Path to UU Ministry
I lucked into Unitarian Universalism more than 30 years ago. Waiting to see Willy Porter play a show at the UU congregation in Eau Claire, I picked up a pamphlet and discovered that religion could be...bigger than I'd thought when I decided that Catholicism wasn't for me. Since that evening in my last year of college, I've been active as a teacher and lay leader in UU congregations in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. My wife Amy and I joined Merging Waters UU Congregation in 2004, and in the decades since I've learned a lot about the practical pieces of making a congregation work -- serving as an RE teacher, unofficial RE director, board member and chair, and finance committee chair.
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And I started to speak, to preach. At first it was a few times a year, but over time that increased to the point that I was in the pulpit at Merging Waters almost every month, and at other UU congregations several times a year. Merging Waters named me a Commissioned Lay Minister in 2022. That same year, I enrolled at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
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I served as Ministerial Intern at Minnesota Valley UU Fellowship in Bloomington, MN, in the 2024-25 church year, and entered preliminary fellowship as a Unitarian Universalist minister in 2025.
A Bit About Me
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Ministerial Experience
January 2024-present
Chaplain/Community Minister
Nicolet Towers
Serve as chaplain to multicultural residents and staff of a 300-unit apartment building in Minneapolis. I offer pastoral care, lead meditation groups, offer a weekly chapel service, and help run the monthly food shelf and other community events
September 2024-July 2025
Ministerial Intern
Minnesota Valley UU Fellowship
Bloomington, MN
Engaged in shared ministry with staff and members of a 140-member congregation. My role included planning and leading services, attending and advising meetings of the board and committees, organizing and leading the "Exploring Humanism" small group, and providing pastoral care to members.
August 2022-October 2025
Commissioned Lay Minister
Merging Waters UU Congregation
New Brighton, MN
Supported the minister and the congregation by planning and leading worship, helping provide religious education for youth and adults, organizing and leading the monthly "coffee house" in conjunction with the Pilgrim House congregation, and leading celebrations of life.
Other Professional Experience
April 2010-present
Founding partner
Rubric Legal LLC
Minneapolis, MN
Collaborating with four friends and fellow attorneys, I help individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations address legal disputes through litigation, mediation, and negotiation. Practice areas include contract law, commercial litigation, intellectual property, and family law.
February 2007-April 2010
Owner and attorney
Law Offices of Chad A. Snyder
Minneapolis, MN
In a solo practice, I represented individuals and small businesses in litigation, mediation, and arbitration.
October 1998-February 2007
Attorney
Zelle LLP
Minneapolis, MN
As part of a national law firm, I worked with lawyers from around the country on complex commercial litigation matters, including insurance and reinsurance litigation, breach of contract litigation, and financial litigation and arbitration.
Education
2025
1998
1993
Masters of Divinity -- UU Studies United Theologica Seminar of the Twin Cities
Juris Doctorate -- University of Iowa College of Law
Bachelor of Arts -- Journalism and Political Science -- UW-Eau Claire
Other Stuff I Do...
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Serve on the board of Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance (MUUSJA)
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Serve as a volunteer mediator with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights
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Teach continuing legal education programs on civility and ethics
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Represent children in foster care as a volunteer attorney with Children's Law Center of Minnesota
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Act in and direct community theater productions for the Landmark Center and for Applause Community Theater
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Play guitar and sing in the genuinely not terrible garage band "Pigeons From Hell"
