Sarah Movius Schurr

Congregational Life Staff

Pacific Western Region in Congregational Life

Email: sschurr@uua.org

Telephone: (503) 936-0479

Headsho of Sarah Schuur, a light-skinned woman with curly hair and glasses.

Rev. Sarah Movius Schurr

The Rev. Sarah Movius Schurr joined the PWR team in 2016. She serves as primary contact for all congregations in the states of Washington, Montana, and Wyoming. In addition to her primary contact work, Sarah is the PWR specialist for small congregation concerns and networks with other small congregation specialists throughout the UUA to provide targeted training and resources. She works with the UUA Disaster Relief Fund and is the UUA staff liaison to EqUUal Access, which promotes equality and access for Unitarian Universalists with disabilities.

Sarah was ordained in 2008, but she began her work as a faith leader many years before ordination by serving as a district board member, new congregation organizer, and congregational consultant. Sarah had a 20-year Social Work career before the call to ministry. She has extensive experience in organizational development and systems theory. After ordination, Sarah worked for the Pacific Northwest District as their first Developmental Outreach Minister, bringing professional ministry to small congregations in Alaska and Oregon.

Sarah keeps her home office in Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her husband and their cat. They have two grown children and one grandchild. Sarah likes all kinds of music, from classical to grunge. She enjoys cooking and walks in the neighborhood. She works out at the gym at least twice a week, but doesn’t really enjoy that.

From Sarah Movius Schurr

Displaying 11 - 20 of 20

Systems theory is extremely helpful in understanding how people work in groups and why change is sometimes so difficult.

Leader Resource | By Sarah Movius Schurr | May 10, 2019 | From LeaderLab

What can the congregation do in a crisis to avoid a crash during conflict? The solution mostly falls to the work of the driver of the car or the congregational leaders.

Leader Resource | By Sarah Movius Schurr | May 8, 2019 | From LeaderLab

Small congregations with little or no professional ministry help can still have good worship services. This webinar gives you some tips.

Webinar | By Sarah Movius Schurr | February 6, 2018 | From LeaderLab

Did you know that over half of the congregations in the UUA have under 120 members? Our faith has a lot of congregations that are considered small, by the people who look at size differences....

By Sarah Movius Schurr | August 3, 2017 | From Pacific Western Region

On April 2, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada (UUFNN), accepted a request for sanctuary from David Chavez-Macias, a 30-year resident of the Reno community who was at immediate risk of deportation. This was the latest in a number of UU congregations in the Pacific Western...

By Sarah Movius Schurr | May 4, 2017 | From Pacific Western Region

In this webinar, we will explore the role of leaders in a Unitarian Universalist congregation. We will offer some useful tools to help your leaders and your congregation to thrive.

Webinar | By Sarah Movius Schurr | February 25, 2017 | From LeaderLab

How do you create a meaningful congregational experience when you've got a small number of kids in your congregation, few of whom are the same age?

Webinar | By Sarah Movius Schurr, Sarah Gibb Millspaugh | February 25, 2017 | From LeaderLab

When leaders feel desparate, they often make these mistakes when looking for volunteers.

By Sarah Movius Schurr | August 23, 2016 | From LeaderLab

This sermon refers to, and includes, the emerging ritual of a "chocolate communion." If you're seeking to incorporate our Unitarian Universalist values into such a ritual, we recommend providing an organic fair-trade product like the one...

Sermon | By Sarah Movius Schurr | August 14, 2016 | From WorshipWeb

Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....

Meditation | By Sarah Movius Schurr | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWeb

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