On Sunday, November 7, 1999, 19 children from the UUFNRV RE program met with Reverend Christine Brownlie. Questions were asked by children ranging in age from 2 to 13. (Some of these were unable to attend but had submitted questions in writing which were put to Chris by other kids.) The session lasted about 45 minutes. DRE Kristine Reid asked the first question to get things started. For the rest, the name of the child asking the question is given.

What does "Reverend" mean?

Rev. Brownlie: Reverend (Rev. for short) is another word for minister, which means someone who helps.

Katherine Benson (also Audrey Terrell's question): What is your favorite food?

Rev. Brownlie: There are so many delicious foods, it’s hard for me to think about that - it would certainly have to have chocolate in it. I think right now - my favorite food changes from day to day, sometimes it’s what I’m eating right now- I’d run over to the bakery called Our Daily Bread and buy their brownies. They are delicious. What is your favorite food?

Katherine: Brownies.

Anna Benson: What is your favorite color?

Rev. Brownlie: I was looking at the things in my house, and I have a lot of green things, so right now my favorite color is green. That surprised me because my favorite color used to be blue and then before that it was red. Now just a couple of days ago, I bought a purple shirt almost like the color of Barney, so maybe purple is going to be my next favorite color.

Grace Benson: Why did you want to be a minister?

Rev. Brownlie: Because that was the most important work I could do, and it was the work that used the most of my abilities, and it was the work that would make me the happiest. So far all three of those things are true. I thought about helping people, and it was very important. It was something I could do well, and it was something that could make me be happy. You are lucky if you work at all three of those things fully, because not everybody gets to make a choice like I got to make.

Sam Montgomery: What kind of book do you like to read?

Rev. Brownlie: I read a lot of books, and the kind of book that I like to read the most is the kind of book that makes me think and wonder and ask more questions. Sometimes the stories that I read that I enjoy are made up stories, sometimes they’re true stories.

John Holland (also Georgia Pfeiffer's question): What is your favorite animal?

Rev. Brownlie: I really like orangutans. I think they are fascinating. Another kind of animal I like are penguins because they glide through the water. I used to live near Detroit, and they have a penguin area in their zoo, and we could go and watch. When you watch penguins go through the water, the way they use their wings in there, it looked like they were flying. I had never thought about flying through water before.

Michael Holland: Did you always want to be a minister or when you were younger did you want to be a dolphin or something?

Rev. Brownlie: A dolphin?! Oh, I never thought about being a dolphin! You know, if I had known I could do that I might have chosen that one! I didn’t always want to be a minister because when I was a little girl growing up, the only people who I saw doing the work of ministers were men, and so I didn’t even think that I would be able to do that. Just like when I was a little girl growing up, most of the people who were doctors were men. Policemen were men, firemen were men. There were much different ideas then about what kinds of jobs women could do and what kinds of jobs men could do. On the other hand, most of the teachers in the elementary schools were women, most of the nurses were women, and so I never thought about being a minister until I was probably in high school. When I was a little girl, I thought I might like to be a nurse or a teacher. Always something that would help other people.

Ginger Smith: Who was your best friend when you were young (between ages 1 and 12)?

Rev. Brownlie: When I was a very little girl, I had a little boy who lived next door to us named Mike who was my best friend. I don’t remember him, but a few years ago after my mother died, and we were taking things out of her house, I found a whole bunch of pictures with me and this little boy named Mike. He was really cute. It would be fun to find out where he lives now and what happened to him. When I was in elementary school, my best friend was a girl named Margaret who lived across the street from us and she was about a year older than I was. We used to do a lot of things together.

Molly Bauer: What is your favorite drink?

Rev. Brownlie: Well, in the hot weather, my favorite drink is lemonade or iced coffee. In cold weather, my favorite drink is probably coffee or hot chocolate. I’m trying not to drink so much coffee.

Tamzin Kaiser: What is your favorite sport to play?

Rev. Brownlie: I don’t really play a lot of sports especially now that I’m getting to be a grown up. I think if I could play a sport, or if I had a chance to be on a team, I would like to play baseball or softball. I don’t watch a lot of sports, but I like to watch diving in the Olympics. The other sport I really like to watch is pole vaulting because I don’t understand how you learn to do this. In fact, there are a lot of Olympic sports that I wonder how did anyone figure out how to do this! But pole vaulting really amazes me. Did you ever watch pole vaulting? Well you take this great big wide stick that’s a whole lot bigger than you are, and you pick it up and you run very, very fast and you stick one end of the stick in the ground, and it throws you way up in the air, and you go over what looks like a football goal post, and people can really go, like 20 feet up in the air. It is amazing! When the Olympics come around, see if you can watch pole vaulting, because I think it is absolutely astonishing, and I can’t imagine trying to learn this.

