York, Pennsylvania
York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...
, is a peace activist and long-time member of the Southside Presbyterian Church in
Tucson
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. He was elected
Moderator of the General Assembly
The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...
of the 216th General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...
on June 26, 2004. Ufford-Chase was 40 years old at the time, the youngest PC (USA) moderator in recent history. Ufford-Chase was the first Presbyterian Church (USA) moderator to serve for two years. Previous moderators served one-year terms.
Colorado College
Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...
and entered
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...
, but says he soon discovered that his call was not to be an ordained minister, but to serve in ministry as an elder. He has received honorary degrees from
Hastings College
Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska.
History
The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college.
Academics
The college offers more than 40 underg ...
and
Bloomfield College
Bloomfield College of Montclair State University is a public college in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Bloomfield, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is chartered by the State of New Jersey and Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...
(2006),
Austin College
Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Eden Theological Seminary (2008). He also received th Dignitas Humana Award for Human Rights work from St. John's School of Theology and Seminary,
Saint John's Preparatory School (Minnesota)
Saint John's Preparatory School (SJP) is a Catholic co-educational, day and boarding college preparatory school located in Collegeville, Minnesota. Founded in 1857, it is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud, Diocese of Saint Clo ...
, in Collegeville, MN (2007).
In March 2008, Ufford-Chase with his wife Kitty were named transitional co-directors of Stony Point Center, a ninety-guest room conference center of the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...
in
Stony Point, New York
Stony Point is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, east and ...
. During their tenure, the Ufford-Chase's were co-founders of the Community of Living Traditions, a racially diverse residential community of Muslims, Jews and Christians committed to the developing multi faith approaches to care for the earth, religiously based conflict, and social injustice. In 2012, Stony Point Center became home to more than thirty families who were displaced by Superstorm Sandy. In 2020, Stony Point Center was forced to close temporarily due to the Covid Pandemic, and the Community of Living Traditions dispersed.
In 2021, Rick moved to northern Vermont and co-founded th Center for Jubilee Practice with Rev. Ashley DeTar Birt.
The center is dedicated to accompanying religious communities as they confess and seek to repair the historic harm caused to Indigenous and African American communities in the name of Christian dominance and supremacy.
From 2021 through 2023, Rick joined the leadership team o Johnson C Smith Theological Seminary a historically African American Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, in order to support their development of an online curriculum.
Since September, 2021, Rick has served as the Director o Newport City Downtown Development a small, non-profit organization dedicated to reviving the economic vitality of the small city o Newport, VT.
Rick has three adult children and two grandchildren. He lives in the City of Newport but spends significant time on the land his mother grew up on in the Village of Lowell, twenty miles south of Newport.
Activism
Ufford-Chase founded BorderLinks, a bi-national organization that tries to connect and educate people of faith on both sides of the United States/Mexico border. He had served BorderLinks for 17 years prior to being elected as the Presbyterian Church's moderator. He leads a Migrant Trail walk, a 120-kilometre trek, in early June through the
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...
.
Ufford-Chase also worked with the Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America in
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
, and has been a co-moderator of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. With his wife, Kitty, he has been trained to serve as a reservist with
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Community Peacemaker Teams or CPT (previously called Christian Peacemaker Teams) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. The organization uses these teams to achieve its aims ...
, an organization that has sent teams of "accompaniers" to
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
,
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
,
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
and the United States/Mexico border region.
On December 12, 2005, he spoke at Arizona Major State Day, at the
Washington National Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...
.
In April 2006, he visited the First Presbyterian Reformed Church of Havana.
In June 2006, after the end of his term as PC (USA) moderator, Ufford-Chase accepted a call as the executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. While there, and acting as the first full-time appointed executive director, Ufford-Chase was a founding member of both the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq,Unknown /ref> and the Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership.
In March 2008, Ufford-Chase with his wife Kitty were named transitional co-directors of Stony Point Center, a conference center of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in
Stony Point, New York
Stony Point is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, east and ...
. While assuming this position with his wife in August 2008, Ufford-Chase continues half-time as Director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.