ORUCC Welcomes 11 New Members!

Diane Dulin……and her husband Tom Beilman returned to Madison three years ago, following 43 years on the West Coast. Children and grandchildren in the close vicinity were the strongest draw, but Diane has always loved Madison since finishing high school and college here.

Diane attended seminary at Pacific School of Relition in Berkeley, California and served 34 years as a United Church of Christ pastor in California and Oregon. She is Pastor Emerita of First Congregational UCC of Hillsboro, Oregon, where she served as senior pastor for 21 years.  

A trip to the Wet Bank of Palestine in 2011 proved life-changing, and she has returned many times while also working through ecumenical partnerships for the cause of justice for Palestinian men, women and children. Her hobbies include reading, walking and sewing quilts.  

Tom Beilman…was raised in Madison, attending Edgewood and Madison West high schools. While at West, he met and later married Diane Dulin. After graduating from UW-Madison, Tom and Diane moved to the West Coast and raised three children. Diane obtained a Master of Divinity degree and served as pastor of churches in California and Oregon, while Tom worked for thirty years at Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Three years ago, Tom and Diane moved “back” to Madison to be close to daughters Joanna and Laura, who both live in and near Madison. Their son Andrew also moved to Wisconsin, and lives in Middleton.

Today Tom serves as an activist for Palestinian human rights. He is the principal author of a UCC General Synod resolution opposing the system of arrest and detention of Palestinian children by Israeli military forces, and produced How Are the Children? film and curriculum (www.HATCnow.org). He is working diligently to support a UN-certified refugee from Gaza, whose mother, father and other family members were severely injured by Israeli military assaults. Working closely with Ghassan’s official sponsor in Ottawa, Tom prays that Ghassan will soon get his wish for a new, better (and safer!) life in Canada.

Tom’s favorite pastimes include activities with his children and grandchildren, studying Civil War and WWII history, taking long distance walks (ask him about the Camino Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain), attending sports car races, and observing great whales whenever his travels take him to coastal waters. 

Julia Burkey….The Rev. Dr. Julia Burkey has been the Senior Pastor of ORUCC since October 2020. It has been an adventure so far, serving the church virtually after moving to Wisconsin pregnant and during the pandemic with her partner Daniel! She gave birth to their daughter Reverie Faye during her second month as a pastor of ORUCC and is delighted to be living into another deep call in her life to be a mother. Julia, Daniel and Reverie love exploring Wisconsin together.

Julia earned her Master of Divinity with a special focus on the Bible and Arts & Worship from Union Theological Seminary in 2012. Upon her graduation, Julia was awarded the Karen Ziegler Prize “for exemplifying the highest ideals for feminist and liberation theology in preaching.” While serving for seven years as Senior Pastor of First Church in Middletown, CT.

Julia received a Doctor of Ministry from Hartford Theological Seminary in 2020, one of the premier seminaries for interfaith dialogue. Julia’s doctorate is in church visioning and Truth and Reconciliation process around racial justice.

Julia has a passion for hearing people’s stories and an unwavering conviction that God seeks and loves those on the margins. Julia seeks passionately to be an ally for communities of color and LGBTQIA+ communities, identifying as queer herself. Not raised in the church, Julia came to Christianity later in life. Raised by a Buddhist mother and philosophy professor father, being curious and seeking questions rather than finding firm answers feels important to Julia in her spiritual path. As a former dancer and performer, Julia brings an artistic dynamic to her preaching and leading. Julia is also a trained doula.

Daniel Cooperrider…..is the spouse of Pastor Julia Burkey, father of Reverie Faye, and an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ. Originally from northeast Ohio, Daniel grew up spending summers at his family cabin in Washburn County, WI. Daniel studied philosophy and theology at the University of Chicago. After serving as Pastoral Resident at the Wellesley Village Church UCC, Daniel was Pastor of the Weybridge Church UCC in Vermont for seven years. Daniel’s passions include writing, fly fishing, foraging, and other outdoor adventures.  

Cindy Fillingame…..I was born in Washington state and moved to Madison in 1975. My daughter Laura, son-in-law Mike, and grandkids Maia (9) and Reid (8) live in Denver, CO. I taught 5th grade and at the middle school in Verona for 28 years. After retiring in 2006 I have enjoyed tending my flower gardens and making connections with friends with similar interests: book clubs, a theater group, garden club, line dancing, and travel. My partner, Steve Sheets, has introduced me to UW Women’s Volleyball, RV travel, Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ, and many wonderful friends.

Barbie Jackson….. I grew up in northern New Jersey but came to UW-Madison in 1967 and have made my home in Madison ever since. I worked as an IT project manager at the University before retiring in 2010. My passion for over 25 years has been mentoring Black, mostly low-income children and young adults. That passion grew into a desire to work toward systemic change in our community, so I found my way to MOSES where I have been extremely active since 2017.

