Rev. Molly Baskette
Co-Senior Minister
Meet Molly
She/Her
Jesus freak, cancer survivor, church camp kid, professional Pollyanna, mother, wife and adventurous home cook.
At First Church
Molly’s day as co-senior minister might find her marching in the streets, going for pastoral care walks and teas with a wide variety of people from our motley pew, writing (lots of) words, attending (lots of) meetings, thinking about church renewal and adaptive change, or working with the wider community on issues like housing and homelessness, refugee and immigration support, ending white supremacy, and interfaith community building. She is a self-described transformation junkie who loves having a front-row seat to God at work in human lives: changing, challenging, healing and playing with us. She takes the Bible seriously; herself not so much, and loves Jesus but fights with him, like all siblings do. She provides staff support to the Long Range Planning Committee, Stewardship Finance & Administration, Deacons, Justice & Service, and Evangelism Team, among others.
Other Than That
Molly is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Divinity School, and the recipient of two awards from Yale, for preaching and for excellence in congregational ministry. She writes devotional materials for the UCC Still Speaking Writers’ Group, which reaches 33,000 readers through its online daily devotional. She has authored five books on children’s grief, church renewal, testimony and parenting, including the recent Bless This Mess and her newest How to Begin When Your World is Ending, and is a popular speaker and teacher in wider church circles, which to her delight takes her to places like Peoria. She shares a home with young adult son Rafe and teen daughter Carmen, her husband Peter, and a revolving door of guests and friends. A perfect sabbath for her would include a swim, a hike in the hills, reading in the hammock and making people happy with home-cooked food.