Rev. Phil Haslanger has had careers in journalism and ministry. He worked for The Capital Times for 34 years and was ordained as a United Church Christ minister in 2007. He retired (sort of) as pastor of Memorial UCC in 2017. In the last few years, he has been serving as a parish associate at Christ Presbyterian Church. In addition to his work at church, he serves on the boards of JustDane, Pres House, and the UW-Madison Center for Journalism Ethics. He is a member at Orchard Ridge UCC. Phil has lived in Madison since 1969, when he came here from Marinette WI to attend UW-Madison. He earned a BA in sociology and an MA in journalism. During his transition to ministry, he earned an MA in theology from Lakeland University and served as a chaplain for six months at Meriter Hospital. He is married to Ellen Reuter, has four children and seven grandchildren.

The Rev. Shelby Perez (they/them) will preach:



June 9, 16, 23, 30

August 4, 11

“My name is Shelby, I am a full time trauma chaplain at University Hospital, working primarily with the Emergency Department and Trauma Life Support Center. I’ve been here for two full years, and I am in the process of completing my Board Certification for Chaplaincy. I moved to Madison from Ramallah, Palestine where I was a Global Ministries Intern with Global Ministries. I was working with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem on a project for interreligious engagement for peace making. In my time in Ramallah I met with worldwide representatives regarding the topic of peacemaking, as well as in advocacy for a young congregation member who had been unjustly imprisoned. Much of my time there was spent in ministry of presence and learning about Palestine and the Palestinian culture and liberation. Prior to that I served a congregation in East Troy while they were in the process of selling their building.