Marta was voted by the congregation Minister Emerita on May 18, 2025. Retired from full time parish ministry She lives in Vermont with her husband, Charlie Duffy, and works as a spiritual director.
For sixteen years Marta served First Parish as Lead Minister (2009-2025) during which the congregation grew in membership and engagement. During her ministry the current Lay Ministry and Worship Associates programs were developed, social justice efforts expanded, and a deepening of spirituality in the congregation experienced through lectio divina, silent retreats and the approach to theological diversity in worship statement in the phrase adopted by the Worship Associates “You Sing My Hymn, I Sing Yours.”
Marta is a graduate of Smith College and Harvard Divinity School. She was trained as a spiritual director at the Mercy Center in Burlingame California and was affiliated as a spiritual director at Bethany House in Arlington MA 2001-2008. For nearly forty years she served congregations in New England. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem serving the Universalist congregation 1987-1997. She served as co-minister of South Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire 1997-2005, and Interim Minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009) before coming to Arlington MA.