As Lutherans we know that relationship is at the heart of our understanding of God, and that a community is made whole by the gifts of all the people present. Some of us serve God and her people by building up the homes of others. Some of us fulfill our vocation by being spouses. Some of us make the community whole by being recipients. Some of us serve as leaders or visionaries and others as enthusiasts or questioners. Some of us have acquired training or skills to carry out our vocations and some of us are born into our roles. Our community does not fulfill its mission without all of us.
Clergy
Pr. Kristofer Rhude began his ministry at CGS in January 2023. Originally from Wisconsin, he has lived across North America while pursuing his education, earning a BA in Near Eastern Studies and Religious Studies from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., and an MS from the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. CGS is his first call as a pastor.
In his ministry, Kris is passionate about working with marginalized people for justice and change, and creating and maintaining a community of love and belonging for all people. He loves to help curious people recognize the complexity of our lives of faith, and encounter God from a place of imaginative possibility, rather than restrictive certainty.
Pr. Kris lives in San Jose with his wife Laura, who works as a map librarian at Stanford. In his spare time he loves to get out into the natural beauty of California by cross country skiing in the Sierras, biking around the Santa Cruz mountains, and kayaking in the Bay. He also enjoys playing piano, reading science fiction and fantasy, playing board games, and baking.
Pr. Kris wants to get to know you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to him at pastorkris@cgslc.org anytime.
In his ministry, Kris is passionate about working with marginalized people for justice and change, and creating and maintaining a community of love and belonging for all people. He loves to help curious people recognize the complexity of our lives of faith, and encounter God from a place of imaginative possibility, rather than restrictive certainty.
Pr. Kris lives in San Jose with his wife Laura, who works as a map librarian at Stanford. In his spare time he loves to get out into the natural beauty of California by cross country skiing in the Sierras, biking around the Santa Cruz mountains, and kayaking in the Bay. He also enjoys playing piano, reading science fiction and fantasy, playing board games, and baking.
Pr. Kris wants to get to know you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to him at pastorkris@cgslc.org anytime.
Council
These people are members of the congregation who are elected to lead CGS for a term of 3 years. They are the visionaries and managers of our community of faith. You can reach them at council@cgslc.org. You can also reach the executive committee (President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer) at executivecommittee@cgslc.org.
President
Petra Menard
Isabella Coste |
Vice-President
Bob Blough
Rachel Visscher |
Secretary
Gregg Ziggler
Robert TeufelMargaret Vallient |
TreasurerJean Hope
Lynn Hunger |
Staff
The Staff at CGS are the persons who have contracted with this community to lead a portion of the community's ministries.
Daniel Thomas, Church Musician
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Daniel ThomasDaniel is called to be the church musician which means that his gifts and training in music performance and leadership help our whole community to access the sacred through music at CGS. He leads music in Sunday morning worship and is finding ways to make music a part of our other activities and events.
Daniel came to CGS in 2015, having returned to his native Bay Area after far too long in Southern California. While he was there he served as the tenor section leader/soloist at Westwood Hills Christian Church and then 13 years as the music and choir director at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Long Beach. Daniel has been active as a music director, conductor, pianist, singer, actor, arranger and arts administrator for over twenty years; he is currently the Executive Director of 42nd Street Moon, a musical theatre company in San Francisco, and does freelance musical direction for theatre companies throughout the Bay Area. Daniel is blessed to have the love and support of his wife Rebecca and son Joshua. You can reach Daniel at daniel@cgslc.org. |
Rey Lambatin, Choir Director
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Rey LambatinRey is CGS's choir director. His gifts and experience in leading choirs aids the people at CGS to sing together. He currently leads two choirs at CGS: the CGS Choir, and the Keynote Vocal Group.
Rey’s deep interest for music started at 17, when he started singing in his local church choir in the Philippines. This interest grew into passion, took private piano and music lessons, and got more involved in choral singing and started arranging music. In 1991, he started serving as the music and choir director of Bagong Ilog Unida Evangelical Church in Pasig City, Philippines, and eventually became the president and choir director of Koro ng Unida, the national choir organization of Unida Evangelical Church. Since coming to the US in 1999, Rey has been actively involved in different community choirs, and feels specially blessed to continue to serve and make music in faith and love of God at CGS. It’s his hope and prayer that music will continue to help us through our walk and growth in faith, and bring joy in times of celebration or comfort during challenges. You can reach Rey at choirdirector@cgslc.org. |
Vanetia Johnston, Sunday School teacher
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Vanetia JohnstonVanetia is called to work with the kids at CGS in our Sunday morning Nursery. She is currently teaching the 0-6 year old crowd during Jesus and Me, using the Frolic curriculum.
You can reach Vanetia at vanetiaj@gmail.com |
Comfort Gray, Housekeeper
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Comfort GrayComfort is called to be the Housekeeper of CGS. Hundreds of people use the facilities on our property and Comfort makes sure that these spaces are clean and ready for hosting.
Comfort emigrated from Ghana and found CGS when she settled on San Jose as her new home. You can reach her through her supervisor at the church email address. |
Doug Peters, Sexton
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Doug PetersDoug is the sexton at CGS. He provides security and other heavy-duty lifting around our campus. Doug has been attending CGS since he was 12 years old. He likes to be outside and do yardwork. You can reach Doug through his supervisor at the church email address.
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Leaders
Much of the work of our community happens because people volunteer a considerable amount of their time. These people do jobs and fulfill roles as volunteers.
Janet Keeley, Finance SecretaryJanet is the person who processes our donations, offerings, and incoming gifts. She's the only one who sees these gifts and has managed our income for years.
Janet Keeley, SacristanAs Sacristan, Janet organizes our Altar Guild (those who prepare Holy Communion and Worship Arts) and cares for all the items that assist our worship and sacred ritual.
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Paul Thomas, LibrarianAfter receiving a large gift for a library at CGS, Paul offered his gifts and skills in Library science to curate our exceptional library.
Property TeamJoe Shackelford, Steve Weirauch, Carnes, Skye Gordineer, and Noriko Thomas work together to make our campus hospitable for all the people who use the sacred and community space.
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Personnel CommitteeMichael Flanagin, Paul Thomas and Barbara Malaspina use their combined managerial experience to ensure that our paid staff are supported in and held accountable for their work among us.
Finance & Stewardship TeamGregg Zigler, Janet Keeley, Kevin Visscher, and Jean Hope work together to manage the stewardship of our gifts and the financial ministries of our congregation.
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