Associate Dean Office of
Religious Life, University of Southern California. Our office is the
interfaith center for USC, serving 33,500 students who include practitioners of
all the major world religions. I staff the undergraduate student Interfaith
Council, I organized our SHANTI Interfaith Choir, I initiated our SOULJOURN program
which brings students to different houses of worship in Los Angeles every
weekend. I plan and conduct special events bringing together students of many
faiths, including speaker series and artistic offerings. I am responsible for
chaplaincy and religious and spiritual programming for students and staff at
the USC Health Science Campus. I serve on a committee that is organizing a new
Center for Integrative Medicine at USC. I counsel students at both campuses
regarding personal needs and issues, and organize and advise religious clubs on
the campuses. I officiate at special university-wide ceremonies. I involve
students in faith-based service projects in the low-income South Central area
around the campus. I serve as a consultant to the national Abrahamic Family
Reunion Project and am active in the national and regional progressive
Christian movement as a writer and speaker. Office of Religious Life, URC 106,
USC, Los Angeles, CA 90089, 213-740-6110, 8/08 - present, full-time.
Minister Sausalito
(CA) Presbyterian Church. I was the pastor of a church in a beautiful
historic building near the center of the town. I preached, led worship,
counseled members and visited the sick and homebound, led the business affairs
of the church, prepared church communications, and worked directly with the
children's program and mission/service projects of the church. The church is
characterized by its progressive identity and theology, its creative worship
style, and by the many weddings it holds. I represented the church in the Marin
Interfaith Council and continue as the editor/writer of "Sacred
Space", a weekly column in the Marin Independent Journal newspaper. The
church has 130 members and about the same number of friends who attend and
participate. I continue to serve on the national executive council of The
Center for Progressive Christianity, www.tcpc.org, speaking and leading events
about the progressive Christian movement nationally, and coordinating its
fundraising and identity campaigns. 112 Bulkley, Sausalito, CA 94965,
415-332-3790, 9/03 - 3/08, full-time.
Campus
Minister United Campus Christian Ministry at
Stanford University. I served students on behalf of several Protestant
church denominations. I organized and led projects, classes, spiritual
retreats, and internships for students in service with and for low-income
people in the communities around Stanford. I also managed the business affairs
of the campus ministry organization. I was the co-chair of the Community
Working Group - Opportunity Center, which built a $24 million drop-in center
and housing complex for homeless people in Palo Alto. UCCM, Rm 22, Old Union
Clubhouse, PO Box 20149, Stanford, CA 94309, (650) 725-0050. 7/95-8/03 (20
hrs/wk).
Minister College Heights Church, United Church of
Christ. I was the minister of this congregation distinguished by its
informal worship style, its commitment to spiritual growth through a variety of
Christian and other traditions, and by its commitment to local community
service. I preached, led worship and special services, assist members with
special needs, administered the business affairs of the congregation, and engaged
in community service work on behalf of the church. I co-directed week-long
youth summer camps for the N. Calif-Nevada Conference of the UCC. College
Heights Church, 1150 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94403, (650) 341-7311.
12/92- 8/03 (30 hrs/wk).
Executive Director
Urban Ministry of Palo Alto. I was
the chairperson of the committee that organized it in 1984, and came on staff
in 1987 as the Executive Director and Minister of this interfaith non-profit
corporation sponsored by 30 local churches and synagogues, serving over 3,000
homeless and very low-income people annually through six programs. During my
tenure, the organization's annual budget grew from less than $40,000 to
$360,000 and the staff grew from two to nine employees and 350 regular
volunteers. I led the development of several creative new services: most
recently, a money management program for disabled homeless people. I worked and
met with the Board of Directors, wrote and tracked grants, supervised and
trained staff and volunteers, preached in local churches and gave speeches in
other forums. I did casework and acted as chaplain with people of the streets
at Urban Ministry's drop-in center, shelter, food and meal programs, and
clothes closet. Urban Ministry of Palo Alto, 600 Homer, PO Box 213, Palo Alto,
CA 94302, (415) 853- 8672. 1/87-12/92 (full-time).
Case Manager
Community Services Agency. I supervised the Community Kitchen soup kitchen
staff, interviewed and provided emergency food and housing assistance to
homeless and other low-income people, counseled and gave information and
referral, and trained and supervised volunteers in casework functions. CSA, 204
Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA 94043, (650) 968-0836. 3/84-6/87 (20 hrs/wk).
Associate Director
Ecumenical Hunger Program. For an interfaith hunger relief agency, I wrote and
tracked grants, did extensive preaching and public speaking, conducted a
building campaign, interviewed and served emergency assistance clients, and
trained and supervised volunteers. EHP, 1934 University Ave, East Palo Alto, CA
94303, (650) 323-7781. 3/84-8/86 (20 hrs/wk).
Associate Minister
First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. I served as the associate
minister of a large local church in a university community. I preached monthly,
did children's sermons, supervised the church school staff and program, advised
the youth groups, staffed boards and committees, wrote for church publications,
visited the sick and homebound, provided pastoral counseling, and did extensive
community organizing and service work on behalf of the church. First
Congregational Church, 1985 Louis Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94303, (415) 856-6662.
12/79-3/84 (full-time).
Community Organizer
South Hayward Parish. Through a consortium of 4 local churches in Hayward, CA,
I organized residents of a low-income neighborhood around planning, zoning, and
tenants' rights issues. I served on the steering committee of a renters' rights
initiative campaign. I organized and conducted summer day camps for children in
the neighborhood, recruiting and training volunteer staff. I preached and led
classes in the four churches on a regular basis. SHP, c/o Westminster Hills
United Presbyterian Church, Hayward, CA. 6/78-9/79.
EDUCATION
Spanish Language Study
Instituto de Idiomas "Benjamin Franklin", Morelia, Michoacan, 1985.
Master of Divinity
San Francisco Theological Seminary (Presbyterian), San Anselmo and Berkeley,
CA, 1979. Ordination: United Church of Christ,
1981.
Bachelor of Science,
Social Relations University of California, Riverside, graduated Phi Beta Kappa,
1975. Attended University of California, Santa Cruz, 1971-73.
PUBLISHED WORKS
BIRDLIKE
AND BARNLESS: Meditations, Prayers, Poems, and Songs for Progressive Christians, book (St Johann Press 2008)
OPEN
CHRISTIANITY: Home by Another Road, book (Rising Star/St Johann 2000)
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and many articles in books, magazines, websites, and newspapers.