Leah Kaiser: Do you like to ride horses?

Rev. Brownlie: I do like to ride horses, and I haven’t gone horseback riding in a long, long time, probably since I was 12 years old. The last time I rode a horse, after I got off the horse, the horse stepped on my foot and this really upset my mother. I didn’t get to go horseback riding after that.

Alex Taylor: Do you like to jump on a trampoline?

Rev. Brownlie: That’s another thing that I haven’t done for a long time, but yes I do like to jump on a trampoline. I didn’t get to do that when I was at your house. Maybe sometime we could do that.

Eric Ferguson: What is your favorite age?

Rev. Brownlie: I think it is the age that I am right now. Every age has easy things and fun things and things that are hard. So, right now I am 52, and that is my favorite age right now. Next year, it will probably be 53, what do you think?!.

Claudia Taylor: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Rev. Brownlie: I would like to go to Africa and go on one of those safaris where you see the animals. I know that some people think that’s not a good thing to do because it bothers the animals and it’s not good for the environment, so I would want to be very careful. Another place I would really want to go would be to go to Hawaii because that place is so beautiful.

Audrey Terrell: Were you ever an actress in a play and if so, what part did you play, and can you show us what you did?

Rev. Brownlie: I did do some theater and plays. When I was a little girl, I took creative dramatics. In high school I was in a couple of plays. I was in "Our Town", and I was in another play that the name escapes me right now. In college, I was in a play called "The Trojan Women" and also in a musical called "West Side Story". Can I show you something that I did? Well, let's see if I can think of one of the songs.... Oh, there is a song about "I like to be in America..." The chorus of it goes, (sings) "I like to be in America, ok by me in America, everything free in America, for to be in America!"

Erika Reid (also Grace Benson's question): Do you have children?

Rev. Brownlie: I do have children, and I brought picturesof my children. I have 2 children, and we can pass this around. Thisis my son Matthew. Matthew is 25 years old and lives in Houston,Texas. He works in a restaurant in Houston, and he has a band.They’re going to start making a CD the week after next. It’snot for a big record company like you could buy at Wal-Mart, but theyhope that this will be something that they could sell at theirconcerts. He promised me that he would send me one, maybe that will bemy Christmas present. So if I get it, then we could play it. This isMatthew over here with the glasses . The other one without glasses andwith dark hair, is my son, Colin. Colin is 21, and he goes to schoolat the Univ. of Texas in Austin, Texas. He thinks he wants to dosomething with film. So both of them are definitely going to take careof me when I get old! My son Colin is coming at Christmas time, so ifyou are here over Christmas, you will get to meet Colin. Matthewcan’t come because when you work in a restaurant, Christmas is areal busy time. But he might come another time, and Colin might alsocome for spring break. Even though they are grown up, I miss my boys.Especially this time of year around the holidays, I miss them more.But I know they are fine and we talk to each other on the phone. Youknow what I did? You know how the leaves got so pretty this fall?Well, I gathered up red and yellow and orange leaves and I put them inthose big bubble envelopes and I mailed them to my boys. Because inTexas, they don’t get leaves like that. And they said, oh...thanks, Mom! That was really nice, Mom! They thought maybe Mom waslosing it!

John Bauer: Where did you live when you were a kid?

Rev. Brownlie: When I was a kid, 4, 5, or 6, I lived near Detroit, Michigan. When I was 7, my family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. From the time I was 7 until I was 20, I lived either in St. Paul or Minneapolis, that’s where I grew up. (Shows Minnesota on map.) In the winter it gets very, very cold and sometimes they have lots of snow. It gets very, very windy and much colder than it gets here. I have 3 younger sisters and they all have husbands and children, and they all live in Minnesota. Both my parents lived in Minnesota when they were alive.

Byron Smith: What was your favorite toy, why did you play with it, & when did you play with it?

Rev. Brownlie: My favorite toy was probably a doll. As I remember, I had 5 or 6 dolls. I also loved my bike a lot. I would play dolls with other girls. I didn’t have a Barbie doll or anything like that. They were baby dolls. I played with them because I always thought that I would be a mom, and that’s what I liked to do.

John Holland: Why are you a Unitarian?

Rev. Brownlie: That's a very good question. Because that is the religion that feels most free to me, and because it is a religion that doesn’t tell me what I have to believe - it helps me to think about what I want to believe.

Byron Smith (for Gilan Salehi): What were you (dressed up as) on your 10th Halloween?

Rev. Brownlie: I have found a picture from when I was 10 years old, with my sisters, and what we were dressed up like for Halloween. When I was a little girl, you couldn’t go to the store and buy Halloween costumes. They just didn’t make them. People made their own costumes. We used to make our costumes out of old clothes and crazy things we had at home. We’re what we called hobos, and I was thinking that you won’t know anything about what a hobo is. (Shows picture) This is me right here with my sisters dressed up for Halloween. I’m the tall one. You didn't buy costumes to look like people on T.V.

