Rev. Matt Alspaugh named First Unitarian pastor

Staff report

Youngstown

The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown, 1105 Elm St., voted for the Rev. Matt Alspaugh as its official called minister. He has been the consulting minister for the last 21/2 years.

Under the Rev. Mr. Alspaugh’s leadership, the church has increased its membership from 100 to 135, increased its Sunday School attendance to 20 children weekly, and expanded its program offerings and social action projects.

Mr. Alspaugh grew up in Houston, Texas. He attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He was a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey.

The minister and his wife, Liz Hill, a self-employed technical writer, were married 21 years ago and moved to Denver. He completed a master of business administration degree a the University of Denver. He worked at Spectralink, doing marketing and product management, and taught graduate telecommunications classes for the University of Denver.

Mr. Alspaugh attended a service at a Unitarian church in Monmouth County, N.J., in 1986. He became active in this church. He and his wife also were active in Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colo.

In 2004, Mr. Alspaugh began classes at Iliff School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary in Denver. After a year of classwork, the couple moved to Berkeley, Calif., and he continued at Starr King School for Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist seminary.

Mr. Alspaugh then served as the parish ministerial intern at Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul Minnesota in 2007 and 2008.

Prior to coming to the Youngstown church, he worked as a chaplain resident at United Hospital in St. Paul, where he received advanced training in clinical pastoral education, taught sessions on loss and grief, ran a men’s group and counseled individuals.