Who We Are
Our Staff Team
Rev. Nathan Woodliff-stanley
Executive Director
Rev. Nathan (he/him) is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister who is affiliated as a Community Minister at the Unitarian Church in Charleston. He moved to South Carolina from Denver, Colorado in 2021 after his wife, Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, was elected Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (one of two Episcopal dioceses in the state). Nathan was the founder of a statewide association of nonprofit organizations in Mississippi, and he served for eight years in social justice ministry in Colorado before becoming Executive Director of the ACLU of Colorado for nearly eight more years. He is committed to a model of social justice centering the voices of people experiencing injustice and rooted in Unitarian Universalist values.
Rev. Dr. Jean Heriot
Director of Training and Organizing
Rev. Dr. Jean (she/her) is a UU community minister and member of Aiken UU Church. She co-founded SCUUJA with the Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker in 2021. She served for 17 years as Director of Service Learning at Hastings College, NE and has extensive experience in advocacy and community social justice work. She also led social justice classes/work in Guatemala, Mexico and the Caribbean. As a South Carolina native, Heriot has an intimate knowledge of the legacy of racism in SC and a theological commitment to the see-think-act model of transformative development.
Our Board
SUE BERKOWITZ
Board Member, SCUUJA & Executive Director, SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center
What is at the heart of your social justice passion?
My spiritual upbringing in the Jewish faith taught me that each day we should strive to make the world a better place for all peoples. I work to make the world more just and fair for everyone. When I was in law school, I knew I wanted to practice public interest law. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do so for nearly all my legal career. At SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, we work to get laws and policies changed, and I am drawn to this systemic change endeavor.
What excites you about the new SC UU Justice Alliance?
There’s a great deal of overlap in how we approach issues of injustice. It’s imperative that we listen to and act from the voices of those most impacted by injustice. Our organization has often partnered with the UU Congregation of Columbia, and we are excited to be able to partner with UU’s across the state. There are so many issues to work on including fair housing, health care, reforming payday loans, immigration, and criminal justice reform. We are fighting for the equity and inclusion sorely missing in our state. See www.scjustice.org for ways to sign up and take action.
Since systemic change is often slow, when an opportunity arises to create change we need to seize it immediately. As SCUUJA grows, UU’s will be able to engage in rapid response when an issue arises in the state legislature or a policy proposal needs immediate input.
PAT CHANEY
Board Member, SCUUJA & Social Justice Committee Chair, Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
How do you tell your UU story?
My wife, Maggie, and I are both recovering Catholics. We discovered the UU Church of the River in Memphis and later moved to Greenville. We have found among UU's a community of seekers and a place of kindness, compassion, and acceptance.
What is at the Heart of your social justice passion?
I learned about social justice from my Native American background and family. My father and my grandmother raised me. One morning when I was about 5 years old, I came into the kitchen and found a hobo eating breakfast. I asked, "Why are we feeding this man?" My grandmother, a major influence in my life, replied, "Because we can." I learned that you help out neighbors and strangers alike. You always look out for those less fortunate than you. I hate intolerance, prejudice, and injustice. We UU's are working against this even though it sometimes seems as though we are trying to put out a forest fire with an eye dropper. Still we do what we can.
What excites you about our SC UU Justice Alliance?
I believe that the actions we take now leave a legacy. We work for the long term, not just today. If we can help make one permanent legislative change, then that is one way we can make a difference. If we can get all our nine congregations together doing things in unison, then we can make changes in our state.
Kenya Cummings
Board Member, SCUUJA & Organizer, SC Women's Rights & Empowerment Network
How do you tell your faith story?
I grew up in the United Methodist Church, but now understand my faith as a pluralist. Multiple spiritual traditions have shaped me including the traditional wisdom of my enslaved ancestors as well as the faith traditions I encountered in my seminary training at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. I see myself as drawing people together in communities of equity and justice.
What is at the Heart of your social justice passion?
I am a Black organizer and healer from the south. I am unapologetically Black and unashamedly spiritual. I have worked with many groups in organizing such as Fresh Future Farm, Carolina Youth Action Project, Black Minimalists, Low Country Mutual Aid, and SC Women's Rights and Empowerment Network. I focus on community building and joy cultivation as the center of my life's work. I want to draw all peoples together in love.
What excites you about our SC UU Justice Alliance?
I got to know many UUs in seminary and through my organizing work. I am excited by how committed UUs are to justice work. I am so glad you have been so welcoming of me and of my work!
Rick Hahnenberg
Board Chair, SCUUJA & Member, UU Church of Spartanburg
How do you tell your UU story?
I joined my first UU congregation in Ohio in 1979, after the birth of my twins. When we moved to SC, we joined the Greenville UU Fellowship and later the Spartanburg UU Church as we moved again. Over the years, I have enjoyed serving in religious education, Sunday services, fundraising, finance, social justice, and three times as President of UUCS.
What is at the heart of your social justice passion?
Church-State Separation. I was founder and Chapter President for Americans United for Separation of Church and State Upstate SC Chapter for 13 of the 15 years that the Chapter was active. We closed our Upstate SC Chapter in February, 2021 due to structural changes in the national organization.