Grace Benson: Did you like to draw when you were little?

Rev. Brownlie: Yes, I liked to draw, but you know what I liked even more than drawing was singing. I’ve always, always liked to sing. Singing is my very favorite thing. I think I’m better at singing than I am at drawing, but I did like to do both when I was little. One thing I always wished I could do was play the piano, but somehow my brain and my hands don’t have a very good connection. I’m not a good typist.

Ginger Smith: Did you ever get in trouble when you were a child?

Rev. Brownlie: Ah, all the time! Sure I did. I got in trouble at home because I didn’t always do my jobs the way I was supposed to, or I would leave things around on the floor or whatever and make my mother mad, or I would tease my sisters, or I didn’t always do well in school. In school, I got in trouble because I didn’t always pay attention, or I would be talking. I was a slow worker, I was always one of the last people to get my work in. I think that’s because I thought about it too much.

Erika Reid: When is your birthday?

Rev. Brownlie: My birthday is in August — it’s on the 24th.

Audrey Terrell: Where’s the farthest place in the world you’ve ever been?

Rev. Brownlie: Probably the farthest place from here I’ve ever been is Kelowna in British Columbia in Canada. (Shows on map.) Way on the western coast of Canada. I’ve been to Mexico, and I’ve been to Puerto Rico. I’ve never gone to Europe or India. That is another place that would be interesting to visit.

Ginger Smith (for Adriane Neu): What is your favorite place that you’ve ever gone to?

Rev. Brownlie: That is a really hard question to answer. I guess my favorite place to go to is Minneapolis because my family lives there. (Shows on map.)

Claudia Taylor (for Devin Skinner): What was your job before this one?

Rev. Brownlie: Before this one, I had a job like Kristine Reid (Director of Religious Education). Well my job right before this one, I was a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. But before I was a minister, I was the Director of Religious Education in a church in Fort Worth, Texas for about 14 years. Before that I was a social worker in a hospital and also a visiting nurse in New York City.

Erika Reid: What are your hobbies?

Rev. Brownlie: I don’t really have any hobbies that I’m doing right now. I like to sew. I like to do embroidery. I like to ride my bicycle, but I’m used to riding on flat land and I’m having a hard time riding on hills. I have to practice more, and I haven’t been very good about doing that. I like to walk. I would like to learn more about working with clay, because I like to do pottery. And also singing.

Grace Benson: Did your mom and dad ever go away on a faraway trip without you?

Rev. Brownlie: Yes, they did. Has that ever happened to you?

Grace: Yes, it's going to happen. They are going to California soon.

Rev. Brownlie: I was about your age (6) when my mommy and daddy went to California. But I stayed with my grandma and grandpa who lived in Indianapolis, my dad’s parents. My sisters and I stayed there.

Grace: My gramps is coming and a baby-sitter that doesn’t baby-sit me any more.

Rev. Brownlie: What do you think about at? Is it ok or something that you don’t like too much?

Grace: I don’t like it too much because it’s far away and they’re going to leave without me, but they have to go because they have a meeting there.

Rev. Brownlie: Isn’t it nice that we have telephones so you can hear their voices? Your mom and dad are going to miss you and your sisters a whole big lot, just as much or maybe even more than you will miss them. You’re going to be in their hearts. A little girl I know in Texas, when her mom and dad went on a trip, she said to them, "Even when you are not with me, I see you in my heart." So you can think of that. Even when your mom and dad aren’t with you, you can see them in your heart, and they’ll see you, and you’ll be so happy when they come home. But I know that’s hard. When are they going?

Grace: Next week.

Rev. Brownlie: You know that one of the things that a minister does is talk with people about their feelings. So maybe while your mom and dad are gone, I could give you my phone number, and we could have a phone conversation, or I could even come over and visit with you. After mom leaves, you and I can get together and talk about that.

John Bauer (also Georgia Pfeiffer's and Grace Benson's questions): How long do you plan to be a minister?

Rev. Brownlie: I hope that I will be strong enough and healthy enough and that my brain will keep working hard enough for me to be a minister for 15-20 years, until I’m about 70. I plan to do it as long as I have the strength and the energy, and enough things to say to keep people interested on Sunday mornings, which is sometimes a terrifying thought(!).

Claudia Taylor (for Vera Pfeiffer): What do you think children need to be a success?

Rev. Brownlie: The first thing children need to be a success is to like themselves and to feel that they are good people and that they have talents and abilities. If you don’t think that you are smart enough or that you can do things, it is very hard to be successful. The second thing is that children need to learn how to work because life is a lot of hard work. One of the things I told my boys which they didn’t like very much when I told them this, but they have found that it’s true, is that one of the most important things that any of us have to learn, and some of us don’t learn it until we’re pretty well along in life, is how to do things we don’t want to do.

