The congregation elected Reverend Wilson Emeritus Minister in June 2003. Rev. Wilson says: “Since my election as minister emeritus, my sense of being a minister is powerfully and suddenly awakened. I know very well that I don’t want to exercise the ‘doing’ of an active parish minister, but the ‘being’ part has come back.”

Born in Buffalo, NY, Rev. Wilson planned to go to work for Gillette after college, but his participation in the spiritual life of the Hingham Unitarian Church, and the support of his minister and mentor, Martin Greenman, prompted him to enter Harvard Divinity School.

In the mid 1970’s, after seven years of being a fulltime minister, Rev. Wilson joined the Unitarian Universalist Association’s newly formed Accredited Interim Minister Program, which was developing a core of ministers skilled in helping congregations make the transition from one spiritual leader to another.

During this Interim Ministry career and because he and his wife Hilde wanted to stay in Danvers, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead (UUCM) became a very desirable place to spend a year in 1982/83. Eight years later, after UUCM experienced a failed minister and two more interims, the congregation asked Rev. Wilson to return as a settled minister.

“I felt a special affinity with the members of this congregation,” he says. “I felt my selection by a congregation that was familiar with my style of leadership affirmed the work of healing, spiritual growth, and institution building that I had begun eight years before. The call felt like a return and a launching at the same time. I strongly want this church to escape from its troubles and felt that I could help.”

With the enthusiastic support of a grateful congregation, Rev. Wilson set in motion the Memorial Garden, the first men’s group, the celebration of multi-cultural religious beliefs, and a strong Adult Education Program. Through his ministry (1990-1998), he also restored our confidence and our ability to work well together.