The Ministry Team at UUCA
Reverend John T. Crestwell, Jr
Senior Minister/Executive
Email: jcrestwell@uuannapolis.org
Rev. John T. Crestwell, Jr. is the called Minister and Executive at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis. He began his ministry in Anne Arundel County in 2009. Before joining UUCA, he was minister of Davies Memorial UU in Camp Springs, MD, where, in 2006, he helped them become a “Breakthrough Congregation” as one of the most racially diverse churches in the UUA.
As Associate Minister at UUCA, he helped found and lead the AWAKE Ministries, 2013-2019, an innovative approach to worship and small groups to broaden the emotional, racial, and intercultural competencies of children and adults through contemporary worship, music, life coaching, and community service.
In 2018, Rev. John was the organizer and Officiant for a community memorial service at Maryland Hall honoring the late Wendi Winters who died in the Capital Gazette shooting. She was a longtime beloved member of UUCA and in the Anne Arundel County Community.
Rev. John is the Vice-chair of the AA County Executive’s Interfaith Advisory Council, member of the Anne Arundel Connecting Together (ACT) Strategy Team, mentor with the UUA’s Commissioned Lay Ministry, Lead Chaplain for the Wellness House cancer community, and member of the UUA President’s Council. Previously, he served for a decade on the Intramural Review Board (IRB) under the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute, Hospice of the Chesapeake, the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland (UULM-MD), where he was briefly the Director of Outreach; and on boards for United Methodist Reporter Communications in Dallas, Texas, and the UU Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).
Rev. John was also an affiliated faculty professor at the UU seminary, Meadville Lombard Theological in Chicago; and an adjunct professor at Potomac College in Washington, DC, teaching Comparative Religion, African American History, and Public Speaking. He is author of the books, Conversations: The Hidden Truth That Keeps The World From Being At Peace, published in 2001; The Charge of the Chalice published in 2007, which tells the story of his first UU congregation’s growth in racial diversity; You Were Made for so Much More: Interfaith Lessons to Transform our World, in 2016; and in 2024 RUN: Lessons for On and Off the Track and Field of Life. Rev. John is also a contributing author in several books.
Rev. Crestwell was the Sunday Morning Worship leader/speaker at the 2012 UUA General Assembly in Phoenix, Arizona where he delivered a sermon to over 4,000 people. Prior to ministry, John worked in marketing and advertising and was an entrepreneur. He received a BA in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University and a master’s in theology from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
Rev. John is a mentor, singer, spiritual teacher, and social justice advocate. He is married to Joni R. Crestwell and together, they have a blended family of 5 adult children.
Reverend Dr. Fred Muir
Minister Emeritus
Rev. Dr. Fred Muir retired in December 2017 after 34 years at UUCA. He grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary (NY) and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary (DC). He began his parish ministry over thirty years ago by serving a congregation in a small town in Maine. Since 1984, he served the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis.He is the author of five books: A Reason for Hope: Liberation Theology Confronts a Liberal Faith; Heretics’ Faith: A Vocabulary for Religious Liberals; and Maglipay Universalist: The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines; The Whole World Kin: Darwin and the Spirit of Liberal Religion; and Turning Point: Essays on a New Unitarian Universalism. He is co-editor of and contributing essayist to The Safe Congregation Handbook: Nurturing Healthy Boundaries in Our Faith Communities. He has also contributed essays
In 1989 he published “Annapolis On the Bay: Camelot or Crisis? (Housing and Community by Race and Population, 1950-1988)”. Fred served on the Annapolis Human Relations Commission for four years. He frequently testifies and witnesses in support of anti-racism, an end to discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, and leads and supports his faith community and others who seek to “affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people with justice, equity, and compassion.” Since 2001, Fred has given considerable effort to working for interfaith understanding among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. In 2007 he was honored with the Martin Luther King Peacemaker award “for substantial and sustained leadership in furthering the cause of social justice in our community”.
He has done extensive work for the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) on sexual misconduct and safe congregations. He is a board member of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of MD. He has been a co-facilitator of the Empowerment Workshop for the Department of Faith in Action, UUA. He has served on the UUA’s Joseph Priestley District’s anti-racism team and also the South-East Regional Sub-committee on [Ministerial] Candidacy. Until recently, he was the vice-president of the UU Partner Church Council and now is a member of the UUA International Advisory Committee.
He formerly served on the UU Minister’s Association (UUMA) Executive Committee with the portfolio of Good Offices. In 2012, Fred was chosen to deliver the UUMA Berry Street Lecture at the UUA General Assembly in Phoenix, Arizona. In retirement, he is serving as the Acting Director of the Office of International Relations of the UUA.
Fred is the UUPCC Interim Executive Director until August 1, 2021.
He was married to Karen, who was a retired social studies teacher for AACPS. They have two adult children, Kristina and Andrew, who attended Georgetown East Elementary, Annapolis Middle, and Annapolis Senior High.