Contact Leanne Walt

Rev. Leanne Walt came to UCC Norwell as Interim Senior Pastor in October 2015 and was called into the position of Lead Pastor in April 2017. A life-long member of the United Church of Christ, Leanne graduated from Bowdoin College, having majored in Religious Studies, and received her Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School.

Trained in transitional ministry and church revitalization, Leanne brings particular experience and interest in rousing congregations to become more vibrant, relevant, mission-driven, and Jesus-led communities of faith. Previously, she served as Pastor of First Congregational Church of Braintree, UCC (2011-2015), where she was able to share her gifts for church renewal and vitality.

Leanne is passionate about helping people discover their gifts and understand how they can use those gifts to minister to the world. Through preaching, adult small groups, and her work with ministry teams and leadership, Leanne seeks to point to the power, presence, beauty, and hope of God in our everyday, lived experience.

Her most notable work is being mom to her two boys, alongside her husband, Bill.

Rev. Peggy O’Neil Files earned a Masters of Theology from Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) in 2006. She has an undergraduate degree in Business from RIT.

Peggy grew up near Buffalo, NY. She was raised Catholic but joined the United Church of Christ in 1984. Peggy served Pilgrim Church of Duxbury for several years during seminary. She lead Christian Education, Youth Ministry, Pastoral Visitation in addition to participating in worship regularly. Upon graduation from ANTS Peggy was called into ministry as an Interfaith Chaplain at South Shore Hospital and was ordained by the UCC. She advanced to the Manager of Spiritual Care services and participated in Schwartz Rounds for Compassionate Caregiving, The Ethics Consultation Team, Bereavement Committee and collaborated on the founding of a Wellness Committee initiated during the pandemic. She participated in a Community outreach effort to introduce the documentary Being Mortal, facilitating a discussion around making healthcare decisions.
Peggy is a trained Stephen Leader and a Disaster Response and Crisis Management Chaplain. She served for 16 years at South Shore Hospital, retiring in 2022.

Peggy is blessed to serve as pulpit supply in local congregations. It’s with gratitude that she has joined the staff of UCC Norwell, assisting the Lead Pastor in providing ministries of prayer and presence.

Contact Steve Burke

Steve joins the UCC Norwell staff team in the role of the part-time Director of Finance & Operations. His most recent position was working as the Controller for the First Church of Boston. Steve brings extensive career experience in the nonprofit sector for small to large organizations, where his responsibilities have included staff management, monthly and year-end closings, budget preparation and analysis, auditing, reporting, and preparation of federal and state tax filings.

Steve graduated from Bentley College (University) with a BS in Accounting and earned his CPA designation. Early on in his career, Steve was moved to pursue work in the non-profit sector where he has been able to use his accounting experience and knowledge to align an organization’s budget with a meaningful mission.

Steve lives in Scituate, enjoys “working at” tennis, and has recently taken pickleball lessons. He spends a lot of time with his three adult children, their partner’s and his three grandchildren.

As Director of Finance and Operations, Steve will be providing oversight for the financial and business operations of the church, which includes the New Nursery School and the Linden Ponds Community Church.

Contact Bob Caldeira

Bob comes to UCC Norwell from Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree where he was a member since his childhood and has served in many capacities over the years, including Sunday School Teacher, Children’s Choir Director, Director of Children's Education, and Youth Group Minister. Bob is passionate about helping young people connect through Fun, Fellowship and Faith!

Among his many gifts, Bob is a Christian singer-songwriter, going by “the traveling tenor” and enjoys incorporating music into his ministry whenever he can. He also is the Treasurer of SSCYC (South Shore Congregational Youth Conference - aka “Camp”) where the campers know him as the “Wake-up Guy!,” daily anticipating his tactics in rousing them from their slumber to meet the day!

Bob loves his wife, four daughters, son, two granddaughters, two sugar gliders, two dogs and two fish. Bob feels called to minister among us and is humbled to be serving UCC Norwell.

Beginning September 2023 Bob will lead Sunday evening Youth Group and introduce a new Sunday morning middle school program: “Not” Church School (meets concurrent with Church School 10:15a - 11a). Bob will also be co-leading confirmation with Rev. Leanne this year.

Contact Valerie Fink

Employed by Congregational Finance, LLC, Val enjoys working with UCC churches across the South Shore and the Cape to meet their bookkeeping needs. Val holds a B.S. in Finance from Siena College in Loudonville, NY and brings a breadth of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to taking time off to be with her family after the birth of her second child, Val worked at State Street Bank as a fund accountant and then at Pioneer Investments as a fund reporting analyst. Val works closely with our Director of Finance + Operations to support our accounting needs.

Kim proudly serves as Co-Director and a previous member of the teaching staff in preschool and toddlers. While her children attended The New Nursery School, she served as the President of the Board of Directors.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Northeastern University and is EEC lead teacher certified. She lives in Norwell with her husband, two sons, and their dog, Maisy. Kim feels fortunate to be part of such a caring and nurturing environment that was such a great fit for her boys and their family. The New Nursery School is such a special place and she is pleased to be a part of the experience it offers to our community!

