Ordination of Karishma Gottfried
Saturday, May 16 at 2 PM
All Souls NYC (1157 Lexington Ave.)
Please RSVP using this link.
EVENT INFO:
The Community Church of New York joyfully invites you to the ordination of Karishma Neva Gottfried into Unitarian Universalist ministry. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 16, 2026, 2 PM at All Souls NYC on the Upper East Side (1157 Lexington Avenue) with a reception to follow.
The service will also be streamed online. For questions, please email kgottfried@uuma.org.
Religious professionals (including seminarians, religious educators, musicians, and clergy) who wish to robe and/or process are invited to arrive at 1pm.
SERMON: Yes to Life, Rev. Joan Javier-Duval presiding
SERVICE INFO: As Unitarian Universalists, we open our hearts to the realities of suffering and injustice. We are dedicated to challenging the forces that threaten and harm all lives, both human and more-than-human. In times when policies, systems, and beliefs can cause harm or erase lives, our faith encourages us to stand up for life. How can our love for life inspire our faithful witness and help us create a world where life can thrive? Together, we hold both grief and beauty as part of life’s fullness, grounding our call to witness, wonder, and say ‘yes’ to life.
Rev. Joan Javier-Duval (she/her) is the Minister of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, where she leads a congregation of 240 members who love to laugh and cry together, serve the community, and celebrate our youth. Joan is active in many interfaith organizing efforts across Vermont and is often at the State House, just two blocks from the church. She graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2012 and is now working toward a Doctor of Ministry in Social Justice Leadership at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Joan lives in Montpelier with her spouse of nearly 15 years, their 12-year-old son, and their cat, in a home nestled between the river and the forest.
About Karishma:
Like many raised UUs, when Karishma was very small, her parents Shikha and Herky realized they wanted a spiritual community for their family. They joined the UU Fellowship of Corvallis, Oregon, and became members after Karishma's younger sister, Malika, was born. Karishma went through Religious Exploration classes as a child, through the Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education program and Coming of Age, and began attending youth conferences ("cons") with other UUs from around the region as a teen. It was through cons and other national UU youth programming that Karishma first felt the call to ministry. In 2018, she attended "Summer Seminary" — a weeklong program through the UUA that helped UU youth explore what it meant to become religious professionals. Since the program began in 2013, several participants have gone on to become UU ministers and religious professionals, including Karishma's preliminary fellowship mentor, Rev. Jaimie Simon '13.
Since then, Karishma has never wavered on the path to ministry. She graduated summa cum laude from Wellesley College in 2023 with a BA in Religion, focusing her honors thesis on modern-day Unitarian Universalist theology. While in college, Karishma interned and served as Communications Ministry Specialist at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as Campus Ministry Organizer at The Sanctuary Boston. After graduation, Karishma moved to New York City to begin her Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary. She joined the staff of Community Church in fall 2024 as the Intern Minister, while also interning at NYU's Center for Global Spiritual Life.
Unlike most interns, who depart the congregation after they complete their internships, Karishma and CCNY have been granted special dispensation from the Ministerial Fellowship Committee for her to continue on in a new capacity. Starting July 1, Karishma will be transitioning into a new role as Minister for Youth and Young Adults. She will also continue to serve as a Spiritual Life Advisor for UU students at NYU.
