Erin was raised in the Catholic Church but never felt at home there. Once on her own, she was unchurched for many years. She craved the community she had in the Catholic Church and tried a few churches, but never felt at home until she walked in the doors at UUCT, and she hasn’t left since. As she learns more about the Unitarian Universalist faith and its history, she loves it more and more. Erin applied for the position as DRE with the support and encouragement of her husband and our former minister, Rev. Sara Zimmerman. She feels that she has really grown into the role and loves it even more than she expected. Erin is active in our Florida DRE group and attends several trainings and conferences each year. This summer she went to RE Week at The Mountain and found it so wonderful that she and her family and I returned three weeks later for Family Camp!
Erin has been married to John Powers for seven years and they have three children: Olivia (13), Sophia (5), and Cecelia (2). They enjoy live music and camping as a family. Olivia is involved in dance and attends a performing arts magnet school, Sophia is an animal lover and is home-schooled, and Cecelia is a vivacious toddler! John’s mother, Claire, also lives with them, which is a help. John is active in the church and a wonderful support to Erin in her work at both church and home.
Linda Turnipseed has been our Office Assistant since 2011. Linda has a background in Marketing and Advertising which is a perfect background for her position. Her responsibilities include: Keeping all aspects of the office organized along with online updates to our website and calendar. Linda creates and prints the order of service bulletin for Sunday services. Linda also creates a PowerPoint for the Sunday service video team. She sends welcome letters/emails to our visitors and even coordinates rentals, from inquiries to the contract and assigning a custodian. Linda has been essential to our church!
Megan Fitzpatrick, MSW, MT-BC, comes with twenty-plus years of music experience and education. Megan holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Louisville, and also is a board-certified music therapist. In addition to working as a music therapist, she has taught private music lessons in French horn, piano, and guitar. Since living in Tampa, she has completed a Master’s degree in social work and currently works as a human services practitioner with the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at University of South Florida. She was previously the choir director for Clifton Universalist Unitarian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
John Hernandez, a native of Ecuador, has performed as a chamber musician with members of symphony orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, Dusseldorf Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, and the National Symphony of Ecuador. Hernandez is the winner of piano competitions such as the Guillermo Wright Vallarino Competition, the Cultural Merit for Outstanding Musician by the City Hall of Loja, and the German Cultural Center Competition. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with Distinction from Salvador Bustamante Celi National Conservatory of Music and performance diploma with highest honors from Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, where he also served as a faculty member. He also holds two Master’s degrees: in piano performance from the University of Louisville and in chamber music from the University of South Florida. John served as accompanist for the Clifton UU Church in Louisville, Kentucky for five years.
We have a great team! All of our staff members are part time employees. Additional paid contractors include cleaning and child care staff in our nursery on Sunday mornings.
