Steady leadership. Calming presence. Reliable work. When you ask BLUU leaders how it feels to work with Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson, the responses have common themes. Rev. Kimberly’s time with the Organizing Collective Board (OCB) ends this month after five years of service. Her leadership has been an anchor for BLUU.

“Kimberly’s leadership at BLUU will be missed,” said BLUU Executive Director Lena K. Gardner. “Her contributions to our community and our organization have been stalwart and consistent. I will miss her laughter, smile, and quietly powerful leadership at BLUU.”

Rev. Kimberly found BLUU at a crucial point in her ministerial journey.

“BLUU was forming in 2015 as I was graduating seminary and becoming a minister,” Rev. Kimberly said. “I knew that as a congregational minister, I would be serving with a predominantly white congregation. It was important to me that I still be in relationship with Black UUs, so I volunteered with BLUU any chance I got…So when I was invited to be a part of the Organizing Collective Board, I jumped at the chance.”

Rev. Kimberly volunteered at BLUU’s New Orleans Convening in 2017 and at its Kansas City Revival in 2018 before joining the OCB in 2019. 

When Black Unitarian Universalist children needed community during the early lockdown days of the COVID-19 pandemic, they signed into a Zoom room to chat and enjoy weekly activities. This project was named the “BLUUBerries” and co-creating it was Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson’s proudest achievement during her time as a member of BLUU’s OCB.

“We launched BLUUBerries during the pandemic with QuianaDenae Perkins,” Rev. Kimberly said. “We already knew that there was a need for Black UUs’ children to be affirmed in their Black identities while exploring Unitarian Universalist principles and values. And with congregations shut down during the COVID-19 Pandemic, we knew that the need for youth to get together was even more acute. At the same time, because many schools had gone online, we knew that gathering online was a thing that kids could do and would be familiar with. So, BLUUNBerries was born. We explored different topics, brought in Black UUs luminaries as guest speakers for older kids, and celebrated milestones and transitions like graduations and birthdays.”

BLUUBerries and other BLUU programming went on hiatus while the OCB revamped BLUU’s organizational structure. Rev. Kimberly was part of the team that imagined BLUU’s new, five-part structure that empowers egalitarian leadership. As programming resumes, Rev. Kimberly knows she’s leaving the OCB’s work in good hands.

“After a long—and necessary—pause to reflect on our work and rebuild for the future, I’m excited to see what this next phase has in store for BLUU,” Rev. Kimberly said. “We have new leadership and a new structure with room to build for the future. This group also has an ethic of putting people over productivity. As the rest of the world catches up, BLUU will continue to be a leader in our UU community. This is a great opportunity to be a part of connecting Black UUs and living or faith in the world.”

In addition to continuing her ministry as a UU minister, Rev. Kimberly is staying active in UU leadership.

“I’m running for co-moderator of the UUA,” Rev. Kimberly said. “I’m excited to take some of the things I learned from BLUU about — making space for marginalized voices, cultivating local community, and embracing the diversity that has been part of our UU story from the very beginning — and bringing that to our larger UU World.”