Rev. Barker has served as president and professor of ministry at Meadville Lombard Theological School since 2003.  Prior to his appointment he served 25 years in the Unitarian Universalist parish ministry. A graduate of the University of Chicago and Meadville Lombard, President Barker has led the School though its creation of an innovative, contextual program of ministerial formation that infuses practical experience in parish and community settings with academic coursework.  Along with his wife Kris, a landscape architect, and their daughter Ava, an eighth grader, he makes his home in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

“I believe Unitarian Universalism offers a route to true transformation both for individuals and the larger world, that our religious perspective has the possibility of bringing all life closer to wholeness. The degree to which we are successful in this venture is directly related to the quality of our ministry. And a ministry of excellence is shaped by a sound education. The mission of Meadville Lombard is sweeping, it is to knit together every part of the fragmented world.”