Rev. Ben Bortin has served UU congregations in Duluth, MN and Staten Island, NY, as well as being a Membership and Volunteer coordinator at the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock. He is currently serving as minister and preaching at least one Sunday a month at the North Fork UU Fellowship in Jamesport, NU. A graduate of the University of California, with a major in history, and of Starr King School for the Ministry, he has served as President of the UU United Nations Office and on the board of Project Hospitality, an organization serving homeless and low income people.

Below are some sample services that Rev. Bortin has done before.

• Langston Hughes - in Poetry and Jazz - Langston Hughes often read his poetry to jazz musical accompaniment. That will be a centerpiece of this service, which celebrates the life, message, and verse of America's Black poet laureate of the 20th Century.
• Free to be Me, Responsible to Us - Freedom, one of humanity's greatest gifts and a hallmark of our faith, is in scant supply in the world, and under siege in our country. There are different modes of freedom, all important, which continue to involve struggle. But freedom is also too often misunderstood; it is misguided without a sense of ethical responsibility.
• Patriotism for Non-Scoundrels - "The last refuge of the scoundrel." That's what Samuel Johnson considered patriotism. But perhaps it's possible, as Albert Camus put it, to love your country and love justice too, to know that dissent calling us to be our better selves is an eloquent form of patriotism.

Additional services available. Also available for weddings, memorial services and child dedications.

Availability: Year Round and preferably within 200 miles of Port Washington, NY, overnight hospitality on Saturday might be required depending on distance. Able to do anywhere via zoom.

Fee arrangements: According to UUMA guidelines.

Contact: Email Rev. Bortin at benbortin@gmail.com