Our Staff

While our church relies heavily on member volunteers to implement and fulfill its ministries, we do have a small staff who tend daily to the needs and requirements of the organization.

Reverend William "Bill" Haney
Minister
minister@uuchurch.net

Born in Hutchinson, Kansas and raised in Los Angeles, Rev. Haney has served the Unitarian Universalist Church since August 1989. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Oklahoma University and pursued a 20-year career in architecture. In 1985 he entered Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California, and received a Masters of Divinity in 1989, the year of his Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association and ordination by the Santa Fe Unitarian Church congregation. His ministry at our church over the past years emphasizes strong lay leadership and encourages each member and friend to consider their relationship with the church and individual members as a ministry. He is available to members and visitors for counseling and conversation.

Kathie Bergman
Church Administrator
uuchurch@uuchurch.net

"This is more than my job, it's my community. I have grown as a human being by being a part of Unitarian Universalism. I hope I am making a positive impact as I serve my fellow UU's." Kathie Bergman was hired as a quarter time administrator in October 1992. A few years later her hours were increased to half time. She and her family have been members of the church since 1988. Kathie brings many years of office work experience, but this is the first time she has ever developed a job from scratch! Kathie's major job duty is to support the volunteer structure of the church. She works with the Board of Trustees, the other staff members, and the Leader Councils to envision the future of our church community. On a daily basis she is probably the first person a caller will talk to when inquiring about the church. She maintains the membership and the pledge database, pays monthly bills, prints the weekly announcements, organizes the office files, sorts the daily mail, collects articles for the monthly newsletter, maintains the building use and rental calendar, and generally sees to it that the church building is in good repair.

Desi Long
Music Director
music@uuchurch.net

Desi grew up and went to school in Monrovia, a suburb of Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a Bachelor of Music. After taking advance work in Library Science she worked for the city of Los Angeles as a children's librarian for 12 years. Fleeing the southern California smog, she landed in Columbia in 1975 and has been a member of the Columbia Unitarian-Universalist Church since 1984. She became Music Director in 1992. Desi is active musically in the Columbia community, singing in the Columbia Chorale and Choral Union, and playing violin in the Columbia Civic Orchestra. She was one of the founding members of the Cameline Consort (an early music group) and plays in a string quartet, Quartet Dolce, which is available for weddings, receptions and parties. She has a grown daughter, Norah, and one cat, Shadow.

Lisa Fritsche
Director of Religious Education
dre@uuchurch.net

A lifelong UU, Lisa has been serving as the Director of Religious Education since 2004. She grew up north of Chicago and went to college in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she received a BA in psychology. Moving to Columbia, via Champaign, Illinois, in 1987, Lisa and her husband Kevin joined the church in 1989. Their four children (two grown up, two at home) have participated in the Sunday school program here. When not recruiting volunteers for Sunday mornings, Lisa spends her time traveling, reading, quilting and looking after her children, spouse and dogs.