Rev. Mishra joined the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg in 2006 as our minister.  He comes to us with over fourteen years of professional experience, encompassing the fields of ministry, diplomacy, and education.  He has served four previous congregations in varying forms of ministry, and before that was an active lay leader at one of our denomination’s most historic churches.  

Having traveled extensively throughout the world, Rev. Mishra has lived in India, Oman, Finland, and for brief periods in Switzerland.  This international exposure gave him the opportunity to live in countries where Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity have helped define the cultures.  His brings this multi-religious appreciation to his ministry, and draws on a variety of faith traditions and narratives in his preaching and worship.  

As a former educator, Rev. Mishra has a deep sense of love for our community’s children and youth, and an appreciation of how spiritual growth and development are lifelong processes for all of us.  As a former diplomat, he is an accomplished preacher and an effective public spokesperson.  Now serving in the career that speaks most deeply to his heart, Rev. Mishra brings to our congregation spiritual leadership that is dynamic, thought-provoking, and inspiring.  

Please join us for Sunday worship and the opportunity to get to know our minister better first-hand.  We think you’ll appreciate him as much as we do!

The following is an interview with Rev. Manish by Nandini Pandya, a mother of two and a resident of the US for over twenty years. Originally from Mumbai, she now lives in Connecticut. She is the founder and publisher of desijournal.com, an online weekly magazine for Indians living in the United States.  With her permission, this interview is reprinted from the April 27, 2006 edition.

A Coming Out of Sorts:
A Profile of Rev. Manish Mishra

by Nandini Pandya

When my Pakistani-American friend told me that one of the ministers at her Unitarian church is of Indian origin, I was intrigued. I myself joined a local Unitarian church about six years ago in what was a departure from the norm for us South Asians. Partly because I am the only ethnic/racial minority in this religious community and partly because it has become a very important part of my spiritual life, I am curious when I run across others like me who have stumbled along a similar path and have ended up in the same place.

No, Unitarian Universalism (or UUism as it is commonly called) is not some sort of a cult. And no, it is not a church in the sense of a Christian place of worship. It is a liberal faith tradition that is best described by the following excerpt:

"... [our religion] encourages you to think for yourself and build your own faith... The inherent worth and dignity of each person and the free and responsible search for truth and meaning are basic tenets ... We have no creed, but we hold the values of freedom, reason and tolerance as guidelines for faith. We gather in an atmosphere of mutual respect to develop our own concepts of God and Truth within a community of Seekers."

I read about Rev. Manish Mishra on his church's web site* and read some of his sermons.

I found his sermon on the post-Thanksgiving shopping spree thought-provoking:

"Buying into a mentality of scarcity is a moral and spiritual problem. Morally if we do not see ourselves as blessed and whole, even beyond blessed and whole - recipients and possessors of bounty, then it is possible we may not appreciate or share our abundance. If I am in the midst of scarcity - always, constantly - then how can I give to the homeless, or to inner-city children, or even to a friend in need? Giving comes from a recognition that we have more than enough for ourselves, that we'll be more than adequately taken care of, even after we have given away some of that abundance."

And, I am sure that many readers will find his sermon titled "Christmas from a Non-Christian Perspective" affirming:

"We can wish one another joy at any time of year. We can give one another presents at any time of year. Why should I, as a non-Christian, be doing any of this on or around December 25th? Is there spiritual meaning at this time of year for me, as a non-Christian, as a Hindu, as a Unitarian Universalist?

"I wasn't sure about the answer to this question until I was in seminary and had the opportunity to study the Christian scriptures. Being a good UU, I was personally more interested in the religion of Jesus, than the religion about him. And what I found in the oldest Christian writings were incredibly beautiful teachings. The stories in the earliest Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke - all depict the transformative and revolutionary power of love. Jesus advocated bucking all kinds of societal norms because his belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being demanded that he do so.

