Rev. Darcey Laine
Rev. Darcey Laine grew up in a musical family, and has a bachelor’s degree in Music
performance from Indiana University. She attended Star King School for the ministry where she
developed a passion for ministry with children and youth. After her ordination in 1998 to the
Unitarian Universalist Ministry she served as DRE for the First UU Church of Stockton, then
settled in Silicon Valley where she served as Minister of Religious Education for the Unitarian
Universalist Church of Palo Alto for seven years.
In the summer of 2007 Darcey and her partner, Eric and son, Nick moved to Ithaca, New York to be closer to family. In 2008 she was called to serve as Parish Minister of the UU Church of
Athens and Sheshequin and has served as their settled minister ever since. Here she initiated a multi-congregation coming of age program, supported the congregation in becoming a Green
Sanctuary, and was a co-founder of the Community Shale Network during the height of natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale. Restoring our relationship to the web of life and sharing a sense of wonder for the natural world is a guiding passion in all her work. She believes Universalism calls us to ongoing work for the liberation of all, and is proud of the Athens congregation’s lasting commitment to anti-oppression, particularly LGBTQAI+ rights and the work of anti-racism, in which UUCAS has often been a leader in the community at large.
Over the years Rev. Laine has consulted and preached at a number of small congregations,
which taught her the blessings of small-church ministry. These relationships also provided
opportunities for collaboration and support among congregations, which has become a
developing theme in her work.
In 2018 Rev. Laine began her ministry with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland, and
when the Covid Pandemic prevented in-person gatherings Rev. Laine helped Athens and
Cortland enter into a congregational partnership that has continued to this day.
Parish ministry is complemented by Rev. Laine’s work as a spiritual director and as a labyrinth
facilitator. She believes that each of us has access to a vibrant and unique spiritual life, which
can be supported by a diversity of spiritual practices. She co-founded Finger Lakes Anam Cara:
A Center Or Spiritual Direction, and enjoys providing Spiritual Direction to members of our
congregations and to the wider community one to one, in small groups, and in workshops.