Who we are
We are Unitarian Universalist and Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, atheist and agnostic, believers in God, and more. We provide a faith home where families of mixed faiths can celebrate their individual beliefs and share life’s milestone events together. We provide a steady home base where people can explore different belief systems within a supportive community.
On the forefront of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer inclusion for more than 40 years, we are people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
We need not think alike to love alike. We are people of many beliefs and backgrounds: people with a religious background, people with none, people who believe in a God, people who don’t, and people who let the mystery be.
We welcome you: your whole self, with all your truths and your doubts, your worries and your hopes. Join us on this extraordinary adventure of faith.
Wondering what to expect on your first visit to BUF? Learn more about our congregation and services.
Community Without Conformity
Quilt squares featuring symbols representing several world religions line the sanctuary walls at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship.
Our Mission
We, the Members of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, are a liberal religious community that values the diversity of individuals and affirms Unitarian Universalist principles. Our congregation welcomes persons of every age, physical ability, race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, religion, gender identity, and sexual and affectional orientation. As a community, we aspire to provide a creative, and nurturing environment where social, spiritual, and personal development are encouraged and acknowledged. Therefore, we celebrate in ritual, music, art, literature and humor. We endeavor to teach, to learn, and to serve both our community and the world.
Our Minister and Staff
Ministry
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Sunny is a recent graduate of Yale Divinity School. She is in the process of seeking fellowship with the UUA which will be completed this month. She is a former attorney and a coach with certification from Dr. Martha Beck. Sunny found Unitarian Universalism while in law school, joining First Unitarian Universalist of Austin in 2005. She brings with her two years of meaningful experience as the intern minister at Unitarian Society of New Haven where she engaged deeply in all aspects of congregational life from worship, pastoral care, and religious education to social justice and administration.
Sunny hails from Seattle where she lives with her partner Chase (he/him) and their two animal companions, Action Jackson the tabby cat, and Mojave (aka Movy), the German Shepherd rescued from the Mojave Desert. After spending three years on the East Coast for divinity school, Sunny is thrilled to be back in the Pacific Northwest. She will live four days a week in Bellingham and the rest of the week at her home in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle where she will be available for our urgent needs.
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Rev. Tessie is an ordained minister with the Unitarian Universalist Association (since 2015) and Metropolitan Community Churches (since 2002). MCC is a Christian denomination that ministers primarily in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities, and she has served churches in California, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Tennessee as their pastor. Rev. Tessie has served UU congregations in Atlanta and Bellingham.
Tessie is also a board certified chaplain with the Association of Professional Chaplains and she currently serves PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham as the palliative care chaplain — one who specializes in working with patients who are facing serious life-limiting illnesses, and their families.
Tessie is originally from Charleston, SC. She and her partner, Lisa Heezen, moved to Bellingham in the summer of 2014 to be closer to Lisa’s parents who retired here.
For extra fun Tessie enjoys walking, biking, yoga, singing, and being a foster mom.
Rev. Tessie is one of BUF’S Community Ministers…What Does That Mean? Community ministers are persons qualified to perform ministries of counseling, chaplaincy, social justice, education in religious studies, or other such ministries as the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee may recognize. Community ministers engage in prophetic ministerial service beyond the walls of the congregation. Tessie’s community ministry is at PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center. She also has a Spirit Matters podcast at Bellingham’s local radio station, KRME 102.3 FM. Her ministry in BUF’s congregation is leading our monthly Taizé service , worship planning and preaching, and consulting with the Pastoral Care team.
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The Rev. Dr. Barbara Wells ten Hove started her ministry at East Shore Unitarian in Bellevue, WA in 1985 and since then has served congregations in Washington, Colorado, Maryland, and British Columbia. She and her husband, Jaco, retired in 2017 as Emeritus Ministers from Cedars UU Church on Bainbridge Island, WA and now happily enjoy life here in Bellingham. Since retiring, she has served BUF as sabbatical minister in 2022 and as Transitional Support Minister in the summer of 2025. Barbara sings in the BUF choirs, volunteers in the office and regularly partakes in the Community Night Dinners. She is president of Bellingham Co-Housing, volunteers occasionally at the Bellingham Theatre Guild and preaches regularly at the Free Church Unitarian in Blaine.