"The religion of Jesus is an inspiring and deeply caring one. Christianity is the only religion I've encountered that makes love such a central aspect of faith and spiritual practice.

"Christmas has thus for me, become more than just a secular holiday. It is a spiritually holy time. The example of Jesus' life calls us to live out ourlove well beyond our comfort zones. Loving our family and friends, the people we already care about, is not enough. It's too easy. We are called to love radically - to love those most different, most marginalized, and most underprivileged.

"Christmas is a holiday about our fundamental shared humanity. We are each called to care for and support one another. We are each living expressions of God's love and hope for humankind."
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I started my interview by asking Manish (in the UU community, we generally refer to our ministers by their first names) about how he came to join the UU church. He began at the very beginning - when his parents moved to Pittsburgh in the late '60s.

He told of typical early Indian immigrant family life. His parents were active members of the local Indian community. They were involved in starting the local Indian association, the first temple, the first weekend radio program, and even the first screenings of Indian movies at a local theater.

The family was quite devout and along with celebrations of Diwali, Janmashtami, and Holi, they practiced the rituals faithfully. As with each first generation of immigrants, there was an overarching desire to preserve the culture, to make sure the children were raised to become good Hindus.

These parental efforts appear to have had some success. Manish told me that he and his brother are strict vegetarians (even though their cousins who were born and raised in India are all meat eaters!). Manish is also fluent in both Hindi and Urdu and loves watching Bollywood movies.

But, as is often the pattern with the children of immigrants, the young Manish felt an intense desire to be more fully American, to be "like everybody else". I would not have been surprised if Manish had told me that his moving away from these inherited cultural and religious practices, towards Unitarian Universalism, was a form of rebellion and second-generation angst. But, as he explained to me, there was a lot more to his embrace of the UU faith than that.

As an inquisitive Indian-American youngster, Manish often asked questions about the religious rituals that his family practiced. He was told that they were doing things a certain way because that is how they had always been done. When he directed the same questions at the Hindu priests, he did not get any additional insight. This was partly because of the language divide as the priests were generally not fluent in English. But, it was also because of the reliance on Sanskrit texts and the priests' inability to clearly explain what they were saying and doing in Sanskrit.

Whereas doing things because "we have always done them that way" may be acceptable in the native milieu, it is clear that something more is called for if those practices are to remain relevant in a radically different time and place. Manish's description of his search for relevance reminded me of a scene from the movie ABCD. As the camera closes in on the statues of gods at the temple, Raj observes that they seem like masks from a horror movie. Especially in the western world, where our kids are taught from a young age to question everything, our rituals and practices can indeed seem alien without adequate context.

There was another aspect of the ritual observance that the young Manish found troubling. He noticed that many observant Hindus that he knew thought of themselves as good human beings, even devout and holy individuals, simply because they faithfully observed rituals. Manish found this standard of moral goodness far from compelling. This was brought into even sharper relief since he could see that many of these same devotees were not necessarily people of integrity in their day-to-day lives. What did it mean to be ritually observant, yet morally questionable, he wondered.

The experience that tested Manish's beliefs the most was his coming out of the closet as a gay man at the age of 20. It would not be an overstatement to say that the reaction to his revelation was volcanic and momentous. His parents were shocked and disappointed. They felt shamed, humiliated, even let down. Some of his college-aged Indian-American friends also expressed confusion and rejection.

As a result, Manish felt as if his family, culture, and religion were turning their backs on him. During the ensuing five years he had minimal contact with his family. Knowing how central family is in our culture, it is hard to fathom just how painful, scary and isolating a time this must have been for Manish. Surviving, and being true to himself, as a human being necessitated almost losing everything dear to him as an Indian-American.

Having graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Relations, Manish started his first job with the U.S. State Department. This was the realization of a lifelong dream. As a nephew of Brijesh Mishra, one of India's former Ambassadors to the United Nations, Manish had witnessed the power and prestige of the diplomatic life. He was drawn to the profession as one that offered the opportunity to be a peacemaker, someone who could build bridges across different cultures, and thereby be a force of good in the world.

