Hello there. My name is Natalie and I am the new Director of Religious Education for the MVUUF. I cannot express enough how thrilled I am to get started! I feel like I have spent the majority of my career with children, searching for that “perfect” job. I was looking for something that not only supported children’s developmental needs, but also supported children’s right to explore the big questions in life all the while encouraging them to discover social justice through the ways of peace. So, after interviewing with a committee, then holding my breath for a week, I finally heard the news; I was offered the job as DRE. I quickly accepted. Now, I am diving head first into it ALL. For I believe I have found that place here, as your new DRE. I will do my best to support this fellowship through religious education. I have a lot to learn, and I am extremely excited about my journey

A little about me: I am a teacher at heart, graduating from Sinclair Community College with my Early Childhood Education Degree. Sinclair just could not get rid of me, as I found my way teaching in their lab schools as a preschool teacher. I then decided to go back to school, while teaching, and ended up graduating with my BA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College (a liberal teaching college out in California…but I earned my degree online, no sunburns here!). Soon after I graduated with my BA, I somehow ended up working for Dayton Public School's Stivers-School for the Arts as an art adjunct. This was a big change for me, going from working with little ones (3-5 year olds), to teenagers. I took the change well, and highly enjoyed working with the art students. Because my family's home school needs, I ended up needing to find a job that supported our home schooling as well as having flexibility. This is how I ended up here at MVUUF.

Before ever hearing about the DRE job here, my family and I were curious about MVUUF. I have a good friend who is a member, and I was attracted to the liberalism and love that MVUUF has. I have always lived my life by the principles of UU, but never knew that there was a written version of my beliefs. Nor did I know there was a church to go along with it. I am a strong believer that we all walk on different paths in life. That human kind needs love and kindness more than ever. I try to live each and every day of my life through love and kindness. Here at MVUUF, my family and I have found a place that we already call home. I have found that acceptance, love, kindness and compassion all go with church…and boy is this something that I have been looking for!

As I said before, we are a home school family, schooling one child. My family includes my husband, Steve and daughter, Izabella. They are awesome and very supportive of me. I look forward to getting to know every family here at MVUUF. I hope that I will soon meet your expectation of a DRE, and then some. If you have any questions or would like to meet with me, my door is always open. Please feel free to contact me at nataliespriggs@gmail.com and we can go from there. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family's life!

Smile, Natalie