Rev. Suzanne Paul       Suzanne_photo

  Reverend Suzanne Paul is the founding minister of New Hope Unitarian Universalist Congregation.  New Hope was founded in January, 2006 and chartered with the Unitarian Universalist Association in June, 2009.

  Prior to founding New Hope, Rev. Paul served as the consulting minister at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation (CUUB) in Brighton, Michigan from July, 2000 through October, 2005.  She was the called minister at the Universalist Unitarian Congregation (UUCF) in Farmington Hills, Michigan from July 1988 through December, 1999.  She was formally ordained by the Farmington congregation on September 22, 1991.

  A graduate of Oakland Community College, Wayne State University and the Humanist Institute, located in New York City, Rev. Paul also completed a ten-month internship at the Ann Arbor Unitarian Universalist Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Phifer.  In 1996, she earned certification as a Pastoral Care Specialist from the Samaritan Counseling Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  Rev. Paul also has extensive experience as a congregational consultant, working with various religious communities.  Most recently she conducted workshops on community growth and congregational dynamics with Pardes Hannah, a Jewish Renewal congregation located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Maumee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (MVUUC) in Ohio.

  Rev. Paul is the past president of the American Humanist Association, 1990, and currently serves on the American Humanist Endowment Committee.  She is past president of the North American Committee for Humanism (NACH) and served on the International Humanist & Ethical Union (IHEU.)

  In addition to her national and international work for Humanist causes, Rev. Paul has been active in her home community of Farmington, Michigan where she has lived for more than 50 years.  She has served on the Downtown Development Committee (DDA), and organized and chaired several events in the Farmington/Farmington Hills area.  She was awarded the Rainbow Recognition Award in 1999 for her work with the Farmington/Farmington Hills Multi-Cultural-Multi-Racial Counsel.

  Prior to entering the ministry, Rev. Paul was the administrative assistant to Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism.   As a thirty year member of Rabbi Wine’s congregation, The Birmingham Temple, she organized and chaired many activities and events to promote Humanism and Humanistic Judaism.

  Rev. Paul continues to make her home in Farmington.  She, and her husband, Charles Paul, an automotive marketing specialist, live in the historic district of Farmington, in a home built in 1853.  They have three grown children and three grandsons.  In her leisure time, Rev. Paul enjoys traveling (especially motorcycle trips with her husband), theater, music, reading, gardening and antiquing.  Her greatest joy, however, is spending time with her family – especially her three grandsons, Charles, Anthony and Nathaniel.