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Rev. Barbara Gilday came to professional ministry in mid-life, but her life has been full of inquiry, diversity, social justice, volunteering, connecting and sharing with others. She has taught in Ghana, been a community, church and school leader as her children grew up, coordinated Japanese exchange programs with host families, and started a peer tutoring program in Seattle.
In midlife Barbara experienced a call to ministry and went to seminary. She has served 3 churches and was a certified chaplain, serving 3 hospitals. She joined Nigerian and Ghanaian delegations for peace and understanding in retirement on trips to to Nigeria and Ghana, working on special projects in education.
Rev. Barbara has been a member of BUF since 2000, serving on the HR committee, Nominations, Pastoral Care, Hospitality, Book Club and singing in BUF choirs. One of her super powers at BUF is connecting people with common interests.
Barbara enjoys walking her dog, hiking, connecting with friends, musical events and movies at the Pickford. She is the grateful member of a loving, blended family.
Currently, Barbara speaks several times a year at a number of UU churches, while exploring in new and deeper ways, how we continue to give value to life as our capacities change.
Programs
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Lis Epperson has been active in education since she became a Kindergarten Sunday School teacher at age 16 at the First Baptist Church in New London, NH. She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her cousins who also taught Sunday School until they went to college. She comes to BUF with experience as a Special Education paraeducator in public schools in Salt Lake City and Bellingham, and as a tutor for children with Autism through a private foundation. She earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Studies/Special Education in April 2025.
She officially joined her first UU community in Bethlehem, PA in 2007. She loves to read, needlefelt, hike, host parties, and meet new people; her favorite things about being a UU are the Auction and UU jokes. She is proud to be part of a spiritual community that created the award-winning OWL program. Lis moved here from Salt Lake City (where she said goodbye to their beloved South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society) with her family in 2015; she lives with her husband, Gabe, who sings in the BUF choir, her two children, two cats, and four chickens. You can often find them hiking and walking on the trails and mountains in beautiful Bellingham (the cats and the chickens prefer to stay home).
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Ben’s musical background is extensive and diverse. Half of his life has been spent in the concert hall with the cello and voice, and the other half spent in cultural contexts including Powwow, the Lummi Blackhawk Singers, Ecclesiastical settings, and a lengthy stint with the Bellingham chapter of the Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers. As a cellist and vocalist, Ben has taken several tours to Europe as a principal cellist in orchestral settings, has sat principal cello appointments in the Western Washington University Symphony
Orchestra, and has directed vocal ensembles ranging from 10 voices to 80-piece full choirs. Even as a child, Ben showed devotion to enhancing every scene in which he played music in one way or another. As a result, Ben has shown disciplined collaborative musicianship and staunch commitment to proper cultural celebration. These were primary motivators through his performance degree work at WWU, continuing his graduate study in music education, and a planned doctorate study in ethnomusicology. These are also the
motivators that have Ben ecstatic to contribute to BUF’s musical culture in the assembly and in the greater community.
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Melanie has served BUF for many years as staff keyboard artist and choir assistant. She has two degrees in music from the University of Washington, as well as a law degree and part of an MBA. Her passions in life are teaching piano, performing at BUF, singing, composing, sound healing, and gardening. For ten years, Melanie acted as the Worship and Music Coordinator for BUF’s summer services.
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Ian Pelot has played piano for over 10 years, including three years of tutelage under Andrea Rackl. He has played in a variety of ensembles and settings, from jazz combos to school choirs to classical performances. His favorite genres to play are jazz, soundtrack, and classical, and he always enjoys the opportunity to bring extra emotional expression to musical performance. In addition to piano, he has extensive experience with the trumpet, guitar, and bass guitar. Ian is currently a junior at Western Washington University, where he is studying Spanish and Latin American Studies. Outside of music, he greatly enjoys philosophy and weightlifting.
