Rev. Patrice K. Curtis is UUA’s Transformational Interim Ministries Director. Patrice collaborates with and supports interim ministers in amplifying and practicing diversity, equity, and inclusion within congregations, and in disrupting unhealthy patterns that make Beloved Community difficult to realize. Before beginning ministry at the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), Patrice served four congregations and as Program Director with the UU Justice Ministry of California. Patrice practices Tibetan Buddhist-based spirituality (20+years), has trained in teaching Shamata meditation, and studied Mindful Self-Compassion, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

Rev. Doug Duerr is an ordained minister with the Association of Unity Churches and has served in judicatory leadership at Unity Worldwide Ministries since 2017 and pulpit ministry prior to his call to serve the denomination office. He has served faith-based communities since 2008 and non-profit leadership since 2005.  Doug is currently an independent Ministry Consultant and Transition Specialist supporting communities across the U.S. and Canada as they navigate the facets of organizational change and transition. He has served as a leader in programs including consultant/specialist education & certification, conflict transformation, visioning/planning, ministry employment readiness and ethics. Each area is focused on developing, equipping and supporting ministry leaders and the communities they serve. He is a faculty member for the Unity seminary and has led the education/certification program for those called to serve as Intentional Interim Ministers and Consultants. He is a Certified Transition Specialist, published author and is Dare to Lead Trained ™ from Brené Brown. For 25 years, his heart for organizational development, education, grief facilitation, mediating agreements and process consulting are evident in his work. Doug aligns with IMN as an organization dedicated to “strengthen the spiritual and organizational health of faith communities by equipping and supporting those who lead during times of transition.” Passionate about the value of the interim period and the substantial results of effective transitional guidance, Rev. Doug celebrates the work of IMN.

The Reverend Julie N. Harris is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church.  Although currently serving in a settled pastorate as Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Martinsburg, WV, she has been involved with IMN since 2000.  During that time, she has been active as a member of the Annual Conference planning team, a member of the Board of Directors and as Vice President.  Julie has also been active as a Board Member of Interim Ministries in the Episcopal Church since 2010.   She finds energy in times of transition and believes that all ministry is transition ministry.  She is a healer and administrator who has assisted several parishes discover hope and new life in the aftermath of conflicted pastorates.  Julie finds the nexus of her ministry in the words of the prophet Micah:  What does the Lord require? To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.  

The Rev. Dr. Robert McFarlane serves as Presbytery Ministry Leader within the Parramatta Nepean Presbytery – PNP – (Synod of NSW and the Australian Capital Territory – NSW/ACT – within the Uniting Church in Australia). PNP has 60 congregations with 35 ministers, serving a region of 2,000,000 in western Sydney, characterized by cultural diversity and new housing areas.
This means that he works with congregations to help them be as healthy in their own life, and as strong in their mission and service in their communities as they can be. Rob also works with ministers to help them be as spiritually and emotionally healthy as possible, and as effective in their ministry as they, too, can be.
Rob oversees the placement of ministers in congregations (including IIM), continuing education for ministry, and ministry retreats. He also works with congregations in mission planning and discernment using IIM-related skills, notably Appreciative Inquiry and Asset Mapping.

Rev. Emlyn Ott grew up in Rochester, New York where her parents owned and ran a manufacturing company called, surprisingly enough, “Ottco.” After completing seminary at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, she served as Campus Pastor to Oklahoma State University and as Pastor of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma for nineteen years. In 2005, she accepted a call to teach at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and to oversee the work of Healthy Congregations, Inc. She was named as the Dean of Leadership Formation at Trinity in 2012. She has spent portions of each of the past three years providing pastoral support for colleagues currently serving in parishes who are on sabbatical.

Pastor Ott did her doctoral work in pastoral counseling and congregational dynamics. In her spare time, she is an avid reader, cook, gardener and enjoys choral and instrumental music. She is currently working on the goal of hiking/walking every Metropark in the Columbus area. Emlyn is the spouse of Dr. Robert Ward, a musician, educator and conductor who is on the faculty of the School of Music of The Ohio State University. 

Rev. Katrina Palan is an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is in a time of transition having completed her nineth interim position, two of which were judicatory ministry positions. She is currently living in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma close to six of her eleven grandchildren. Katrina is on the Interim Ministry Network Board of Directors and serves on its conference planning team, the hybrid conference task force, the conference meditation site planning team, and the instructional design team. She is also a VSG co-host and a “Chat-With Us” co-host. Katrina is a military veteran and serves on the Moral Injury Institute Board of Directors. She has experience in hospital, police, and sheriff chaplaincy. Katrina is currently a level-3 Chaplain with the Salvation Army Disaster Team. She has extensive experience in working with people in traumatic situations. Katrina is currently working on her Doctorate of Ministry at Brite Divinity in Fort Worth, TX. Her Dissertation title and emphasis is “How Can Spiritual Practices Help to Minimize the Consequences, Responses and Feelings Encountered by Veterans Impacted by Moral Injury”.

Rev. James West currently serves Harrold Zion Lutheran Church, Greensburg, PA. His previous interim assignments were First Lutheran Church in Ault, CO, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Williamsport, PA,  Bethel Lutheran Church in Windsor, CO, and Atonement Lutheran Church in San Diego, CA. He is a former U.S. Navy chaplain. Before joining the Navy Chaplain Corps, he served as pastor in Detroit and Toledo. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary (now Luther Seminary) in St. Paul, MN. His baccalaureate degree is from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He grew up in the Great State of Michigan (Lower Peninsula).