The Board of Trustees is delighted to announce that FUSF has entered into a two-year contract-to-call agreement with the Rev. Chris Scheller.
Rev. Chris is currently the Minister of Community Life and Learning at the UU Church of Greater Lynn. He has served their congregation in this role for the past five years. Rev. Chris brings a deep knowledge of adult faith formation and religious education overall, and extensive training in leading mindfulness and spiritual practices drawn from Buddhist, Christian, earth-based, and other spiritual traditions. Prior to the Greater Lynn church, Rev. Chris served UU churches in Weston, Grafton, Sudbury, and Sharon in a variety of roles.
The Search Team was attracted to Rev. Chris’ thoughtful and moving sermons, collaborative leadership style, and active commitment to social justice and anti-oppression work, among other things. He is a positive, warm, and enthusiastic person. Rev. Chris is a life-long learner with a curious and flexible mindset. They were impressed that Rev. Chris has chosen to work regularly with an anti-racism, anti-oppression and multiculturalism coach. He also values the incorporation of arts and music into all aspects of worship and daily life, himself a musician who plays the Native American flute.
After each meeting with Rev. Chris, the Search Team became more and more convinced he was the right person to lead FUSF into the future and to help us become our full selves. His references confirmed what the Search Team saw and felt, that Rev. Chris is a skilled Minister who brings authenticity to each encounter and that FUSF will be the better for his joining us.
In his own words, Rev. Chris describes ministry as “a privilege and a joy. It is the work of walking with people in moments of celebration and sorrow, of helping communities discover their collective purpose and of bringing faith to life in the world.” He is excited to get to know the whole congregation and to learn who we are, what calls us, and where we hope to go; to create inspiring worship together; to support the vitality and growth happening at FUSF; and to deepen spiritual engagement through adult faith formation and strengthened lay leadership. He is looking forward with great anticipation to joining FUSF as our minister on August 10, 2026!
Some of the things that most stood out to Rev. Chris from our congregational profile were how dedicated and passionate our community is about living our values — from our award-winning food justice work to our commitment to welcoming all people and being a liberal beacon in the greater Franklin area. He believes FUSF should be proud of all we have built together, and he is delighted to become a part of co-creating that future, hopefully for a long time.
Rev. Chris received his M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School in 2009 and was ordained in 2022, receiving his full fellowship from the UUA in 2025. He lives in Winchester MA with his wife Liz and their two daughters Kimmie (13) and Annabel (8).
We hope that you will join us in welcoming Rev. Chris with open arms as our next Minister. Plans are in the works for ways to introduce Rev. Chris to FUSF once he arrives.