Interim Minister: Rev. Dr. Elaine Peresluha

Rev. Elaine Beth Peresluha is our interim minister.  She will be working with South Church for the next year or two helping us prepare for choosing and welcoming a new settled minister.

Rev. Elaine was born the youngest of four children to working class parents near Hartford, Connecticut.  She worked as a registered nurse for almost twenty years then prepared for ministry at Harvard Divinity School.  She graduated and was ordained in June 1995.

Since then she has served two churches as their settled minister, Woodstock VT.  And Bangor ME, She served as the interim minister in Wilmington NC for two years after choosing to become accredited as an interim minister.

Rev. Elaine has completed postgraduate work in Appreciative Inquiry, Relational Responsibility, and Social Construction as tools for ministry.  She comes to us just having completed her dissertation and recently sucessfully defended her work at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Rev. Elaine has three adult daughters living and working in New England.  They share her leisure time with her two cats, boats of all kinds, bikes, and hikes.  Yoga is her spiritual practice. She is thrilled to be back in New England serving the South Church during this transition. 

Acting Director of Religious Education: Sheila Shea

Sheila has more than 15 years of experience in the field of education,  non-profit management, and fundraising. She has also taught in the South Church RE program for six years and has been active on various committees.
Sheila holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University in Cambridge. Sheila continues to teach ceramics and serves on the board for Art Speak, Portsmouth's Cultural Commission.  She lives in Portsmouth with her husband, John, and their three daughters.
 

Organist and Lead Musician:Terrie Harman

Terrie Harman’s piano and organ music experience spans 25 years in various settings. Classically trained with a piano performance degree from Wilson College ( Chambersburg , PA ), Terrie teaches piano and organ, and is founder of the Portsmouth Men’s Chorus. She is a board member of the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ ( Portland , ME ) and is certified at the Colleague level from the American Guild of Organists. She served as chair of the Music Committee for the Centennial of the Treaty of Portsmouth celebration during the summer of 2005.

Church Administrator: Julie Slayton Frank

Julie became Church Administrator in July of 2004. Her prior experience includes Events Director and Business Manager at the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce. Julie lives in Dover with her husband, Andy and their four cats. Their son Greg recently graduated from The George Washington University. Julie currently serves as Treasurer to the  Association of Unitarian Universalist  Administrators and as Vice-Chair of the Feminist Health Center of Portsmouth.

Administrative and Religious Education Assistant: Sarah Tambling

Bookkeeper: Kathi Maher

Sexton: Martin Koski