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Jeff Briere serves as minister for the Unitarian Universalist Church in Chattanooga.* Name: Jeff Briere
* Position: Minister
* Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of Chattanooga
* First job: Working for a summer at a lakefront resort property owned by his dentist. "I was a little hellion. I remember my dentist's wife taught me how to bake cakes, but then the other thing I remember was the time I threw a cherry bomb into a mailbox and blew it off its posts."
* Best part of the job: "The best thing is to have someone tell me, 'That's just what I needed to hear' or 'I thought you were talking to me' or 'I'm going to think a lot about what you said.'" The theater enthusiast and sometimes participant said he also enjoys the opportunity to "write the script and produce and direct, and mostly be the star of my own show every Sunday morning."
* Worst part of the job: "It's no fun doing memorial services for parishioners who die. That's kind of tough."
* Biggest challenge of the work: Governing a body of 170 people. "A big challenge is somehow organizing a diverse bunch of people with differing beliefs into a community that makes a difference in the world."
* On the air: Briere had a career in radio before becoming a minister. He worked for National Public Radio for 13 years. "When was Reagan shot? That was one the first weekends I started." Answer: March 30, 1981.
* What he's learned: "For a lot of my professional life I worked with things, now I work with people. That's a learning experience for me. [I've learned] how to negotiate and how to compromise. You don't negotiate or compromise with a tape deck or a microphone."
* How to make a career of it: Get a post-graduate degree in theology or religious studies. Attend career assessment seminars. Do a pastoral residency. Go through a series of interviews. Appear before a fellowship committee. Then wait to be matched with a church. "You investigate the church and the church investigates you, and if things look hunky dory, they call you to the pulpit."
-- Compiled by staff writer Holly Leber, hleber@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/hollyleber.