 Through my involvement with MOSES, I came to know Pam Oliver, who introduced me to ORUCC. After my first church experience hearing a joyful and affirming sermon from Julia, I was hooked. I immediately enrolled in Ken’s Prospective New Member Class and became a new member in 2022.

I am happily married to Andy Jackson, who shares my passion for the exhilarating sports of E-Scow sailboat racing on Lake Mendota and downhill skiing in Colorado. We also love the various cats who have graced our home and all our backyard visitors. Andy likes to research and write about psychology while I occupy myself in the garden, with MOSES, and occasionally with the kids I adore who are now mostly grown up.

Peg Knueve…..I am Peg Knueve. I have been married to Don Knueve for 51 years. We lived most of our married life in Defiance Ohio, raising three beautiful children, and now have five amazing grandchildren. Our two boys live in Verona, so we moved to Evia Apartments in Verona.  My faith has always been an important part of my life. I taught visual art to young children for 41 years and learned the work was largely soul work. When children create, God often helps kids tell their stories, allowing them to express themselves in a more relaxed atmosphere. As a lifelong Catholic, I was confused by the wonderful message it shared with so many rules attached. For years I grew more and more uncomfortable with this, though I gained beautiful friendships and met some wonderful ministers of the faith. I am so happy to be in a place that cares about others and the world we live in, but without judgment about how we go about our living. As a member I want to figure out how God wants me to serve.

Colleen McHenry…..I’m a Madison-native, though I’ve also lived in Iowa (college) and New York City. I’ve spent many years working in health care, first as a pharmacy tech, and then in organ transplant at UW Health. A few years ago, I started working as a data engineer at UW Health, and I think I’ve found my perfect fit. I’m always learning something new, and I like that my work ultimately benefits patients. In my free time, I enjoy lots of crafts (knitting, crochet, embroidery, spinning wool into yarn – think Rumpelstiltskin!), gardening, reading, learning to play piano, and being active outdoors. My favorite vacations have been summer bike trips around Wisconsin and winter skiing and snowshoeing up north. My best buddies are my two cats, Sunny and Juniper. They are almost a year old, full of energy, and unbearably cute. I’m excited to be a new member of ORUCC–it just feels like home (I accidentally typed “hope” first, and that also fits!) I love that the church is open and affirming, the services are progressive, and the community has plenty of groups and activities to join.

Manuel Ramminger…..I was born and raised in Gummersbach, Germany. In 2001, I moved to Madison for theological training with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). From 2002-2019 I worked as a fulltime staff with YWAM running Bible Schools and providing leadership development for our staff. My work brought me to over 35 nations and I taught workshops and seminars on justice in five continents. My extensive study of Scripture had me arrive at conclusions that were at odds with the predominant views that were widespread in some evangelical churches that were steeped in Christian nationalism and gave Donald Trump the presidency in 2016. This started a process of decolonizing my faith which brought me to Orchard Ridge UCC. I currently work as a missionary with Ethical Trade Co where we make a difference through job creation in areas of poverty, exploitation and human trafficking. I also work as a freelance broadcast tech and Technical Director for a local production company. 

Ginny Stiles……I got my undergrad degree at Beloit College and my masters at UW-Whitewater. I have one sister who lives in South Carolina. My first husband I had 3 children, all graduated from high school in Williams Bay, Wisconsin…one of whom followed me to Beloit College! I was raised in the “Congregational” Church which, of course, became the UCC in 1957 which was also the year I graduated from high school. So my roots in this denomination go back many years. Greg and I were married in the Williams Bay UCC church in 1990 and belonged to that church for many years where we both served as moderators and were on search committees.

I taught school for 32 years at Reek School in Lake Geneva and Greg and I lived in Elkhorn for 20 years and then in Leesburg, Florida for 12 years until we moved here to Madison in 2021. We summer on and off at our Northwoods cabin in Lac du Flambeau and we now have 12 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

I love sketching and painting (mostly watercolor), teach pen and ink Zentangle,

head up one of the book clubs at University Woods, sing in the choir, and have a blog: ginnystiles.blogspot.com.

Greg Stiles…..I grew up in Beloit and went to school at UW-Platteville. I had 3 children with my first wife and they all grew up and went to school in Beloit. I was a newspaper delivery boy while growing up (remember paper boys?). I am an only child.

I worked in the engineering department of Hough Manufacturing for 10 years in Janesville and at Warner Electric in South Beloit in Quality Control for 20 years. Ginny and I were married in the UCC church in Williams Bay in 1990 where we were both very active members serving as moderators and on search committees.

We lived in Elkhorn for 20 years and Leesburg, Florida 12 years. We’ll celebrate our 32nd anniversary on June 17. We did a lot of RV travel around the US. And later we traveled to England, Germany, New Zealand and Western Samoa (Also Hawaii). We moved to Madison in 2021 and really like Oakwood: University Woods. Ginny and I have 12 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

My hobbies are motor sports, gardening, forestry, garage sales, model trains and puttering around at the up Northwoods cabin in Lac du Flambeau that has been in my family for 50 years.