WELCOME!

If you don’t already know us, I hope you will pay us a visit and give me the opportunity to personally welcome you to this friendly faith community.

We love our children and youth, we appreciate music and laughter, we are actively engaged in justice work, we offer stimulating programming for all ages, and we have a great time together as we support each other in the individual search for truth and meaning.

As a community of seekers, we honor your curiosity about life’s mystery and wonder, and we will invite you to share with us the wisdom of your own life experience.

I join many others at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk in extending you the warm welcome that has distinguished this congregation for generations. Hope to see you soon!
Rev. Pam

OUR MINISTER’S PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Rev. Pam began her spiritual journey in rural East Texas, fascinated by the beauty of the natural world she discovered in exploring acres and acres of backwoods by horseback.

An adventurer at heart, Pam used the opportunities provided by higher education to continue her vivid exploration, earning degrees in Music, English, and German Literature, culminating with a PhD in German Studies from Indiana University, where she was honored as a MacArthur Peace Studies Fellow by the Institute for Global Change and World Peace. Her Divinity degree is from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, where Pam later worked as Director of their Centennial Campaign.

As a German Studies professor at Ohio State University, Dr. Allen-Thompson focused on the ethical questions of resistance and compliance, individually and collectively, in her study of the Nazi era, as well as post-World-War-II reconciliation efforts in Jewish-German dialogue. Spending significant time in the German Democratic Republic before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, she was in contact with the underground of intellectuals, artists, and religious leaders who worked to raise consciousness and forge the advocacy that contributed to the opening of borders throughout Eastern Europe.

A published author on this historical transition, Dr. Allen-Thompson presented over 100 lectures nationally and internationally, while also earning a university-wide teaching award at Ohio State. “I can’t help but bring passion to my work,” says Pam, “and now I’m thrilled to bring my best to the work of ministry with this friendly congregation.”

Rev. Dr. Pam Allen-Thompson will serve as our Interim Minister through mid-June. She comes to us after having served the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin, all in California. Rev. Pam also worked as Chaplain at the Stanford University Hospital and served a term on the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association, headquartered in Boston.

Pam and her partner of 15 years, Di Allen-Thompson, live in Ghent.