Manish, fluent in Arabic -- and later Finnish, Russian, and Slovak as well -- took up his first diplomatic posting in Muscat, Oman. He was there for two years working as the Chief of the Embassy's Consular Department. These were two difficult years as he was sent to one of the most conservative parts of the world, where being openly gay was almost unheard of.

In my interview with Manish he described the sense of isolation that he felt in Oman, which was made, in some ways, even more difficult because he was of Indian heritage. The Omani people tended to discount his diplomatic standing because he "looked" Indian, and therefore they tended to equate him with their Indian migrant workers, the majority of whom are in manual or household labor positions. Members of the wealthier Indian expatriate business community were welcoming and even proud of him - he represented the best of what was achievable by Indian emigrees. But acceptance in this community came at a price: given his family's intense negative reaction to his homosexuality, Manish feared fully sharing his life with this community. He feared a similar result, ostracization and rejection, so he allowed people to assume he was heterosexual, an assumption that was both self-negating and self-denying. Not even Manish's American co-workers grasped the spectrum of racial, cultural, religious, and class issues he was grappling with.

After his time in Oman, Manish spent some time in Washington receiving Finnish language training. His two year posting in Helsinki avoided the issues of sexual orientation that he faced in the Persian Gulf, but in a country of five million people, which at that time had only several hundred non-white immigrants, he continued to face racial prejudice and discrimination. At times he was told to "go home," or was denied entry into a restaurant or bar because it was assumed he was a political or economic refugee.

While Manish holds very warm and overall positive feelings for Finland and the Finnish people, after five years overseas he was tired of the challenges of living an expatriate life as an Indian-American. Manish returned to the U.S., and the time was ripe for trying new and different things. In the summer of 1998, Manish, with his then partner, attended the wedding of an Indian-American friend from college. It was a grand affair at a swank hotel in a Maryland suburb, and it was attended by several hundred guests.

Driving back from the wedding, Manish was distraught. The wedding highlighted the fact that his friend, the bride, had a large community of family members, friends, and people from their temple community. These well-wishers shared traditions and memories and they would go on to share many more life experiences in the future. In contrast, Manish felt loneliness - the lack of a spiritual or religious community that he could value and that would value him.

The very next day, a Saturday, Manish called his best friend, a Finn living in Helsinki. His friend listened with sympathy and understanding and then suggested that Manish look up the "Unitarian Church". While there are no Unitarian churches in Finland, his friend remembered hearing good things about them. They were reputed as being an open and free-thinking religion. His friend also seemed to recall that UUs did not require one to convert or leave the religion they already belong to. This sounded almost too good to be true. Manish was very clear that he did not want to convert to Christianity. He wanted to honor his Hindu heritage, but also knew that he was not getting what he needed out of traditional Hindu structures. He was looking for something that would fit his "unique" circumstances...

Like a drowning man drawn to a log of wood, Manish researched Unitarian Universalism (www.uua.org) on the internet. The next day was a Sunday and he and his partner attended the local UU church in Washington, D.C. - All Souls Church, Unitarian. Both went with reservations and each had one condition that had to be met if they were to belong to this new faith community. For Manish, it was most important that they be accepted as an openly gay couple. For his former partner, a trained scientist, it was the absence of any dogmatic belief in supernatural powers.

As it turned out, that first visit passed both of their conditions with flying colors. But something else happened, that was even more remarkable.

As part of the worship service, visitors were asked to stand up and introduce themselves. (This is quite atypical.) With great trepidation, Manish did so. He recalls how he felt after worship ended: "The words of the sermon were meaningful and spiritual. But, I was nervous and scared. I expected that the people would avoid us, especially after introducing ourselves as a gay couple. In fact, at the end of the service I was eager to leave as soon as possible."

