2026 Candidates for Election

Lloyd Cole is nominated for a three-year term to the Board of Trustees (2026–29).

Lloyd grew up in Arlington, Virginia, and lived in Northern and Southern California, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Illinois before coming to Pennsylvania in 2012. He received his BS in math from Virginia Tech and worked in IT and senior management for insurance, stock brokerage, banking, real estate, and investment management firms. He is a long-time supporter of the Natural Lands Trust. Since retiring in 2020, he has been an active volunteer with the Darby Creek Valley Association, Willistown Conservation Trust, West Chester Food Cupboard, Family Promise, Beyond Literacy, and the New Sanctuary Movement.

Lloyd joined MLUC in 2022 after many years as a friend of the church. At MLUC, he serves as a Lay Chaplain, led the Housing Justice team, helped set up our Human Needs Ministry, and leads a small group. He took part in the Search Committees for our Congregational Life Coordinator and Social Justice Director, serves as a greeter, and is part of the Auction kitchen team each year.

Lloyd lives in Newtown Square with his wife, Deirdre Gordon.

Kevin Donahue is nominated for a three-year term to the Board of Trustees (2026–29).

Kevin has been a member of MLUC since 2021, drawn by the church’s inclusive spirit, generosity, and commitment to community engagement.

Kevin is a longtime member of Unitarian Universalist congregations. He has served in leadership—as board chair at Thomas Paine Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Collegeville in the early 2000s and in the next decade at Wellsprings Congregation in Chester Springs, where he chaired Stewardship and served on the minister’s Leadership and Spiritual Development Committee. Beyond his own congregations, he co-led the Martin Luther King Day of Service activities at the Unitarian Society of Germantown with Rev. Kent Matthies, and with his son Kelly twice went on service trips to Haiti with MLUC’s Nuala and Mike Carpenter.

Kevin has served as a member of the Adult Faith Development Committee at MLUC during the past year. He is part of a small group and has helped with congregational events, including auction nights, holiday gatherings, and social justice actions.

Professionally, Kevin is a journalist and occasional marketer. He’s worked with several local news outlets, including the Inquirer, the Philadelphia Business Journal, and, most recently, WHYY. He lives in Eagleville, Montgomery County, and has been married to Virginia Kirk for 32 years. They have two sons, Pete and Kelly, and three grandchildren, Mia, Thomas, and James.

Alan Scholl is nominated for a one-year term to the Board of Trustees (2026–27). Alan was appointed by the Board to fill an unexpired term on the Board for the 2025–26 church year.

Alan was raised UCC and was unchurched most of his adult life. He was introduced to Unitarian Universalism at MLUC’s Pathways to Membership in 2015 and jumped right in. He was (and still is!) inspired by our loving community, which was particularly appealing as his children were aging out of their preschool, Charlestown Playhouse.

In his 11 years at MLUC, Alan has taught RE and served three years on the Membership Committee and the Stewardship Committee. He worked with many great MLUC folks moving furniture for our Afghan family. He is also a regular attendee of our Spanish Conversation group, which he considers his small group ministry. He is especially proud to have been a member of the search committee that brought us Rev. John!   

Outside of MLUC, Alan served as the Grounds & Maintenance Chief and as a board member of Charlestown Playhouse for most of his family’s five years there. He was treasurer of his son’s Travis’ Cub Scout pack, and the treasurer on the board of the West Vincent Elementary School PTA for several years.

When he cannot come up with an excuse to escape to Maine, Alan can often be found at his desk managing the finances and IT for a local business, (until very recently!) giving Travis driving practice,  running his daughter Katie to swim practice, tending the family’s 19 chickens, or struggling not to fall too far behind in the yard and gardens.

Kathy Hersh is nominated for a three-year term to the Nominating Committee (2026–29).

Kathy is a long-time member of MLUC. She found MLUC while searching for a spiritual home in which to raise her children and unexpectedly found a spiritual home for herself. Over the years, Kathy has been a church school teacher, an usher, a member of the Auction Committee, and part of a small group ministry, the meditation community, and various other committees and initiatives. Most recently, she has been spearheading postcarding after services to support progressive candidates nationwide in the important upcoming midterm elections.  

Kathy holds degrees from Temple University School of Pharmacy, Drexel University, and University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Trained as a pharmacist, Kathy spent most of her career working in the pharmaceutical industry and retired from Johnson & Johnson in 2023.  

Kathy is the proud mother of two grown children, Calvin and Alexandra, who were both raised at MLUC and were active participants in church school and the youth group. Her interests include travel, vegan cooking, genealogy, Buddhist meditation, reading, spending time with her growing family (especially at the shore), and political activism. She lives in Wayne with her life partner Rob Specht.

Deirdre Gordon is nominated for a three-year term to the Nominating Committee (2026–29).

Deirdre has been a member of MLUC for 16 years. MLUC was her first experience with a UU church. She served on the Board of Trustees from 2023 to 2026 and was Vice President in 2025–26. She served on the most recent Senior Minister Search Committee and was a member of the Minister’s Transition Team. 

She served as a member of the Offering Outreach Committee for nine years, including one year as chair. She currently serves on the Safety Team and as lead for the Congregational Engagement Team. 

Deirdre has served on the Auction kitchen team with her small group ministry for years and she enjoys participating in watershed cleanup days.   

Deirdre earned her masters in social work from Bryn Mawr College and worked for Children and Youth Services of Delaware County, the child protective agency for the county, for 41 years in various capacities. She was the Director for 10 years until retiring in 2020. She served on the Board of the Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators. In 2021, she received a Guardian Award from Family Support Line, a local nonprofit, acknowledging her leadership and exceptional commitment to protecting vulnerable children and families. 

Interested in nature and the environment, Deirdre enjoys volunteering as a community scientist, collecting data on the health of Darby Creek for the Darby Creek Valley Association and the Watershed Program at Willistown Conservation Trust. She is a vegetable and flower gardener and loves hiking in nearby preserves. She lives in Newtown Square with her husband, Lloyd Cole.