Our Interim Minister, Dan Higgins

Our interim minister, Rev. Daniel Higgins, is a native of Talbot County, born in Easton Hospital (02/27/27) the son of a ferry boat captain, Daniel G. Higgins, Sr. and a public school teacher, Anna D. Higgins. Graduating from St. Michaels High School on D-Day (6 June 1944), he enlisted in the army and served in the Southwest Pacific Theatre with occupation duty in Japan. Upon discharge, he enrolled in the University of Maryland in February of 1947. Upon graduation (BA in Political Science), he attended Temple University and married Jean after graduating (S.T.M in Reformation Studies) in September 1954, a marriage blessed by Kim, Cynthia, Daniel and Ann.

After a second tour in the military, as an Army Chaplain during the Korean conflict, Dan became the minister of Christ United Methodist Churches in Salisbury and served from 1961 to 1965.

In 1965, he was accepted in the UU ministry and served churches in Massachusetts and Texas. While in Massachusetts, he served on the UUA Board of Trustees and as chair of the UUA General Assembly Planning Committee. In 1977, at the age of fifty, Dan received a doctorate in Social Ethics from Meadvlle/Lombard Theological School, affiliated with the University of Chicago.

In 1987, Dan returned to his boyhood home in Claiborne for retirement. Somehow, a funny thing happened on the way to retirement. Dan was called to serve in ministry once again. From 1987 to 1997, he served as the part-time minister at UUFE and filled in at both Chestertown and Salisbury.

Upon the sudden retirement of UUFE's most recent minister, Jim Bank, due to health reasons, Dan was asked to serve as our interim minister. Once again, he is the only UU minister on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.