Our Pastors

I was born and grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and attended Sunday School at Fairmount Presbyterian Church. After attending Northwestern University, I returned to Cleveland to work in the family business. I served as a Deacon and Elder at Fairmount Presbyterian from 1982-87.

In 1996, I began to work at Good News Partners in Chicago, Illinois helping facilitate partnerships between ten Presbyterian churches and an underserved community. On May 11, 2013, I graduated with a Master of Divinity from McCormick Seminary. The next day I married his fellow seminarian, Brenda Hooser.

In 2017, Brenda and I came to Cleveland and in 2018 I became a Parish Associate for Visitation at Fairmount Presbyterian. This was a position I held until August of 2024. In 2021 I worked as a community organizer for Repairers of the Breach in Goldsboro, North Carolina. I helped lead the participation of the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign in the Mass Assembly of Poor People and Low Wage Workers in Washington, D.C. of 2022. After that I continued as a member of the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign Coordinating Committee until August of 2024. 

In September of 2024, we returned to Illinois to be Co-Pastor with Brenda at College Avenue Presbyterian Church in Aledo, Illinois and myself the Pastor of Hamlet Perryton Presbyterian Church in Hamlet, Illinois. I am the Vice President of the Mercer County, Illinois Ministerial Alliance and on the Board of the Healing Hands Alliance in Cleveland, Ohio. 

I was born in Los Alamos, NM and lived most of my life in Santa Barbara, CA. I grew up Roman Catholic and left the church when I turned 18. In 2002, I felt a call to return and found a Presbyterian church near me. I chose a Presbyterian church because I had read and enjoyed Kathleen Norris’ book Amazing Grace. I became a member of that church in 2005 and shortly after began feeling a call to ministry. I ignored it for a time. However, a couple of years later, while living in Flagstaff, AZ, a friend asked me out of the blue, “Have you ever considered being a minister?” I took that as definitive and began the process shortly after.

In 2010, I moved from Flagstaff to Chicago to attend McCormick seminary – in Matthew Downey’s cohort. While there I became interested in Church History, especially the history of the early church. I also met Peter in seminary and we were married right after graduation. I did a year-long clinical pastoral education with The Night Ministry. The Night Ministry is a homeless outreach program. We took an RV, converted to include a physical examination room for medical care, around Chicago to pre-arranged stops. Our role was to talk with people, pray with them if they wished, and be a friendly presence. Afterward, I worked with The Night Ministry until we moved to Cleveland in 2017.

In Cleveland, I was a founding C0-Chair of the Presbytery of the Western Reserve’s homeless network. Our mission is to educate people on the causes of homelessness and to work with providers on how churches can support their work. 

In 2020, I completed a Masters of Theological Studies through Iliff School of Theology in Denver. My thesis was on the theology and ethics of Wonder Woman in the Golden Age. I have always been interested in women’s issues and learning about women – who are often forgotten in favor of men’s history.

During the first months of COVID, when churches were meeting online, Peter and I began hosting zoom meetings so we could see friends from church. They were very popular and when our church opened up in 2021, we worked with the pastors to bring the “Online Sanctuary” to everyone who wanted to join. The Online Sanctuary is one way I’ve worked to help make the church more inclusive.

I enjoy living in the country now and learning about life here and co-pastoring College Avenue Presbyterian Church with my husband Peter and am looking forward to where the Holy Spirit takes us!