric and their seven-year-old daughter, Nora.

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