Meet Our Consulting Ministers

rev. dr. ignacio castuera and rev. james ishmael ford

While the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles is a lay led congregation, we value the wisdom of elders, and have engaged the Reverend James Ishmael Ford and Dr. Ignacio Castuera as our consulting ministers. They bring with them knowledge and experience in several different religious traditions. They each take the pulpit once a month and assist the smooth flow of church life in various ways. We are proud they have chosen to throw their lot in with us in their very active retirements.

The Reverend Dr Ignacio Castuera is a renowned social justice activist and United Methodist minister. He was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, coming to the United States to attend California State University at Long Beach. He later earned both a masters and doctorate at Claremont School of Theology. Ignacio served congregations in Mexico, Hawaii, and California, including eleven years at the Hollywood United Methodist Church. He was also the first Mexican-American to serve as a district superintendent in Los Angeles. He is editor of Dreams on Fire: Embers of Hope: From the Pulpits of Los Angeles After the Riots, which was one of the top ten religious books of 1992. Ignacio served as national chaplain for Planned Parenthood for six years and later on the board of directors and Southern California advisory board for the nation's leading end-of-life choice organization, Compassion & Choices. He is the proud father of three daughters and one son. Ignacio lives in Claremont.

The Reverend James Ishmael Ford has walked the spiritual path for more than fifty years. He has danced with Sufis, studied with Gnostics, lived in a Buddhist monastery and was ordained a Zen priest. Later he also ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister and preached in Wisconsin, Arizona, and from the high pulpits in old New England churches. Eventually serving as a UU parish minister for a quarter of a century. He is minister-emeritus of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. James has written five books about spirituality focused mostly on the Zen traditions. And at the same time has worked in the trenches for social justice. Today he serves as guiding teacher for the Empty Moon Zen Network. He lives in Long Beach with his spouse, Jan Seymour-Ford, a retired librarian and very much not retired social justice activist, and Cassie, their three-legged cat.