Marilyn Sewell
Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell is a Unitarian Universalist theologian and writer/editor. She served as Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon from 1992 to 2009, when she retired to devote more time to her writing and other pursuits. Her farewell sermon entitled "Seventeen Years of Ministry: What I've Learned" was delivered on May 31st, 2009. Dr. Sewell now serves her congregation as Minister Emerita, and a social justice scholarship has been created in her honor. Information on her current and upcoming publications, as well as speaking engagements, can be found on her website: 1.
In her role as church leader, she was responsible for expanding the congregation to the level where two Sunday services were required to accommodate all parishioners and seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification for the congregation’s energy-efficient Buchan Building community center.
Dr. Sewell has also edited several books relating to theology and women’s issues. Her works include “Cries of the Spirit: A Celebration of Women's Spirituality” (1991), “Breaking Free Women of Spirit At Midlife” (1995), “Claiming the Spirit Within” (1996), “Wanting Wholeness, Being Broken” (1998), “Cries of the Spirit” (2000) and “Resurrecting Grace: Remembering Catholic Childhoods” (2001, co-editor with Louise DeSalvo, Michael Patrick MacDonald, and Frank McCourt).
Dr. Sewell received national attention following the September 11 attacks when The New York Times ran an excerpt of her sermon calling for tolerance and reason. As she told her congregation: “There is the temptation, of course, to strike back with all our force, and soon, perhaps before we are entirely sure who is the enemy...But let it not be those who have done no harm, whose only crime is having dark skin and a religion that is unfamiliar to us."