Rev. Janet Onnie, like many UU ministers, entered seminary as a second career path. She received her undergraduate degree as a Licentiate in Performance from the Royal Schools of Music in London. She has served as the principal flutist for the Washington Balalaika Society and the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra. She also maintained a private Music teaching and consulting practice.
Rev. Onnie graduated cum laude with a Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) from the Florida Center for Theological Studies in 2008. Her post graduate work was at Meadville-Lombard at the University of Chicago, and Starr King at the University of California-Berkeley.
She is certified as a facilitator/trainer for OWL (Our Whole Lives) addressing human sexuality, Stephen Ministry, and the UU Ministers Association program, Who Are Our Neighbors.
She became the first settled minister at the Fellowship of Marion County (now TriCounty UU) in 2014 after serving as their consulting minister since 2011. In 2021 Rev. Onnie retired from her full-time position with TriCounty and she and her husband moved to Staunton, Va. Since then, she has returned to her musical roots playing flute in the local community band, coaching the local youth symphony, and volunteering at the Staunton Music Festival. She is also serving remotely as sabbatical minister for the South Fraser UU in Canada.