Back (L-R): Lisa Freeman, Lewis Robinson, Susan Selbe, Charley Mitchell

Charley Mitchell

Charley was raised in the Congregationalist Church but has been a UU for about the past 20 years.  He’s attended A2U2 for the last 11 years, with his husband John.  They have raised their 5 children in the UU faith and have been delighted with the children’s programs, especially OWL, Senior Youth Group, and Religious Education (RE) for the little ones.  In the past, Charley has been active in teaching RE classes, and he served on the search committee for a recent Director of RE.

Charley is a psychiatrist, currently in practice in Portland, and has enjoyed volunteer work providing psychological evaluations for asylum seekers, helping them with their asylum applications.

Now that his children are mostly grown, with just one left at home, he has more time for his hobbies, including running on country roads, reading in his Adirondack chair, and spending time in the Maine outdoors with friends and family.

Pauli Juneau (chair)

Pauli Juneau was raised in a bi-lingual Franco-American Catholic family in Manchester, NH. Throughout her teens and twenties, she was unchurched. Since Pauli, her husband Tim and daughter Selena are Maine transplants, they actively sought out a supportive like-minded community. In 1989, they found A2U2, which offered them a deeper meaningful spirituality, a church family, and Religious Education for then 7-year-old Selena.

Over these past 30 years Pauli has been active in many aspects of A2U2 church life: Choir, Worship Committee, Pagan Group, Croning ceremony, Food Coop, Winter Solstice services, Caring Connection, multiple fund-raising events, SEG facilitator, Building & Grounds, Worship Arts Committee, and Gardening Group.

Prior to her recent retirement her professional career spanned over 50 years of working in health care, as a Health Educator, Registered Nurse and Geriatric Care Manager. For the past 20 years her focus has been in elder health care and hospice nursing.

She enjoys gardening, many outdoor activities and spending time with her family and friends.

Lewis Robinson

Lewis has been attending UU services for twelve years, and he joined A2U2 five years ago with his wife and two children. He has taught RE classes (junior youth) for the last several years. He loves the space the church offers for spiritual growth and social justice.

Lewis is a novelist and short-story writer who has also taught creative writing for the last 15 years. He’s currently the programming manager at the Portland Public Library’s main branch.

In his free time he plays ice hockey, hosts a podcast about fiction writing, designs and silk-screens t-shirts, and spends time outdoors with his family.

Lisa Freeman

Lisa has been at A2U2 since her daughter, Emi, was about 2 years old. She wanted Emi to have the community and a springboard for thinking about spirituality.  This is the first church of which Lisa has been a regular member so she would consider herself a UU for about 16 years.

Lisa enjoys fundraising projects, often ones that have to do with food or the kitchen.  She’s participated in multiple church fairs, auctions, plant sales, dinners, etc.  She finds that the kitchen activities are a great way to meet people in a smaller group.  Other small groups she participates in at the church include being the facilitator for her Spiritual Enrichment Group (SEG) and a member of the Pastoral Care Team.

Currently, she works full time as a home health nurse seeing patients with both acute and/or chronic illness with the goal of keeping them as independent as possible in their homes. The home healthy role has taught her has that even if you have a good plan, sometimes the plan has you! She enjoys hiking, reading, Portland Trails, exploring local breweries and restaurants, and cooking.

She has a small family which is about to feel smaller as her daughter Emi is headed off for her Freshman year at Simmons this year. It will just be her at home, along with 3 cats.  They officially outnumber her now!

Susie Hubley

Susie has been an A2U2 congregant for five years, but her parents had a close friend who was a Unitarian minister, so she suspects there was more than a little UU in her upbringing! She also has been a Buddhist since around 1998, and that mindset is the core of her spirituality.

Her church activities have included facilitating her Spiritual Enrichment Group and participating in the Pastoral Care Team, Food Co-op, and Knitting Ministry.

Susie is retired after a career split between newspaper copy editing and college fundraising. She loves gardening and generally being outside, taking pictures, knitting, and reading. She is a somewhat reluctant political junkie. Susie lives in East Deering with her cats Fitz and Rudy.

Erica Bartlett

Erica began attending A2U2 when she was 9, when her parents were looking for a church where they would both be comfortable. She enjoyed going through the Religious Education program, especially attending youth conferences, and even when she went to college in Boston she returned for occasional visits.

Erica returned to the church as an adult in 2000, and she’s been very active since then: leading Young Adult worship services; Ministerial Search Committee for Rev. Myke; RE volunteer; Nominating Committee; Intern Minister Committee; chairing and being a member of the Worship Committee; sharing facilitation of her Spiritual Enrichment Group; and working on the church’s social media.

She works part-time as a Product Manager at a local software company. She also does some health coaching on the side and is exploring the world of copywriting, with the hope of helping green technology companies.

In the rest of her time, she enjoys reading, writing, playing with her two cats, visiting family and friends, cooking, baking, walking and hiking, and traveling.

Susan Selbe

Susan has been attending A2U2 for 4 years, since she moved to Portland from Old Orchard Beach with her husband Greg. She has 2 children and 3 grandchildren, and they’re a source of great joy. Her children were raised in the Nashua, New Hampshire UU church, so her history with UU goes back some.

Susan is a retired midwife, which was her perfect career, as it allowed her to help women find their power, maintain their health, and take control over their reproductive life, as well as helping babies have a healthy beginning. She now explores an artistic side she never knew she had, helps out at the church, travels a bit, gardens and does some volunteer work.

Note: Connie’s role as alternate ended after the search committee retreat.