Pastoral Care
UU Pastoral Care Associates (PCAs) are here to listen. They have been trained in compassionate listening skills and are available to all members and friends of our congregation. To contact a Pastoral Care Associate, email listeners@AlbanyUU.groups.io, or contact the Albany UU office at 518-463-7135 or office@albanyuu.org. A PDF of this page is available here.
Anny Lapinsky
Anny has been a member of Albany UU since 1990. Her activities in the congregation have included teaching religious education to children and being on the religious education council, membership committee, art committee, growth through service, caring network, and wellspring. Now that Anny is retired from full-time work, she is in a two-year program studying to be a meditation teacher.
Anny currently leads a weekly meditation session for attorneys through the Albany County Bar Association and teaches some nutrition classes for lawyers through the NYS Bar Association, bringing her back to her first career as a nutritionist.
Ruth Russell
Ruth is honored to join the Pastoral Care Team at the congregation. A lifelong Unitarian Universalist, Ruth has been shaped by the core values of compassion, community, and spiritual growth since childhood. She brings a rich professional background as a trained research scientist and lifelong educator—experiences that have cultivated her deep sense of curiosity, respect for individual journeys, and a strong commitment to service. She is known for her caring nature, empathetic presence, and ability to truly listen. As a Pastoral Care Associate, Ruth looks forward to offering support to fellow congregants with warmth, openness, and understanding. She sees this role as a meaningful opportunity to walk alongside others in times of need, celebration, and reflection.
Frank Traynor
Frank has been attending UU at different communities for the last 20 years but formally joined this congregation in 2025. He chose UU because he found the tenants of his original church were impossible to believe. As a scientist, he came to believe that there shouldn’t be hypocrisy against what is factually true. Initially for the first 20 years, Frank was a researcher in academics and clinical environs for several ivy league universities and large medical centers. During this time, he attended graduate school and completed three MS degrees. He later managed high throughput scientific research projects and automation teams for several pharmaceutical companies. He is a Vietnam Era veteran and has over 40 years recovery in 12 step programs. He is an active sponsor in AA and sings in the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus. Active listening is important on both counts. Listening is important for learning about science, about music, about life. Frank has many hobbies, such as the gym, traveling, stained glass art, languages but his consuming passion is gardening.
Randy Rosette
Randy and her husband, Chris, have been part of the Albany UU community since 1992 when they were looking for a spiritual and ethical home for their family-in-creation. A year later, they adopted three teenage boys. Randy became active with numerous RE programs, teaching elementary through Youth group classes, and has been honored to mentor three Rite of Passage youngsters. Throughout their tenure at Albany UU, Randy has also been privileged to serve on the Board, Personnel, and Finance Committees, and is involved with numerous activities including UU Weekend, fund-raisers, and the choir. Working in the community health care field for over thirty years, Randy strives to treat each person in need with compassion and care. She is honored to serve our community as a PCA and hopes to help whenever called upon.
Jim Chicoine
Jim and wife, Joyce, started attending Albany UU services in 2019 after deciding that they wanted to find a more socially outward reaching community. They have been involved with the Albany UU community in several ways, including attending Wellspring and Meaning Matters study groups and Circle Dinners. Jim has also been on the Finance Committee for several years and worked on two recent fundraisers. Given his desire to assist and connect with people, Jim has and continues to help neighbors and be a volunteer for a number of different Capital District organizations. Surprisingly, he even was a religious education teacher for 20 years. As a PCA, Jim looks forward to connecting with more Albany UU members and providing a listening ear when needed.
Debbie Rodriguez
After attending a wedding at her sister-in-law’s church in Hartford, CT, Debbie Rodriguez realized she needed a similar spiritual home. She looked for quite a while and, upon the recommendation of a co-worker, checked out and joined Albany UU in 2009. Subsequently, she found out that the church in Hartford she had attended the wedding at so long ago was a UU congregation. She has been singing with the choir since she joined Albany UU. She is active with the Rensselaer County Medical Reserve Corp where she helped with the COVID vaccine effort at Hudson Valley Community College and with the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club. She is an RN. She worked for the Office of Mental Health earlier in her career and has retired after 23 years from the New York State Health Department. She is grateful for the opportunity to provide support to the UU congregation as a Pastoral Care Associate.
Sharon Babala
Sharon has attended Albany UU for about 25 years and has taught RE, volunteered at many functions and Sun- day services and chaired the Caring Network. She also has 33 years of management experience, mostly oper-ating a small paralegal service company. What really matters to Sharon regarding the PCA pro- gram is her training as a yoga and meditation teacher and yoga therapist. What she loves is providing deep listening so that every person can be heard, cared for and healed.