Claudia Taylor: Did you ever learn another language?

Rev. Brownlie: I tried to learn German in school, but I don’t speak German very well, and I have forgotten just about everything I ever learned. When I was living in New York City and working as a visiting nurse, I tried to learn Spanish. The best time to learn a language is when you are your age.

Byron Smith: Do you watch TV and if so, what is your favorite program?

Rev. Brownlie: I don’t watch TV. I won’t pay for cable. I think if I got TV for free, I would watch it, but I won’t pay to watch commercials. I think that is one of the dumbest things I can imagine.

Erika Reid: Who are your heroes?

Rev. Brownlie: Elisabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and Olivia Brown because they all worked very hard so that women had the right to vote. Another one of my heroes is my grandmother. Because she came to this country when she was just 18 years old, and she came pretty much by herself because she wanted her children and her children’s children to be able to go to school. She wasn’t allowed to go to school when she was growing up. She lived in the Ukraine, and she had 3 months of education. She hardly knew how to read, but she was very, very intelligent.

Erika Reid (for Alice Cennamo): What is your favorite game?

Rev. Brownlie: I like to play Scrabble. I haven’t played Scrabble in a long time.

Ginger Smith: How old were you when you first thought you might like to be a minister?

Rev. Brownlie: I was probably about 19.

Grace Benson: My Daddy's question is, do you know any "bully" stories?

Rev. Brownlie: When I was a little girl, I don’t remember any particular bully who picked on me all the time, but when I was a little girl, my sisters and I used to walk to the ice skating rink and go ice skating. Almost every time we would come home crying because some bully had pushed us down or hit me or thrown a snowball and hit us in the head or done something like that. But I don’t remember a particular bully where this person kept picking on me over and over again.

Sam Montgomery (also Kia Salehi's question): Did you have any pets?

Rev. Brownlie: I have had some pets. When I was a little girl we had a cocker spaniel, and her name was Sandy. She was a very bad dog. We finally gave her to somebody who lived out in the country so she could have more room to run around. Then I had a cat who swallowed something that got stuck in her stomach. Animals do that and you really have to be careful. Then when I lived in Fort Worth, I had 2 dogs. I don’t have any pets now, and I miss having a pet. If I decide to move out of where I am living, because I can’t have pets there, that will be one of the big reasons. I will probably get a dog. I like dogs more than I like living with cats.

Ginger Smith (for the preschool class): What kind of a wedding do you like?

Rev. Brownlie: I like a wedding where the people really love each other. When they really understand why they are getting married. I don’t care if it is a big wedding or a small wedding particularly.

Grace Benson: What is one of your favorite children’s books?

Rev. Brownlie: Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. I like that one because over and over again in the book, Horton says a person’s a person, no matter how small, and I liked that when I was a small child. Some ministers think that they are the ministers for the grownups, and the Sunday school people can take care of the kids. But I think that I am a minister for all the people in the congregation, no matter how old they are.

Ginger Smith: What do you like to have for breakfast?

Rev. Brownlie: Usually I eat oatmeal. I really like oatmeal. I am one of the only people I know who like oatmeal, but that’s my idea....

Sam Montgomery: What smells do you like?

Rev. Brownlie: I like the smell of apple pie when it's baking, and lilacs, and Christmas trees, and leaves burning, but I don’t like the smoke. That makes me sneeze. I like the smell of babies after they’ve had a bath. They smell like baby powder. Those are some of my favorite smells.

Grace, Anna, and Katherine Benson: Why is it important forchildren to come to Sunday school?

Rev. Brownlie:It’s important because there are lots of important things tolearn in life and some of the important things to learn have to do withwhat you learn in school like numbers, spelling, reading, and science.Then there are things you learn at home with your friends like how toget along and how to behave, how to love one another. Coming to Sundayschool, you learn some different things. You learn how people thinkabout what’s important in life. Sometimes you learn about theidea that we call God, and you learn how people figure out what’smost important about life. So that why I think it’s important.The other reason it’s important is that it is important to bewith other people who are asking the same kinds of questions.It’s kind of lonesome to ask those questions all by yourself.It’s good to be with other people who want to know those answers,too. It’s fun to hear all the different answers.

Preschoolers: Do you like reading the children’s story?

Rev. Brownlie: I really do. I have to find a good children’s story about a rooster. Remember the first story I did about animals going along down the road to build a house? Somebody said to me that you have a good goose voice, but we’re disappointed in the rooster.

Rev. Brownlie: Thanks to you all for the good questions, and for being so patient and giving each other time, and for listening! This is the best group of listeners!

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