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Leah Bruno is a multi-disciplinary musician who specializes in both dance and contemporary art music. She began learning piano at age seven, and went on to add voice, percussion, and composition. Leah graduated from the UBC School of Music (BMus ‘24) where she studied piano with Terence Dawson and Rena Sharon, as well as composition with Stephen Chatman, Edward Top, and Sarah Hwang. During her time at UBC, Leah premiered several compositions, including her own, and began using her improvisation skills as a dance accompanist at Arts Umbrella and Ballet BC. Her breadth of experience creates a nuanced performance practice influenced by the intersection of movement, groove, and storytelling. Leah is currently the music director at St. James Presbyterian Church, and an active collaborator in Bellingham.
Administration
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Alison has a Masters in Elementary Education and taught 1st - 3rd grade on Lopez Island. After 10 years in education, she is ready to take on the next chapter in life. Alison previously worked at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship as the Custodian, Building Steward, and Admin Assistant. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve and be a part of the BUF community again.
Alison lived in Bellingham for twelve years before moving to Lopez Island, where she resided for seven years. She moved back to the “mainland” in May 2025 and is delighted to be back in the city she considers home.
Alison resides with her wife Tanya, and their dog (Puck), two cats (Arthur and Milo), and four chickens. Alison and Tanya can often be found in the mountains, hiking or snowshoeing, and also love cooking, gardening, and building Legos.
Learn about BUF’s Governance here.
Love is the spirit of this fellowship and service gives it life. Celebrating our diversity and joined by a quest for truth, we work for peace and honor all creation. This is our covenant.
Become a Member
If you’ve been exploring BUF long enough to get to know what we’re about, and you feel that you’ve found a spiritual home, we hope you’ll consider becoming a member. Every member makes BUF a stronger community and a more powerful advocate for peace and justice. Members sign the membership book, make a financial pledge, then continue to contribute at least once per year. (Many non-member friends of BUF also make annual pledges.) Use the contact form below to reach out about becoming a member.
As you consider becoming a member, we encourage you to take our Pathways to Membership class, through which you’ll learn about UU history, principles, and the sources that have shaped and continue to feed us. You’ll take time to reflect on your own spiritual aspirations, and what the next steps may be for you. You’ll get a sense of how we are together, as the learning occurs through and within each of us, not top-down. We’ll also briefly review BUF’s organizational structure, looking for opportunities to engage in and support our various programs. Check the Calendar & News page to see upcoming offerings, or contact our office to be notified of when the next Pathways to Membership class will be offered.
As a member of BUF, you’ll do your best to live a life of gratitude, generosity, and integrity — in the spirit of our UU Shared Values and our Covenant of Healthy Relationships. You’ll serve the congregation and the world beyond our walls. You’ll continue to grow as a person by putting your own ideals into practice, and learning about our Unitarian Universalist heritage and the evolving mission of our larger movement.
Let your support and commitment to BUF be a springboard to growth. Make friends or overcome shyness. Learn spiritual practices and interpersonal skills. Cultivate new avocations.
We will celebrate and grieve with you. We will journey with you in your search for truth and meaning. We’ll be there as you unpack old religious baggage and open your heart to new discoveries.
Our UU Shared Values
The BUF Covenant of Health Relationships
Individually and collectively we share responsibility and accountability for our actions. We honor each other’s worth by engaging in thoughtful and respectful dialogue that seeks to promote understanding. In the spirit of this Covenant, we promise our mutual trust and support to one another as we strive to bring our best selves forward.
We the members, staff and ministers of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, covenant to affirm our commitment to each other and our congregation as we promise to:
Warmly welcome all
Foster a safe and nurturing environment for all our members
Embrace our diversity and the opportunity to share our different perspectives
Honor and support one another in our life journeys in times of joy, need, and struggle
Be quick to listen, slow to judge, and willing to negotiate
Accept responsibility for our individual acts
Honor confidences
Address our disagreements directly and openly
See conflict through to authentic resolution
Strive to keep our promises, but when we fall short, we forgive ourselves and others, and begin again in love
