On August 12, 2025, the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ (MN UCC) and its Search Committee elected Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan (’21) as its new Conference Minister. An adjunct faculty member and alum, Tanya assumes her new role on November 3, and she credits her education at United as having helped prepare her for Conference ministry.
While considering enrolling at United, Tanya was facing a spiritual crisis. “I was parched in my work as a minister,” she recalls. “There was a woman in one of my churches who noticed I was holding something back.” The woman offered an encouraging word: “You could be fierce.” Seeking refreshment in her vocation, Tanya enrolled in United’s DMin program. “Once I started at United, I jumped fully in.... It was so worth it.”
While initially unsure about which specialty she desired to pursue, her coursework and the relationships she built with faculty and her fellow students helped narrow her focus. Tanya says, “I discovered, shockingly, of course I’m a public theologian!” She graduated in 2021 with her DMin in Public Theology. She reflects, “United’s DMin program gave me what I needed to become a more centered and effective leader for publicly speaking on matters of justice, race, environmentalism, and bridging cultures and religions.” Her experience helped her become a “fierce, powerful, effective leader,” and her dissertation was published in January 2025 as a book titled From Outlaw to In-Law: How Multicultural Interfaith Couples Can Become Agents for Social Change.
As she prepares for her new call, Tanya believes communities across the country need deeper connection and “relationships of depth across difference”—a reality that dovetails with her research. “Theological education,” Tanya believes, equips people to be more effective leaders in complex times.” She believes the tools and resources she received at United will enable her to support ministers, leaders, and organizers.
“I care so much about people in ministry who become thirsty and don’t have any other well to go to,” she avers. She sees her calling at the MN UCC as helping to heal wounds, bridge differences, and cultivate compassion among the many members of the Conference. “I feel blessed, humbled, and privileged to be invited into this conversation at the MN UCC.”
As for how she will inhabit this new call in her vocation, Tanya is clear-eyed. “Joy [and humor are] really important to me,” she says. “Joy, connectedness, relationships—we can’t do any of this work without being deeply grounded and having access to joy.”
For Tanya’s joyful ministry and advocacy, we offer our deepest celebration and gratitude.
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