Our Minister

 

We are pleased to welcome the Rev Arthur Lavoie at First Parish in Plymouth. He was born and raised in a large French-Canadian and Portuguese family in Ludlow, Massachusetts. In college, he moved away from his Catholic roots and, in the early 1990’s found his way to a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts. That congregation was located in the center of town, much like this one, and was part of the progressive center of that community. It was a blessing to also discover that Unitarian Universalist theology was as open and inclusive as their justice work and it didn’t take long for him to find a home there and feel called to ministry.

He moved to Berkeley, California in 1996 to attend the Starr King School for the Ministry and graduated in 2000. He then served a two year consulting minister in Auburn, California, and interim ministries in Rocky River, Ohio and Bridgewater, Massachusetts. In 2005 he was called to be the settled minister in Dorchester, Massachusetts and, after ten successful years there, took a year’s sabbatical before pursuing another ministry. Before coming to Plymouth, he served as Interim Minister to First Parish Church in Kingston, Massachusetts.

Prior to his ministerial career, Rev Art received an MA in Counseling Psychology and worked for several years as a case manager and crisis counselor with clients with mental health disorders.