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OURpeople

Hover and click on each profile below to learn more about who we support.

Pastor Margaret Boles I have had the privilege to serve as solo pastor for Covenant Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto since 2010, and previously I served in a variety of ministries in Texas, Ohio and the U.S. Virgin Islands. I received an M.Div. from SFTS and a D.Min. from Columbia Theological Seminary. In ministry, my greatest joys are in helping others discover gifts for ministry and in leading groups in transformational work through multi-cultural engagement. In my personal time, I find my spirit lifted while singing with the Pennisula Cantare and in traveling anywhere and everywhere. My husband John, is a professional actor and we have been blessed with three children and four grandchildren.

Pastor Margaret Boles

Covenant Presbyterian Church, Palo Alto

Rev. Staci Current is a native Californian born in Hollywood and reared in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos. Rev. Current is a 1998 graduate of Claremont School of Theology (CST), where she earned a Master of Divinity Degree. Prior to joining the cabinet in 2015 as District Superintendent of the El Camino Real District, Current served as the senior pastor of Jones Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco and was sworn in as Chaplain for the San Francisco Police Department in 2011. Pastor Staci has also served as pastor of Oakland's Shattuck Avenue United Methodist Church, and held pastorates in the North Georgia and Pacific Northwest Annual Conferences. On June 1, 2017, Current was appointed as the district superintendent for the newly established Bay District. Current is married to the Rev. John D. Current, Sr., who is the pastor of Hope United Methodist Church in South San Francisco, and they are the parents of a young adult son, Leon Current. She has two bonus children, John Current, Jr. and Faith Anderson, and a bonus grandson, David.

Rev. Staci Current

United Methodist Church, Bay District

Rabbi Serena Eisenberg serves as the Northern California Director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and is the immediate past president of the Northern California Board of Rabbis. Previously she spent ten years as Executive Director of Hillels at Stanford University and Brown University, and on sabbatical in Israel as a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute and as a project director at the Re’ut Institute.  She was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002, where she studied as a Wexner Graduate Fellow.  Before entering the rabbinate, she earned a JD/MSW at UC Berkeley and worked as an advocate and child welfare ombudsman in diverse settings in the Bronx family court, in Oakland, and with UNICEF in West Africa.

Rabbi Serena Eisenberg

American Jewish Committee (AJC), Northern California

Rev. Henry Kim is currently serving as the Lead Pastor of Lynnewood United Methodist Church in Pleasanton, CA. He is originally from South Korea and has served mostly in cross-ethnic congregations, and continues to seek to make our church relevant and transparent to those whom we serve. He has a strong interest in the spiritual care ministry through contemplative prayer practices. He and his wife have two married children.

Rev. Henry Kim

Lynnewood United Methodist Church, Pleasanton

Rev. Dr. G. Penny Nixon Penny Nixon has been the Senior Minister of the Congregational Church of San Mateo (CCSM), United Church of Christ, since 2007. CCSM is a vibrant, progressive spiritual community of over 600 members and in 2017 received the MLK award from the county of San Mateo. A community leader and political activist, she has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work in both San Francisco and San Mateo, the most recent being named 2019 Woman of the Year for Assembly District 22. She also is Director of the SMC Solidarity Cohort, which is a group of 30 interfaith clergy engaged in addressing the most pressing social needs in San Mateo County.

Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon

Congregational Church of San Mateo (CCSM), United Church of Christ, San Mateo

Pastor Bruce Reyes-Chow is an author, speaker, parent, consultant, coach, podcaster, and pastor. Author of four books and speaker at gatherings around the country, he speaks and writes on issues of faith, technology, race, parenting, and church culture. In addition to pastoring churches, he has worked with the Center for Progressive Renewal and a coach and consultant since 2013 and is a Gallup-Certified Clifton Strengths Coach. After 30 years of living in San Franciso, where he and his wife raised three children and numerous canines, in 2019 he and his family moved to Palo Alto, CA to become the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto.

Pastor Bruce Reyes-Chow

First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto

Rev. Angela Brown received her Juris Doctorate Degree from San Francisco Law School, and she then worked as an ADA with The San Francisco District Attorney's Office until her retirement in 2010. Angela then earned her Masters of Divinity, in 2014 from the Pacific School of Religion Seminary. Rev. Angela's first appointment was as the Associate Pastor serving at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church from 2014-2018 as the minister of Advocacy and Congregational Care. Her current appointment is the Minister of Community Engagement, Advocacy and Social Justice for the ten United Methodist Churches located in San Francisco.

Rev. Angela Brown

United Methodist Church, San Francisco

Rev. Claire Dietrich Ranna began her ministry as Rector of Christ Episcopal Church Los Altos in February, 2017. Originally from Shaker Heights, Ohio, Rev. Claire earned her B.A. at Duke University. Before pursuing theological education, she co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary film Miss Representation. Rev. Claire earned her Master of Divinity at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in 2014 and served St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, as their seminarian. She previously served as Associate Rector of The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco. Rev. Claire is a guest contributor to onbeing.org, Young�Clergy�Women�International, and also serves on the board of the Nambale�Magnet�School in Western Kenya. As Rector, she also sits on the board of Christ Church's parish school, Ventana.

Rev. Claire Dietrich Ranna

Christ Episcopal Church, Los Altos

Rev. Bernt Hillesland is a resident of Palo Alto and currently co-pastor with his wife Katherine at First Lutheran Church of Palo Alto (ELCA). Bernt has also served churches in Tacoma, Washington and Woodland Hills, California - in addition to short ventures with ministries on campus, visiting freight ships and in a shelter for street people. He's interested in how gospel ministry can take shape in and meaningful address our changing and complicated world. Personal hobbies include elaborate cooking projects, old-time mandolin and American literature. Bernt and Katherine are parents to five children, ages 9 to 16

Rev. Bernt Hillesland

First Lutheran Church of Palo Alto (ELCA)

Rabbi Darren Kleinberg is an ordained rabbi (YCT) and holds a PhD in Religious Studies (ASU), where he explored the intersection of sociology and theology through the prism of American Jewish identity. He is currently serving in his seventh year as Head of School at Kehillah Jewish High School, in Palo Alto, CA, and is a Visiting Scholar with the Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Darren teaches and writes about the cultivation of wisdom and is the author of Hybrid Judaism: Irving Greenberg, Encounter, and the Changing Nature of American Jewish Identity.

Rabbi Darren Kleinberg

Kehillah Jewish High School, Palo Alto

Elder Jeong Park is an ordained elder of the California Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He currently serves as associate pastor of Los Altos United Methodist Church in California. He has served as a hospital chaplain at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, served two local churches, Centennial United Methodist Church and Fair Oaks United Methodist Church for twelve years. He has also completed a doctoral program in pastoral care and counseling at San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Elder Jeong Park

Los Altos United Methodist Church

Rabbi Bridget Wynne is rabbi and executive director of Jewish Gateways, an open community in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The "Come as you are, no experience necessary" environment, encourages Jews who have felt marginalized or have not found Judaism meaningful, their families and friends, to explore how Jewish tradition can speak to them. Rabbi Wynne worked as a community organizer before becoming a rabbi. She has drawn on this experience in her rabbinate to focus on meeting people where they are, building relationships, and to help people gain the skills and confidence necessary to shape their own Jewish lives.

Rabbi Bridget Wynne

Jewish Gateways, East Bay

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