Unitarian Society of Northampton, Florence MA

The Reverend Janet C. Bush

The Reverend Janet C. Bush began her ministry with us in August of 2009.  She came to ministry with a long and varied resume in business and education.  Janet has held leadership positions in many organizations, with a consistent interest in facilitating interpersonal and organizational relationships.  She served as CFO for two biotech companies in the Boston area and as a Board member and Treasurer of Discover Roxbury, a Boston non-profit whose mission is to build community pride and create bridges of understanding by increasing knowledge of Roxbury's historic and cultural contributions, promote participation in the cultural and historic life of the community, and foster economic empowerment by increasing support for Roxbury's businesses and institutions.

She worked in a job-training program for disadvantaged adults, most of them welfare recipients, teaching them office skills, helping them to write resumes and prepare for interviews, and to find job placements.  She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School, a Master's in Management from Yale University, a Master's in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor's degree from Yale.

Her deepening awareness of the complex issues of poverty and culture began to direct her path toward what would eventually become her interest in ministry.  Janet served as a hospice chaplain in training with VNA Care Network of Needham, MA, and spent two years as ministerial intern at First Parish Church in Dorchester, MA.  Her husband, Booker Bush, is a primary care physician.  They have two adult sons.

Janet shares her ministry on our website via her sermons, which can be found on our Sermons page, and with her blog, From the Minister.

Cindy Beal
Director of Religious Education

 Cindy Beal has been our Director of Religious Education since 2000.  Before coming to USNF she was a staff/faculty associate at Hampshire College. She has been a 5th grade school teacher in West Philadelphia; she provided educational support and human rights representation for people with developmental disabilities; she wrote and delivered training for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; and she was an independent researcher and educator about the political activities of what was commonly referred to as the Religious Right. 

In addition to her work here, Cindy leads workshops for congregations and Religious Educators. She is a certified Our Whole Lives Trainer for the K/1- 4/6 level, and certified as a sexuality educator by Planned Parenthood and as a trainer in the Committee for Children's Personal Safety Curriculum for Pre-K and K-1. Cindy is an active member of the Liberal Religious Educators Association, and serves as a Good Officer for LREDA members. 

She is committed to justice for poor, marginalized, and oppressed peoples with a focus on creating collaborative environments of respect, trust, and collective care. She holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary. It was there she discovered the energy of liberation theologies which promised meaningful earthly salvation for the oppressed, and began her journey with Unitarian Universalists whose commitment to this earth is unshakable. 
 
A little known fact about Cindy's life is that Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to a crowd from her front porch on a West Philadelphia corner on the eve of the 1988 Pennsylvania Democratic Primary. She gave him aspirin and the Secret Service didn't seem a bit concerned.                                                                                                                                         

Gregory Hayes
Music Director

Gregory Hayes has been Director of Music at the Unitarian Society since the fall of 1983. He is a busy chamber musician and orchestral keyboard player, and has appeared as soloist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. He plays harpsichord, piano, and celesta regularly for the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with the Vermont Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (New York). He has participated often in the New England Bach Festival and Marlboro Music Festival, and on the Mohawk Trail Concerts series.

Greg has taught piano and occasionally harpsichord at Dartmouth College since 1991, where he also coaches chamber music. He has previously taught at Smith and Mount Holyoke Colleges, among other institutions. For fourteen years he directed Da Camera Singers, an auditioned chorus based in Amherst, and has also served as interim conductor of choirs at Amherst and Dartmouth Colleges. Greg is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College and the Manhattan School of Music. He has also studied at the Hartt School of Music and, for several summers, at the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin College. His teachers have included Ming Tcherepnin, Kenneth Fearn, Dora Zaslavsky, and Raymond Hanson. He has written frequently on music, including liner notes for many recordings and articles and reviews for magazines and newspapers. He has also typeset and helped edit scholarly editions of music by Buxtehude, Kuhnau, D’Anglebert, and Doles. He lives in Goshen, Massachusetts and has taught for many summers at Greenwood Music Camp in nearby Cummington. In his free time he enjoys playing squash and building stone walls.

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Chanda O'Donnell de Ramirez
Youth Director

Chanda O’Donnell de Ramirez loves being part of youth ministry at USNF. She found her own way to the Unitarian Church in Westport, Connecticut when she was 16 and has called UU congregations home ever since. While living in Washington DC, she was a lay leader at All Souls, Unitarian, culminating with her service as a Trustee on the Board. Chanda served in the Peace Corps in Dominican Republic. It was there that she was inspired to work with young people. Chanda holds her Master degree in Education from George Washington University. She was a classroom teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages for five years before joining the staff at USNF.

Lisa Britland
Congregational Administrator

Lisa comes to us from the Association for Community Living where she was the Administrative Coordinator for the Family Support Division (currently the Hampshire Family Support Center).  Prior to moving to western Massachusetts in 2007, she lived for several years in Maine where she and her husband owned and operated a restaurant and where she also worked as a paraprofessional in the local school systems.  Lisa holds a BS degree in marine biology and is an experienced technical writer.  She resides in Worthington along with her husband, their two children, and two dogs.

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Betzi Sylvan
Office Administrator & RE Assistant

Betzi wears two hats at USNF, assisting with both the daily office operations and the Religious Education Program.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Social Relations and has worked for a variety of non-profits on both coasts.  Prior to finding her way to Massachusetts, she was the Office Manager for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, which monitors the annual hawk migration over the Golden Gate Bridge.  Thus, it is no surprise that she enjoys birding, hiking, and travel.  Betzi also enjoys quilting and runs her own business as an artisan, producing art quilts and other one-of-a-kind hand-crafted items.

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