Our Minister: Rev. Nic Filzen
Rev. Nic Filzen has been in fellowship as a UU Minister since 2020 and was ordained in March 2021 by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saint Petersburg and the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. Before moving to Georgia to serve here at the UU Church of Augusta, he and his family were living in Santa Barbara, CA.
While in SB, he worked on many social justice issues with interfaith groups such as CLUE, SB ACT, and Interfaith Sanctuary Alliance; and was a frequent guest speaker at neighboring UU congregations, like the Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County, and Live Oak UU of Goleta.
Though he has always had a deep curiosity and passion about the complexities of theology, spirituality, and life together in this universe, most of Nic's story has revolved around music. A career that included singing professionally with organizations like the John Alexander Singers, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the LA Philharmonic. He grew up Missouri Synod Lutheran, but Unitarian Universalism found him when he was hired as a church musician at the UU Congregation of Shelter Rock in 2007.
His relationship with the UU faith continued to be nurtured as Music Director at UU St. Pete; a role he was honored to embrace shortly after he moved to Tampa Bay to manage operations for the Florida Orchestra in 2013. His official faith formation began at Meadville Lombard Theological School in 2017, finally answering the call to ministry he ignored for decades. He was blessed to do his ministerial internship at the Unitarian Society of SB with Rev. Julia Hamilton, completing seminary and his internship in June 2020.
Nic is fortunate to have a loving wife, Janeya, and two amazing step-daughters, Noe and Charley. Together, they all care for their standard schnauzer, Kitty the Dog, and german shepherd, Catra the Dog. During his free time, Rev. Nic enjoys all things nerd, including super heroes, improv, and word play; and all things sports.
You may reach Rev. Nic directly by email or by phone: 762-250-5515. He has open office hours on Wednesdays from 4-6 PM, and is otherwise available in person or zoom by appointment.
To find out more about Rev. Nic and his ministry, please visit his website, www.revnicfilzen.com.
Our Church Administrator: Laura Linn
As Congregational Administrator, Laura Linn plays a vital role in promoting the values of our religious community by acting as a leader, resource, and liaison for church members, committees, officers, the Minister and the Board of Trustees. She juggles all the details of our church office, keeps us organized, and reminds us of what we want to get done.
Laura has served as our Church Administrator since 2009. She represents the face of the congregation in many of our dealings with vendors, neighbors, and other organizations. The position requires strong communication, management, and leadership skills, all of which she more than possesses.
Our Faith Formation Manager: Desria Seay
Desria Seay is a native Tennesseean who has worked with children and families for roughly twenty years. Her childcare background began early as a childcare worker at her aunt’s child care center at the age of 16 and mother’s helper to area families. Her experience entails substitute teaching, pre-kindergarten teacher, parent’s group director, and homeschooling cooperative director.
Her most recent experience includes Family Programs Coordinator and Business Office Manager at the Steiner Branch Family YMCA in Grovetown, GA.
Desria’s interests include nature walks, reading historical fiction, listening to podcasts, and trivia games.
She’s the wife of LaDrackus Seay and mother to three children, Ariyanah, Azariah, and Alijah.
Her vision is to enable our children, youth, and adults to be a part of a community which seeks to manifest more hope, more love, more courage, more justice, and more joy in the world. If you would like to learn more about our faith formation ministries, please see the link below:
Our Music Director: Josef Patchen
A Georgia native, Josef Patchen began work writing and arranging popular music while studying piano with Robert Spillman at Eastman School of Music (one of the premiere music conservatories in the world). Returning to Georgia, he worked as house arranger at Studio South in Augusta for years and worked on a wide variety of music projects and styles while there. In 1991 he began scoring original videos for large corporate clients through Edge Media in Aiken, South Carolina. His work has won regional and national awards. You can hear many of his original compositions and arrangements on his Soundcloud page. Throughout his career as a composer, he has continued to perform regularly and is one of the finest pianists in the CSRA.
Our Membership Coordinator: Farren Smith
Hi! My name is Farren Smith. You can call me “ Fern” for short . I am a native of Rochester, New York but have in the Augusta area for over 20 years . I am a proud graduate of Valdosta State University and currently work with the Richmond County School System as a Preschool Speech language Pathologist. In my spare time I enjoy thrifting, crafting , and hiking, and singing to my hairless Guinea pigs : Ida and Inez.