Our Congregation

Reverend Dianne – Our “Consulting Minister”, Spiritual Leader, and Diva, and a hoot

Rev. Dianne (she/her) was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, where her parents, Charles, and Katherine Morton, rarely attended church.

Rev. Dianne grew up resisting restrictive, overly strict “rules” like the one that women needed to walk “two steps behind their husband,” a tenet of her mother’s former Baptist upbringing. Her father’s resistance to “organized church” encouraged her to find her way, religiously and spiritually, including nature-based and indigenous religion through Wicca and Rootwork.

Rev. Dianne married her high school sweetheart, Aaron Daniels, the same weekend as their 10-year high school reunion. Although Dianne and Aaron are each other’s second spouses, their 35-year marriage is “solid as a rock” and a source of enduring love, joy, peace, and laughter for them both. They have three grown children (laughingly called His, Mine, and Ours): Christopher, Ronald, and Ariana.

Rev. Dianne was introduced to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Norwich by Ms. Lottie B. Scott, one of the beloved elders of her community. She and Aaron loved the people and the atmosphere so much that they’ve been members for over thirty years.

Rev. Dianne started feeling the call to ministry while attending services in Norwich. In her words, “I fell in love with the people and the messages I heard from the pulpit.”

She applied to and was accepted at the Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California, graduating with her Master of Divinity degree in 2022. Dianne was ordained in October 2023 by her home church in Norwich at the Universalist Church of West Hartford, where she served as Sabbatical Minister from August 2023 through January 2024.

Rev. Dianne enjoys guest preaching in and around eastern CT, western Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Her previous experience with technology makes her comfortable with Zoom preaching to congregations as far away as Washington State.

Rev. Dianne is thrilled to serve UUFS as their consulting minister and looks forward to continuing to deliver heartfelt, inspirational sermons that uplift and encourage the congregation while assisting with the congregation’s growth and spreading the UU gospel.

Rev. Dianne lives in Norwich, CT – the Rose City – with her husband in an 1850s vintage Greek Revival home that they continue to remodel and restore.