Christine Purcell is the Transitions Program Manager on the Congregational Life field staff team, serving in all five regions (Central East, New England, MidAmerica, Pacific Western, and Southern). She works closely with regional staff, congregational boards of trustees, search committees, and search committee coaches to support ministerial search processes. She is a member of the Congregational Life Leadership Team, and works in close partnership with our Transitions Office, Office of Church Staff Finance, and IT department.

She began working as a consultant for our Association's Southeast District in 2011. As regional staff, she held small congregation, staffing analysis, strategic planning, and ministerial transitions portfolios. In the spirit of cross-regional collaboration, our Congregational Life Leadership Team gave her the opportunity to hold the transitions portfolios for all five regions in 2018. This change gave her the ability to focus on her favorite aspect of field staff work--supporting congregational leaders in the ministerial transition process.

Her educational background is in sociology and criminal justice. Before joining the UUA staff team, she worked as a workshop facilitator at a military counseling center in Sardinia, Italy, as a corporate trainer, and as a UU congregational and cluster leader. She is certified in Critical Incident Stress Management (crisis response) and as a Red Cross emergency shelter manager. She is an Our Whole Lives facilitator, as well.

She lives in central Connecticut, but feels like she lives on Zoom! In her spare time, she enjoys sci-fi, cooperative and strategy games, traveling with her family, and playing guitar, bass ukulele, and baritone ukulele.