‘Seeker’ finds her place in Marysville

MARYSVILLE — Raised as a Southern Baptist, in adulthood she became a seeker. That’s how the Rev. Carmen TenEyck-McDowell came to the Unitarian Universalist faith.

This summer, she was welcomed as the new minister at Evergreen Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Before TenEyck-McDowell was chosen by the Marysville congregation, Evergreen was led by the Rev. Linda Hart, an interim minister. Hart served after the departure of the Rev. Bruce Davis several years ago.

TenEyck-McDowell, 47, said Wednesday that the Unitarian Universalist faith transcends any dogma or creed.

Some come to the faith with Christian backgrounds. Others have different traditions. And some are agnostics or atheists. The Evergreen fellowship is a place, she said, “where seekers can come together on their journey.”

“My faith of origin is Christianity,” said TenEyck-McDowell. Yet she describes herself now as a “spiritual naturalist.”

“I connect with my source in nature,” said the minister, who is married and has a 21-year-old daughter. She and her husband live in Seattle but plan to move to Snohomish County.

TenEyck-McDowell holds a master of divinity degree from Seattle University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Regis University in Denver. Her selection was “totally democratic,” she said.

An Evergreen search committee considered 18 candidates for minister. After a weeklong process that TenEyck-McDowell jokingly called “trial by potluck,” the congregation of about 160 members voted for its new minister. The Unitarian Universalist Association is based in Boston, but TenEyck-McDowell said “my authority doesn’t come from Boston.”

It has no creed, but neither is the Unitarian Universalist faith an anything-goes denomination.

“Faith Without a Creed,” a booklet by Julie Parker Amery, explains that “Unitarian Universalist are encouraged to question and explore what is not known to them.” Answers, whether about God or an afterlife, are not dictated.

Unitarian Universalists are guided by seven principles. According to the Unitarian Universalist Association, the first of those is the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The others touch on the ideas of justice and equality, acceptance and spiritual growth, the search for truth and meaning, use of the democratic process, world community and peace, and respect for all existence.

With roots in Europe and England, the faith can trace its American origins to Puritan New England. By the 1700s, people who opposed Puritan ideas about sin, and who believed in free human will and God’s benevolence, formed Unitarian churches. The Universalist faith was based on belief in universal salvation. Unitarianism and Universalism merged in 1961.

Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Unitarian minister. American Red Cross founder Clara Barton was a Universalist.

Pam Gerke, director of lifelong learning at Evergreen Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, said the faith has an education focus. Stories and wisdom from many cultures are shared, she said.

For young people, there is sex education that covers reverence for the body along with the facts of life. “Our Whole Lives,” a curriculum known as OWL, is used by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. “It’s as much about how to form healthy relationships as it is about sex,” Gerke said.

Near the parking lot, Evergreen has a community garden. A sign in the garden invites anyone who is hungry to pick something to eat, and asks anyone with a moment to pull some weeds.

TenEyck-McDowell said social justice is at the heart of her faith. The fellowship hosts the free Marysville Community Lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“Some people see it as something bigger than religion. I do,” she said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Learn more

Evergreen Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is at 1607 Fourth St., Marysville. Services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays. Information: www.evergreenuu.org

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/evergreen.uuf

Learn more: http://www.uua.org

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.