Viola Abbitt

Rev. Viola Abbitt (pronouns: she/they) is currently the settled minister at Coastal Virginia Unitarian Universalists in Virginia Beach, VA. Before that, she served as the half-time minister for two Unitarian Universalist congregations in New York State, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie, and the First Unitarian Society of Westchester. Rev. Viola was a contributor to BLUU Notes and the liturgical materials for the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA) Promise and the Practice of Our Faith Campaign in 2018. She is currently a member of the Nominating Committee of the UUA, and previously served on the UUA's Journey Toward Wholeness Transformation Committee, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association Committee on Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression and Multiculturalism, the board of Camp Unirondack, and the board of UU Wellspring, Inc., for which she co-authored a spiritual deepening program for youth, and another focusing on revisions to the UUA's bylaws. She is a licensed attorney in the state of New York and prior to ministry, she served as the Director of the Office of the Ombudsman for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and before that as a Deputy Bureau Chief in the New York State Attorney General's Office. Rev. Viola has been awarded degrees by the following institutions: Meadville Lombard Theological School (MDiv), Fordham University School of Law (JD), Long Island University (MSLS) and Binghamton University (BA).