CERG

Rev. Renee Ruchotzke (ruh-HUT-skee) is the Regional Consultant for Leadership Development. She is responsible for providing consultation, programming and training material (including webinars and videos) on various aspects of congregational leadership. She works closely with Threshold Congregations and with those doing leadership development at the district and cluster levels. She is a Dean of the Unitarian Universalist Leadership Team Institute (UULTI) design team and plans other in-person trainings at the district and regional level. She is also the chair of the Ohio Meadville District Commissioned Lay Leader Committee.  She writes for the UUA Blog Growing Vital Leaders.

Renee is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School and is in Preliminary Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. Renee was the Consulting Minister for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Canton, Ohio for two years, where she actively participated in the district small church growth project. She served her internship in the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before that she served East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirtland, Ohio for two years as their interim Director of Religious Education. She co-authored a Tapestry of Faith curriculum, "A Chorus of Faiths." She was ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, Ohio where she has been a member since 1996. There she served in a variety of leadership roles before being called to ministry.  She is now their affiliated community minister.

In her district work Renee was a member of the Leadership Development Committee of the Ohio Meadville District for two years, where she planned district-wide trainings and workshops. She has served as an adjunct district consultant, leading search committee retreats, Religious Educator start-ups, mission/vision work and various other workshops including stewardship, campus ministry and radical hospitality. Those who know her say that leadership development is a passion for Renee. She was the 2007 recipient of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Seminarian Award for Excellence in Social Justice, and the 2010 recipient of the Commission on Social Witness sermon award.

You can email Renee Ruchotzke by using this link, or view her contact information on our staff contact page.