About the Rev.

Rev. Jeff Mansfield  has been the Pastor at Glen Ridge Congregational Church since July 2019. Previous to that he was the Interim Minister at Broadway UCC  and he was the Associate Pastor at First Church Somerville UCC. Originally from Rhode Island, Jeff studied English and Religion at Boston University and got his Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. While in New York, Jeff worked as the Chaplain to the NYC Restaurant Industry out of Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and he worked as a labor and community organizer at the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY). Jeff also did a stint in construction working for Habitat for Humanity in Miami. He loves theater and grew up acting and directing in high school and college. While running from the call to ministry, he worked as a theater technician in the California's Bay Area. Now he puts most of his energies for performing and directing into preaching and creating real good church. Besides sermons, Jeff writes a lot of other stuff—most of it poetry. In 2004, Jeff thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine and he likes to get out into the woods and the mountains as much as possible. After his experience on the trail, he began learning about and practicing Zen Buddhist meditation which led him to a love of interfaith dialogue and cooperation. Jeff thinks a lot about masculinity—what it is and what its spiritual significance might be to a masculine person. Jeff is a feminist, an anti-racist, an LGBTQ ally. He's been proud to be involved with progressive and radical social movements and organizations like the Poverty Initiative and the Poor People's Campaign. One of his passions in ministry is to equip the Church—through the radical teachings of Jesus—to be a new and continuing institution for art, justice, faith, and community building in the 21st century.