First Parish Bedford UU

Before preparing for the ministry, Joe Cleveland was a teacher of English literature and academic writing courses. He did his graduate work in literature and literary theory at Syracuse University. In addition to performing in regional coffeehouses in New York state, Joe co-founded and served as the Artistic Director for a non-profit group sponsoring folk and acoustic music concerts and workshops in Syracuse, NY. The welcome his interest and efforts in music received from a local UU congregation, especially as represented to him by the woman he soon married, brought him to Unitarian Universalism. This welcome provided the good dirt in which a lifelong interest in religions and spiritualities began to grow. Also a lover of poetry, Joe sings and plays both guitar and old-timey banjo.