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Raised in La Jolla, California, Judith came from a home that was quite poor.  She received a full scholarship for six years to The Bishop’s School for girls in La Jolla, where she graduated with fifty-one other classmates in 1961.  Bishop’s is a private Episcopal School, where she received instruction in the Bible and Christianity.  At the age of nineteen Judith married her first husband, and they had four children together.   Two she gave birth to, and two they adopted.  (One way to “round out a family!”)  Judith became a Unitarian Universalist at the age of nineteen, over fifty years ago.

She received her undergraduate degree in English with honors from The University of Missouri, at Columbia.  She went on to receive three more graduate degrees.  A Masters of Education from Pennsylvania State University in Elementary Counseling (1976).  A Ph. D. from Pennsylvania State University in Psychology with a focus on child therapy (1984).  And a Masters of Divinity from The Lancaster Theological Seminary in 1990, where she graduated with high honors.  Lancaster Theological Seminary is a United Church of Christ seminary.  She was ordained to The Unitarian Universalist ministry in 1992.

As a child psychologist Judith did her clinical internship at The Astor Home for Children in Rhinebeck, New York.  Here she worked with children within a residential treatment program, as well as a day treatment program.  During this time her first marriage failed, and the marriage ended up in divorce.

Judith then went on to serve for five years in a Community Mental Health Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania, as the child and youth specialist on staff.  During this time Judith received a mystical call to go to seminary, and she followed that call.  Arriving at seminary she felt as if a part of her that was incomplete was found.

As a licensed child psychologist, Judith worked in a private practice in Lancaster as she went through her seminary years.  After seminary she moved to New Jersey, where she established a private practice in Moorestown as a psychologist.  She married her beloved second husband, Rev. Dr. Rudy Nemser, who was an ordained UU minister for forty-nine years of his life

In New Jersey Judith served a small congregation for 10 years, as well as having a clinical practice of psychology.  She also worked as a chaplain in inner city Philadelphia, and especially enjoyed her three years as main chaplain at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.  She went on to supervise chaplain students in an interfaith context in four major hospitals in the Philadelphia area.  She also worked as a consultant to the Pediatric HIV-AIDS clinic in Camden, New Jersey for two years.

When Rudy, Judith’s husband, retired from full time ministry at The Cherry Hill, New Jersey UU congregation, Judith and Rudy decided to move to Arlington, Massachusetts.  (Thus, she came to New England!)  Judith gave up her private practice, and her chaplaincy roles, and decided, intentionally, to enter into full time parish ministry.  She served a mid-size congregation in Rhode Island for one year as their Interim minister.  She was then called to The First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Northborough, MA, where she served for twelve years as their settled minister.  Rudy, Judith’s beloved, died two months prior to her coming to Northborough in 2002.  It is unclear to Judith who ministered to whom during her first year in this parish, but now, this congregation is thriving.  When she decided to step down from this ministry in 2014, the congregation named her Minister Emerita.

In terms of her theology, Judith considers herself a mystic.  However, she has a great affinity for the teachings of Buddhism, and has been a student of His Holiness, The Dalai Lama and his monks at His Holiness's monastery in Ithaca, New York since 1999.  She also follows her root Buddhist teacher, Lama Migmar, from The Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Judith continues to study, and travel from Laconia to Cambridge almost every Thursday to be with Lama Migmar.  Beginning about five years ago, Judith happily began transcribing Lama Migmar's teachings for publication, which she continues to do now.  She has served as past President of the UU Buddhist Fellowship for four years, stepping down in 2014.  She has been very active on The UU Mass Action Board, a social justice group of UUs across UU congregations in MA.  She served on this Board for ten years.

As a Unitarian Universalist minister and a mystic, Judith is open to the mystery of all world religions as they speak to her heart and soul and spirit.

You can contact her by phone at 603-524-6488 or email at Revjudithwright@gmail.com.

For many years Noelle Beaudin worked as an independent composer in  Boston, Massachusetts and taught piano and music theory in the greater  Boston area. She attended the Boston Conservatory of Music majoring in conducting, composition and piano performance and is a member of the National Piano  Guild and MTNA. Over the last fifteen years, She has worked for various  start-up companies as marketing director and nonprofit companies as  executive director. She has Kodaly and Orff certification and uses these  teaching methods for the basis of all her program concepts. She  currently teaches voice, piano and composition from her studio in Center Sandwich, is the music and choir director for the Unitarian Universalist  Society of Laconia, and is assistant director of the Children's Orchestra in Campton. She also regularly performs throughout the New England area as a  soloist or accompanist. She is the founder and Executive Director of  the New Hampshire Independent School of Music and coaches the NHISOM  Chamber Ensembles.  Noelle can be reached at uuslmusicdirector@gmail.c