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Reverend Dr. Daniel Kanter

Pronouns: He/him/his

Senior Minister

First Unitarian Church of Dallas

Bio

Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Kanter is the Senior Minister and CEO of First Unitarian Church of Dallas and author of the book, Faith for the Unbeliever, published by Skinner House Books in 2017. Daniel came to Texas in 2001 from Boston and after holding the Associate Minister position he was called to the Senior Minister role in 2009. He is recent past the Chair of the Clergy Advocacy Board at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He has served on the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Board of Trustees, has been the President of the Senior Ministers of Large UU Churches as well as a part of a Unitarian Universalist Association task force to define ministerial competency. He has Chaired the board of one of our UU Seminaries, taught UU students at Brite Divinity School and was the Harvard Divinity School Fellow in Residence during the Fall of 2017. He is a founding member and serves on the leadership committee of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanksgiving Square a multi-faith organization addressing issues of justice and compassion in Dallas. Daniel joined the Board of Trustees of Reading Partners of North Texas in 2020. He writes for the Dallas Morning News editorial page, has appeared on the radio for PRI The World, as a guest on podcasts and is an active participant in Dallas public dialogue.

Daniel has a B.A. in Psychology and Asian Area Studies from the University of Vermont, a Masters of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Perkins Theological School at SMU.

Daniel lives in East Dallas with his family and enjoys cycling and time at White Rock Lake in between strategic visioning, working with the church Board of Trustees, preaching, teaching and leading the church staff and ministerial teams.