But two elder women - who seemed to be in their eighties - blocked his exit. Smiling, they enveloped him in a warm embrace and said, simply, "We are so glad that you have come to our church." It is hard to imagine how Manish must have felt at this time. After more than five years of being spiritually alone and wandering in the wilderness, finally here were people who valued him for all that he was. This was entirely in keeping with the second UU principle: "respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every human being". But it was too soon for Manish to know that.

After this experience, he continued to attend Sunday services at the church. To be sure, Manish was still quite uncomfortable with some of the external trappings of the church. The hymns and the pews, the sermons and the "minister" - all felt quite alien. (In Hinduism, of course, we have no tradition of worshipping in this style.) But what did not feel alien at all, was the content of the sermons and the songs, as well as the feeling of everyone caring about one another in the context of religious community.

Within several months of first attending this church, a curious thing happened. Manish was invited to preach - to give occasional sermons. Even more amazing, people wanted him to teach them about Hinduism.

The irony did not escape Manish - after feeling for so long cut off from the established Hindu community, his new spiritual community was looking to him for guidance about Hinduism. This wound up being a very good experience for him. As he reflected more and more deeply on this, Manish was heartened by the fact that he felt no conflict between his essential Hindu beliefs and the principles and beliefs espoused by the UU Church.

Roughly around the same time, Manish experienced a gradual thawing of his relationship with his family. His mother, in particular, was determined to mend fences with her son, and took the initiative in reaching out more openly to him. Manish described the dinner with his parents that both he and his partner were invited to, as a couple, by his parents. For the first time in years, there was mutual acceptance as well as respect. Not only that, they had fun together.
Revealing to his parents his association with the UU "church" was almost as difficult as his other fateful revelation years before. But this time, the reaction was completely different. His mother's response was, "If they [UUs] are good people, and are openly respecting of all religions, then I'm glad you're doing this. There are many paths to finding God, and, in any case, you need more spirituality in your life!"

Manish was getting more and more involved in the activities of his UU church. Inspired by the example his minister at that time, he started toying with the idea of becoming a UU minister himself. Although he was doing very well in his job at the State Department, he was feeling increasingly disenchanted with it. He had wanted to do good in the world, and was not finding that role for himself in the Foreign Service. He decided he needed to leave government service and began exploring the possibility of a career in ministry. Becoming a UU minister might, he thought, allow him to play a more meaningful, positive role in the lives of others - the type of positive contribution to the world that he had hoped to make as a diplomat.

Manish spent a year trying alternately to talk himself out of this "crazy" idea and at the same time trying to come up with a way to make it happen. Finally, he applied for admission to Harvard Divinity School and was accepted.

A Master of Divinity degree is considered a professional credential, and as such requires three years of graduate course work and at least one year of interning. Manish completed his degree in June 2005 and was subsequently ordained as a UU minister at his home church in Washington, D.C. this past October.

Over the years Manish's parents have attended services led by him. They have heard his sermons and they have seen the high regard with which he is greeted by the church community. I am sure that they feel proud of his accomplishments and his journey up to this point. Manish described his father's reaction after attending one such worship service:

"They [the attendees] really seem to like you."

"Yes, I think they do."

"Since you're so good at giving spiritual talks, why don't you be like Deepak Chopra - you can make a lot of money that way!!"

As he recounted this conversation to me, Manish remarked "Deepak Chopra is not quite what I have in mind. But that's okay... my father has been trying to understand this new path and he is getting there ...."

As for his mother, Manish has fond praise for her: "My mother is, and always has been, a UU - it's just that she does not know that!"

Manish closed our interview by saying "I will always be a Hindu. There is nothing about being in a UU church that conflicts with my core Hindu beliefs. If anything, I have become a much better Hindu as a result of joining the UU faith." Since this describes my own experience to a "T," it is fitting that I end this profile with the religious word that signifies assent and approval - Amen!

*This reference is to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Westport, Connecticut where Rev. Mishra was at that time the Interim Associate Minister.