Contact Karen Harvey

Since she joined the staff at UCC Norwell in 1994, Karen has grown the Music Ministry from one choir to four, including the Sanctuary Choir, Cherub Chimes, Celestial Ringers, Rockin' Ringers and Summer Pick-Up Choir. She also created Musical Meditations, 30-minute programs of seasonal keyboard music every Wednesday during Advent and Lent.. Over the years, Karen has composed numerous pieces for the church, many of which have been premiered and used by the ensembles at UCC Norwell; several have been published and many others are currently under consideration.

An accomplished pianist with two piano performance degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, Karen is a two-time recipient of fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center, has been a featured soloist with many local orchestras, and served as pianist for the Boston Pops Holiday Chorus, the Boston University Opera Institute, and the Boston Ballet Company. Since 1999 she has been an Affiliate Artist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serving as pianist and assistant conductor of the Chamber Choir.

Karen passionately believes that inspirational music can, and often does, transport us to another realm. Working with amateur musicians and choirs to create such music for worship is her life's ministry.

Contact jenny healy

jenny is a teacher and a student, a gardener and a bread baker, a quilter and a writer, a mum, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an auntie, a disciple, a friend. While church was mostly absent from her life growing up, she always had this deep longing for and connection to Jesus. As an adult about to have her first child, jenny started going to church regularly. There, she found a spiritual home and the language to describe what she’d been feeling inside for so long.

Working with children has always been at the center of jenny’s heart, from her early babysitting days to college field work and summer jobs, to teaching at The Home for Little Wanderers and a paid position at her home church. jenny loves the hard questions, loves the mess, loves the connection building. jenny loves partnership with children as they explore the joys and responsibilities of being the hands and feet of Christ in this world and what it means to be God’s beloved, created in God’s image.

jenny loves this work, and she is honored to walk beside others all during this time.

Also, jenny loves berry picking, especially strawberries.

While her daughter was attending preschool at The New Nursery School, Sonia fell in love with the school. When it was time for her daughter to move on to kindergarten she decided that she just couldn’t part ways with the NNS family and decided to pursue a career in Early Childhood Education. In addition to a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Michigan and a background in advertising/marketing, she is now EEC certified as both a Director and Lead Teacher.

The children at NNS are at such precious and fundamentally important ages; to be a part of this time in their lives and to help each child as they learn and grow continues to be a rewarding and fulfilling experience for her. Sonia and her husband live in Hanover with their daughter and 2 dogs.

Contact Emily Mathews

Emily joins the UCC Norwell team with seven years of experience in marketing and communications, primarily in small business, non-profits, and public education, most recently as the Digital Marketing Manager for the Scituate Public Schools.

With a Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and a Master’s degree in Education, Emily taught in Boston Public Schools for 10 years. When she saw an opportunity to transition from traditional classroom teaching to a non-traditional role in the performing arts and communications, Emily embraced it with enthusiasm–something she has plenty of! Emily’s strengths include content strategy, digital marketing communications, collaboration, and creative thinking.

You'll find Emily running around the South Shore, at the desk in the front office at the church, and making change for the better whenever she can. Emily has two sons, a wonderful husband, and many, many animals.

Bill, a retired builder extraordinaire with enough construction experience to build a skyscraper out of popsicle sticks, calls Scituate home sweet home with his wife, where he not only dominates the hockey rink but is also active in the lives of his adult children. At UCC Norwell, he's the ultimate jack-of-all-trades, tackling everything from wrangling wildlife to playing wax whisperer after candlelight services, all while enduring the shenanigans of Debbie and Emily in the office with unwavering patience. Bill's life is a blueprint for finding humor in every nail-biting moment, proving that even in retirement, he's still building a legacy — one laugh at a time.

Contact Deborah Spratley

After a career in education teaching children with special needs, Deb experienced a call to the ministry as a lay member of UCC Norwell. Deb went on to graduate from Andover Newton Theological Seminary and served as Associate Pastor of UCC Norwell where her ministry focused on pastoral care, worship leadership, and small group ministry.

Rev. Deborah Spratley now serves as Pastor of the Linden Ponds Community Church of UCC Norwell. The Linden Ponds Community Church began as a community engagement mission of UCC Norwell in 2014 after UCC Norwell became aware of the desire for a non-denominational Christian worship experience on Sunday mornings at the Linden Ponds senior living campus in Hingham, Massachusetts. Deb’s gifts for leading worship and pastoral care made her a natural fit to provide this ministry. Deb’s leadership and the ongoing support of UCC Norwell have promoted the growth and vitality of this senior church community and burgeoning church at Linden Ponds since its inception.

For Deb, her ministry among the Linden Ponds Church is rich and rewarding, deepening her faith and sense of call.

Contact Debbie Wheeler

Debbie provides administrative support for the leadership and ministries at UCC Norwell. Her responsibilities include communications, scheduling building use, maintaining our church calendar and membership database, and providing administrative support for the staff. Debbie keeps things running smoothly on many different levels!

In 2004, Debbie engaged in an individualized discernment process facilitated by our Gifts + Call Ministry Team, which led her to leave an administrative job in the corporate sector to become our Minister of Parish Life. This transition allowed Debbie to align her vocational aspirations with her professional life; to align her gifts with her calling.