Minister & Staff
Who We Are
Rev. Karen LeBlanc
M.Div, Minister
Our minister is in the rare position of having been an active member of this congregation (on and off) for over 25 years. She began as a worker in the kitchen for coffee hour, joined the church, and over the course of more than two decades has been on the Board, Chair of Religious Services, Youth Group Advisor, RE Teacher, on innumerable committees. With the love and support of UUNB, and a long-in-the-making M.Div, she studied and preached her way to ministering to this congregation and community and tending to the church she knows and loves.
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Karen earned her M.Div from Cherry Hill Seminary, the only Pagan Seminary in the world that offers real Master's degrees. She brings the perspective of a Poet and Priestess to our church, with a prophetic voice both in the pulpit as a writer, singer/songwriter, and musician. She loves history (ancient and local especially), languages, the natural world, comparative religion, philosophy, reading and writing, gardening, and communing with the ocean.
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Karen is invested in helping the homeless community in downtown New Bedford and keeps her fingers on the pulse of that community’s needs. She also serves on the Board of the Fairhaven/Acushnet Land Trust. She sang, played, and rocked out pretty hard with local bands Blessed Thistle, Eclispsis, Big Nurse, Hula Hillbillies, Silver Branch, The Rasta Band, and the TDD Bards.
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Karen lives in Fairhaven with her husband Torrey, her stepson Talen, three dogs, three cats, and four chickens. But she loves New Bedford.
Randy Fayan
Music Director
Randy, a graduate of Brown University, is our amazingly versatile, irrepressible, enthusiastic organist-pianist. He studied classical piano under Linda Jorle and Diana Smirnov and studied organ under Donald Dame. His keyboard work is bright and spirited, and wonderfully varied from classical to jazz, to folk, to modern. He has a background in choral accompaniment and is also an accomplished performer on the accordion. Randy has a small Web site with recordings of some of his performances.
Mary Rapoza
Director of Religious Education
Mary S. Rapoza joined the First Unitarian Church of New Bedford in 1986 while looking for a religious education home for her family. She has been an active member of the church since then as a religious education parent volunteer, a NBCUUPS Founding Elder, the Director of Religious Education from 2000-2003, and a Trustee from 2023- 2026. Mary has had a lifelong interest in religious texts and traditions and continues to explore religious observances from around the world with a focus on our Unitarian and Universalist history.
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As the Director of the New Bedford Parks, Recreation & Beaches Department from 2013-2026, Mary was committed to improving the quality of life for all New Bedford residents through the development of city wide recreational opportunities and beautiful, safe and resilient open spaces reflected in the new park construction and rehabilitations and the over 8000 yearly participants in park programming that occurred during her tenure as the Director of the parks department. Mary served on the Executive Committee of the Greater New Bedford Youth Alliance from 2014-2026.
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Mary S. Rapoza received a Graduate Certificate in Landscape Design from the Landscape Institute at Harvard University. As a professional Landscape Designer, Mary has designed and managed the installations of private estates, commercial sites, and public parks and spaces. She previously worked as an environmental educator at the Children’s Museum in Dartmouth and the Buzzards Bay Coalition. Mary has a B.S. in Biology from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Jessica DeCicco-Carey
Administrator
Jessica has a background in graphic and web design, social media management, nonprofit management, and fundraising. As well as working for UUNB, she has her own business designing websites for small businesses and nonprofits. She lives in Mattapoisett with her family, which includes a corgi, a cat, and five chickens.
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Jess is also Vice-Chair for EPIC SouthCoast and a board member for Tri-Town Against Racism. She is active in local and state politics, and an active member of the League of Women Voters SouthCoast.
Tony Gonsalves
Facilities Manager
With a background in electrical and HVAC work, Tony Gonsalves works part-time as our sexton, overseeing the maintenance of our historic building. He also has a background in other building trades, computers, and industrial processes. His vast store of knowledge and abilities help keep the building and grounds in top operating condition. Besides all that, Tony is just a really nice person to have around.