Our Minister: Reverend Christopher McMahon
Reverend Chris McMahon has been a lifelong explorer of life and spirituality. A graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Chris spent many years at sea aboard commercial vessels engaged in worldwide trade. He has traveled throughout most of the world. In between voyages at sea, Chris served in crisis counseling centers, worked in community service organizations, and attended graduate schools. He also served as a professor and Sailing Master at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; as the founding Director of the USMMA Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS); and later as Deputy Superintendent of the Academy. Following the September 11th, 2001 attacks, Chris served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation in Washington D.C. He was assigned to Iraq in 2004-2005 to oversee the reconstruction of the Country’s transportation system (air, land, and sea).
Reverend McMahon became a Unitarian Universalist in 1985 and in the early 1990s he completed seminary at Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union at U.C. Berkeley. He was ordained to the UU ministry at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Arlington, Virginia in 1994. Since that time, Chris has served as consulting minister with several Long Island UU Congregations. He currently works during the week with the Maritime Administration in Washington D.C. and commutes to Long Island on weekends where he lives with his wife, Virginia, and daughter Claire.
“I welcome the opportunity to grow with the UUFB Congregation. As a seeker, I have had the opportunity to study all of the world's major religions. I find truths in all of them but not THE truth. As a UU minister, I am committed to spiritual growth in a way that brings people closer to the magical and mysterious forces of life. I am also committed to developing and expanding a sense of community and to using the power of people to make a difference in the world.”