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Past Tapestry Ministers

The church that is now Tapestry UU Church of Houston (A brief history of our church’s name changes is set out at the bottom of this page) has been fortunate to obtain the services of some excellent ministers. This page is dedicated to some of our most beloved past ministers.

Rev. Alisha Mills

Rev. Alisha Mills (she/her) served as Tapestry’s minister from April 2023 to September 2025. She brought to our ministry a diverse set of skills from over ten years as a clinical chaplain and twenty years with children's spiritual formation. Alisha has a passion for inclusion, compassion, and wisdom traditions.

Alisha was inspired to a life in ministry while attending a Miami Valley UU Fellowship in Dayton, Ohio. She has a Master of Divinity from Earlham School of Religion, a Quaker seminary, in Richmond, Indiana. During seminary, Alisha moved to the United Church of Christ and after graduation was ordained and then Endorsed for Chaplaincy by the Fox Valley Association in Chicagoland. She also has four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) from hospitals in the Chicagoland area.

Alisha has expressed “feeling pulled back to UU, which is where I started.” In addition to the part-time Minister role at Tapestry, Alisha served as a PRN Chaplain for Memorial Herman Health System and is a life coach for neurodivergent kids, teens, and young adults. Alisha and her family now reside in Delaware.

Rev. Dr. Randolph Partain

Randy first served us as an intern at the Copperfield Campus of First UU* from June 2014 to September 2016. He returned in March 2019 to serve as Tapestry UU Church’s quarter-time, and later halftime, minister until June 2021. During this time, Randy distinguished himself as a caring, dedicated and hardworking minister. Over half of our congregation participated in his months long Weaving Our Lives program, which he adapted for UUs from the Christian Faithwalking Program. Weaving Our Lives was one of the best spiritual growth groups we’ve ever experienced, and although Randy is no longer our minister, his teachings live on inside us. On May 5, 2021, Tapestry was proud to ordain Randy as a UU Minister.

On June 30, 2021, Randy left Tapestry in order become the Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland, a church with approximately 300 members. We at Tapestry were very sad to see Randy go, but we are pleased to have played a small part in his journey to become a very capable and inspiring minister, and we wish him and UUCC all the best.

Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford

Joanna and her family were early members of NWCUUC,* and Joanna served in various capacities, including Board President, and she continued as Worship Team Lead even while working towards her Master of Divinity degree. She graduated in 2011 from the Houston Graduate School of Theology summa cum laude and received the school’s highest honor, the Academic Excellence Award.

In August 2012, Joanna began working as part time minister of the Copperfield Campus of First UU and continued through April 2014. Our former member was a much loved and appreciated minister, and we regretted to see her leave, but we understood that she was destined for a larger ministry.

In mid-2014, Joanna was called to be the minister of Live Oak UU Church in Austin, TX where she’s earning a national reputation for herself.

Rev. Bob Hill

Bob was NWCUUC’s first minister (1997-99). He was an enthusiastic supporter of the young church and joined as a member in addition to serving as its part time consulting minister. Bob was also an early UU supporter of Small Group Ministry, a/k/a Covenant Groups or Chalice Circles, and he is the author of The Complete Guide to Small Group Ministry. He helped lay the foundation for NWCUUC’s future growth and success, and its strong support for SGM, which continues at Tapestry to the present day.

Bob went on to serve as District Executive of the South West District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. He retired in 2014, and he and his wife are now living in Australia.

 

* Tapestry Name Changes

1995: Incorporated as Northwest Community Unitarian Universalist Church (NWCUUC)

2012: Affiliated with First UU Church of Houston

1/13/2013: Formally merged with First UU Church of Houston and became the Copperfield Campus of First UU

6/1/2018: Name changed to the Tapestry Campus of First UU after moving away from the Copperfield area of Houston

3/1/2019: Left the First UU merger and incorporated as Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston

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