Meet the Players

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I'm the coordinator of that Just Peace Players and have been enjoying this ministry for over 30 years. I love to write, laugh, and move people to tears...just don't ask me to dance! Creating a new play about peace and justice issues almost every year is a challenge and a joy. I've had fun being a bear, a lobster, a pirate, a space alien and Pilate. My partner Debbie Clark, was one of the founders of the Players. I’m grateful for her continuing support, editing and help preparing our forums and resources for congregations.

It's hard to believe that I have been a Player for over two decades! It feels like yesterday when I joined the group. Since then I've played a grandmother, battered woman, birdwatcher complete with binoculars, and Mrs. F...everyone's Sunday School Teacher. I like to write for the plays, and have fun meeting people at different churches and conferences. I'm adept at arranging our literature table, serve as the groups treasurer and always have new ideas to share.

My ministry began as a pastor in a local church, and I have been a director of pastoral care and hospital chaplain or many years. In my two decades with the Players I've had fun singing the "Blue Heron Blues," writing, singing as a roseate spoonbill, praying for the Gulf Coast after the BP oil spill, and playing a fat cat on a diet. Through the Players I have discovered new gifts, celebrated God's amazing love for us, and learned to use my GPS.

 ivy tillman (ze/zir/zirs), formerly a Western Massachusetts resident, lives in Madison, AL on the unceded lands of the Cherokee and Creek, very close to the Trail of Tears. A retired IT professional, ivy now spends the majority of zir time in volunteering in zir church as a UCC ONA Coalition coach, a Racial Justice facilitator, and as a member of the Just Peace Players, a liturgical drama troup. In addition to volunteering with United Women of Color (UWOC), ze also works on social justice issues with local and state community partners, among them Moms Demand Action AL/Everytown for Gun Violence Prevention (MDA-AL/Everytown), as well as hosting--and sometimes leading--virtual workshops with the Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leaders. ze appreciates the thought, care and collaboration that goes into the work of each of these groups, and ze is very happy that they give zir a public platform to practice and model inclusiveness now that ze has retired. ze loves to play Scrabble: sadly, no one will play with ze... 

I am very excited to be in my fifth season as a member of the Just Peace Players. Besides being clergy in the UCC, I have a distinguished background in theater, motion pictures, television, and radio. Bringing these gifts and graces to the JPP has been incredibly rewarding in helping to spread the many stories and messages of social justice. I am an ordained minister serving as a designated pastor and a graduate of Andover Newton Theological School.

I'm part of the newer arrivals, though not new to the UCC or Edwards Church, now my home church once again. I joined Edwards in 1971 and have always been interested in drama ever since I worked on the first Christmas Pageant our church ever had. I’ve had fun playing a dog, lobbyist, ONA advocate and Pelicanette!

Blessings to all! I’ve been a member of the Just Peace Players for over twenty years and gone everywhere from New England to Denver and all the way to China, twice! I’m currently the Pastor of South Livonia United Church of Christ in Livonia, N.Y.  I hold a B.A. in Elementary Education from Johnson State College in Vermont and an M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological School near Boston, MA.  A native of Rochester, N.Y., I am retired from working with the developmentally disabled as a Direct Service Professional for Lifetime Assistance, Inc. and the Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities for NY State.  As a fiber artist and quilter, I am also the sole proprietor of Tree of Life Textile Arts, making liturgical items for ministers and congregations, inviting all into the creative process of making art for God’s Creation!

I joined this wonderful troupe of caring, justice-seeking players in June of 2020. I first met the JPP’s at a UCC Super Saturday event, then invited them to entertain the idea of a Zoom performance at our First Congregational Church in West Tisbury, MA . It went so well and was so much fun that I asked to join and was warmly welcomed. I look forward to our joyful and meaningful virtual time together each week. After having spent 25 years in Orlando FL performing as a professional voiceover recording artist, composer, conductor, teacher, writer and professional improv actor and singer, I am happy to be back on my home island of Martha’s Vineyard, MA where I get to do all of those things amidst wicked awesome scenery.

I started performing “Women of the Greatest Generation” with Fran and Nancy in 2015, and have enjoyed bringing these inspiring stories to audiences throughout Massachusetts. I have a passion for music and singing and love to bring our message of peace, justice, and courage forward with song. I am now in other plays too, and look forward to sharing the important messages of our newest plays as we continue our work of bringing peace and justice to others. It’s fun to be a rabbi in the UCC!

Rev. Roberto Ochoa (el, he, him, his) is originally from East Los Angeles, CA and currently is the Minister for Ethnic Inclusion and Congregational Support for Rural and Small Churches for Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO) in the National Setting of the United Church of Christ.

Roberto serves congregations and provides UCC and ecumenical resources for congregational assessment, support, and advancement, especially for rural, ethnic identified and congregations of Color. Currently, Roberto is national staff representative on an initiative on UCC Rural Congregations Network and gathering proposed for 2022. He also works with the UCC Manual on Church working team who has been tasked by the UCC Board on updating and revising the Manual for UCC congregations to use. Prior to his call to the UCC National Setting in 2018, Roberto pastored Lake View Congregational Church, UCC for seven years in Worcester, MA