About the Leaders

          Rabbi Shira H. Joseph currently serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Sha'aray Shalom, Hingham, MA, a position she has held since 2003.  Rabbi Joseph served as the President of the Hingham-Hull Religious Leaders in 2009. From 1994-2003, Rabbi Joseph served as Associate Rabbi at Shir Ami, Newtown, PA. 
          Rabbi Joseph is the founder of S.I.M.C.H.A.,  a Jewish special needs organization which serves children with special needs in the Greater Philadelphia area.  She was a consultant on the UAHC publication, AL PI DARCO, a resource booklet for Jewish children becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah.
Rabbi Joseph was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in June, 1995. She received her Masters of Arts in Hebrew Literature from HUC-JIR in May, 1994.  She holds a Master of Arts in Secondary Education from Lehigh University, 1979 with a specialty in special needs.  
          Rabbi Joseph also holds a teaching degree in English and is a Reading Specialist.  She is the proud mother of three daughters, Shayna, 30, Samantha, 29, and Lauren, 26. 

          Father Tom Mulvey began his tenure at Emmanuel Parish, the Episcopal parish in Braintree, Massachusetts, on Christmas Eve in 2008 as Priest-in-Charge. He continued in that capacity until October 12, 2011 when he was installed as the 13th Rector of Emmanuel Parish by the Rt. Rev. Roy Cederholm. Prior to coming to Emmanuel Father Mulvey served the church as Priest Associate of Good Shepherd Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, as Associate Rector of Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Hingham, Massachusetts, and as Rector of Saint John the Evangelist in Burgeo, Newfoundland. During his tenure at Saint John's in Hingham, Father Mulvey was President of the Hingham-Hull Religious Leaders in 2005-2006.
          Father Mulvey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Stonehill College, a Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School, and a Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School. He is presently completing a Doctor of Theology degree (Th.D) at the Boston University School of Theology. The Th.D is the highest degree attainable in the field of theology. In the United States, the degree is only granted at Boston University and Harvard. Father Mulvey's fields of expertise are Church History, Historiography, Historical Theology, and Spirituality.
          Father Mulvey lives in Hingham, MA with his wife, Liz, and their two children, Victoria, 15, and Thomas, 11.

         Rev. Paul Sprecher has been serving as the minister of Second Parish in Hingham Unitarian Universalist since 2006.  He served as President of the Hingham Hull Religious Leaders Association in 2010.  Prior to being settled at Second Parish, Paul served as Ministerial Intern at Arlington Street Church as part of his preparation for his third career.  He taught seventh and eighth grade English and US History for ten years at the Collegiate School for Boys in New York City, then started a new career as a computer consultant and then as Vice President for Technology at the American Stock Exchange; he retired from that position in 2005 to finish his preparation for ministry.

          Paul has served as treasurer for the Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society for the past five years, and is the Scribe of the Ministerial Conference in Berry Street, sponsor of an annual essay by a Unitarian Universalist minister which started in 1820.

          Rev. Sprecher was ordained by the congregation of Second Parish upon his settlement there in 2006.  He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from New York Theological Seminary (2005) and an M.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin (1975).  He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard College in 1972.  Paul is married to Deedee Agee and they are proud parents of David, 29, and Sean, 26.