The Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg is poised to undergo a transformation, as Rev. James Culver joins the church as its first Minister of Music.

The position, a new one for UU St. Pete, signifies a shift in the spiritual life of the church because Culver’s job will be broader than just leading the music program.   His appointment signifies another significant step taken by the historic church located on Mirror Lake, currently led by Rev. Manish K. Mishra.

“We are part of a religious community. There’s a loving bond there,” said Culver, who holds a doctor of musical arts from the University of Iowa and was ordained at Fountain Street Church, a 2,200-member liberal church in Grand Rapids, Mich. “Our task is to create the environment where everyone can come and feel this is a religious community, a home for them.”

That means that the way choir members work together is more important than the music they produce.

“The community comes first,” Culver said. “Although the choirs will perform music of the highest quality because they are trained to do so, the most important thing is the process. So, for example, the adult choir will work hard but we will joke a lot and go out together afterward.

“The most important thing is for the choir to get to know each other, to come together as family. Once people understand that, that’s a part of the church family people will want to know. That’s the best way to grow,” Culver said.

Culver also will lead an active children’s choir, which – like the adult choir – will take on an expanded role as the year progresses.

“Everyone involved in the music program not only will sing or ring hand bells, but also will compose,” said Culver, himself a published composer. More than 120,000 copies of his compositions have been sold, including the best seller “Go in Love,” with an additional 5 million recordings through educational publisher Silver Burdett Co.

Culver was only 11 years old when he took his first job as a church organist at the small Methodist church his family attended, to earn extra money for his family. By the time he was a senior in high school, he had played at Roman Catholic, Baptist and Jewish services, an experience that shaped his religious philosophy.

“By the time I was 18 I had heard so many priests, rabbis and ministers saying that their religion was the one true way, I knew something was up,” he said. “I was thinking I’m not any of these.”

During his career, spanning nearly three decades, he has chaired the music department at a private school in New Jersey and spent seven years as the owner of four Cold Stone Creamery locations in Grand Rapids. He’s been music director at three churches including Fountain Street, and said there are correlations between Fountain Street and UU St. Pete.

“There’s an element of beauty and formality to (UU St. Pete), with the windows, the organ, the pulpit,” Culver said. “That can be a positive for a liberal church, because we’re able to bring in high church elements of beauty, especially through music, with a liberal religious philosophy.” 

The music at Sunday morning services will serve as a vehicle for that religious expression. There will be no one set style, because all music is sacred, he said, so any given Sunday there might be both classical and contemporary music, jazz and blues and rock and Mozart, and it all will fit the theme of the service.

A job relocation by Culver’s wife, Rebecca, prompted the couple’s move to the St. Petersburg area. They have six children, ranging from 29 years old to the youngest, Liz, who turns 9 in July and is the only child still living at home. Culver said he could have made more money at mainline Protestant churches, but he knew that wouldn’t be the right fit.

“I need a place where I can bring my family on Sunday morning and know this is an authentic expression of who I am,” he said.