What excites you about the new SC UU Justice Alliance?
First, the leadership abilities of both Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker and Rev. Dr. Jean Heriot. I am also excited about the potential to unite UU social justice programs with our 10 Congregations in South Carolina!
Richard Hayes
Board Treasurer, SCUUJA & Social Justice Team Chair, Unitarian Church in Charleston
How do you tell your UU story?
I believe I was born a Unitarian Universalist (UU), but like most of us it took 40 years for me to walk into a UU Church, and when I did, I knew immediately this was my spiritual home. That was in 1993 in Dayton, Ohio at the Miami Valley UU Fellowship. I immediately joined the “Social Concerns” committee. And when I moved to Charleston SC in 2001, along with 3 other church members we started the Social Justice Committee at the Unitarian Church in Charleston. For me our 8 principles say it all – not a creed, but how I want to live my life.
What is at the heart of your social justice passion?
My mother, father, and studying Jesus, Martin Luthor King, and Gandhi. My mother was always an anti-racist. When Bell Telephone integrated in Washington DC in 1958 my Dad was one of the only workers that would train the African Americans. And as Scoutmaster in Rockville, Md, he integrated Troop 448 in 1962! Now, it is critical to me that at our church social justice efforts are grounded in our congregationally-driven mission statements. UUs have a legacy of “deeds not creeds". My spiritual beliefs have always wedded social justice work to my theology; my spiritual beliefs demand that I participate in social justice work.
What excites you about the new SC UU Justice Alliance?
Our Church has been deep into Social Justice work for 20 years, and we know the limitations of working as a single Church on Social Justice issues. So many social justice issues embedded in systematic racism are state issues, and thus to eliminate these injustices we must work at the state level. I have waited for years to have a SC State UU Action Network. I am very excited at the prospects of all South Carolina UUs working together with our partners like SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, the NAACP, League of Women Voters, and ACLU to tackle and solve these problems and injustices!
BRENDA MURPHY
Board Member, SCUUJA & President, NAACP SC State Conference
What is at the heart of your passion for social justice?
I believe strongly in the crucial role of education because, if someone is educated appropriately, everything else will fall in line. They can then advocate for their basic needs including health care and being treated in a fair and equal manner. If they can’t speak for themselves, they are in trouble! While there are many advocates in SC, we can’t articulate all the needs of our population. Individuals need to learn through education how to work for themselves and their children. Our state has a terrible record on education (we are third from the bottom), and we have so many health care problems. We need better education and better healthcare through Medicaid expansion. My mission is to advocate for justice and equality for all people.
What is your faith story?
I grew up a Baptist and remain a Baptist. I’ve been a member of different Baptist churches, but I always seek churches where the focus is on a teaching ministry. My faith is so important. It taught me that I had the determination and support to make changes in the world. I grew up on a farm, went to college for a nursing degree and over time also received a master’s degree in nursing. When I went for the interview for my master’s program, the interviewer kept trying to discourage me. That only made me more determined!
What are your hopes for the partnership with SCUUJA?
I hope our work together will also inspire other churches to join in this work. We need so many church groups to help us connect with our values and to reach all peoples in our state, especially our young people. The work will take all of us. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
More of my life story:
Highlights of my career include Nursing Administration, Nursing Education, Nurse Therapist for children and families and Adjunct Faculty appointments at SC State University, University of South Carolina, Medical University of South Carolina, and South University. I also served as a member of the United States Army Reserves Nurse Corp and obtained the rank of Major. I am a life member of the NAACP and began my advocacy journey over 40 years ago as a member of the NAACP Branch in Charleston, South Carolina. I am the first female president of the NAACP South Carolina State Conference.
Connie Quirk
Board Secretary, SCUUJA & Social Action Co-Chair, UU Congregation of Columbia
How do you tell your UU story?
In 2001, about a year after becoming guardians of two nephews, my husband and I realized they needed a youth group to help extend their social horizons We discovered the UU Congregation of Gwinnett, GA and have been UUs ever since. My husband and I joined UUCC shortly after moving to Columbia in 2016. We now co-chair the Social Action Committee.
What is at the heart of your social justice passion?
As a child of a military family, I traveled the world, witnessing great discrepancies between those who have and those who have not. As a special education teacher, the children's realities made injustices obvious and real. One of my young students, a US citizen with a non-citizen father being held in detention, died of medical complications. Our system refused to allow the father to join his family to mourn, despite the fact that he had been accused of no crime other than being undocumented. It was a travesty. I have been working for change in our immigrations policies ever since.
What excites you about the new SC UU Justice Alliance?
Having been a member of two Social Justice committees and now co-chair of the UUCC SAC, I’ve seen us accomplish good works within our community. Working together as 10 UU congregations and many partners, we have the potential to speak louder on behalf of greater equity and justice.
Our Partners
The following organizations have made a formal commitment in support of the South Carolina UU Justice Alliance.
Aiken UU Church
Clayton Memorial UU Church
SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center
Unitarian Church in Charleston
