About Us

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PROCLAIMING GOD'S GRACE 

We believe that Northminster is a home for all who dare to hope that God is radically in love with the world.  We believe that this means that all are welcome, young and old, queer and straight, Ballard native and recent arrival, deeply Christian and newly curious.  We are anchored by our commitment to a traditional liturgy and robust worship.  We believe that our practice of worship changes the way that we engage in the world.  

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CREATING COMMUNITY 

We believe that Jesus, the image of the invisible God, was fully human.  So we take great joy in our humanity and in our community.  We strive to be a warm and welcoming community in each expression that we gather.  There is always room for one more chair at the table.  

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SERVING OUR NEIGHBORS 

We believe that the work of the Holy Spirit emerges through community and authenticity.  At Northminster, service and devotion are the rhythm of our lives.  We are strongly committed to social justice and serving our neighbors in need.  

Check out our Serve page to find ways in which we are partnering with our community. 

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Human Rights

Human Rights Statement

The session of Northminster Presbyterian Church commissioned an examination of our values, our confessions, and a response to our cultural context. Through a nine month process, the Human Rights Committee crafted a document that was adopted by the session in October 2017. You can read the text of the document by clicking the button below. 

As we move toward widening our education and learning more about opportunities for service, we will continue live into this document as a community. 

Land Acknowledgement Statement

The community of Northminster Presbyterian Church recognizes and grieves for the deep injustices that we, as a community and as an institutional church have inflicted in the past and continue to inflict upon the Indigenous peoples dwelling on this land.  As a first step, we wish to acknowledge that our church stands on unceded land and our debt with its original stewards.  We encourage you to read the statement and learn more about the subject by clicking on the button below.

 

Our Staff

Rev. Jeny Carlson

Pastor

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Pastor Jeny (she/her) has served the congregation at Northminster since 2018 and stepped into the role of Transitional Pastor in 2021. She has a passion for faith formation across our lifetime, believing that God is always presenting us with opportunities to grow, learn, and live into our calling to transform the world through God’s love.

Jeny’s educational and vocational background includes a degree in Biology Education, Certificates in Forensics and Social Work, and a Master’s in Divinity from Seattle University, where she cemented her call to work for social justice, particularly LGBTQ+ inclusion and reconciliation within the whole church. As a woman who puts the “B” in LGBT, she understands the challenges that come with not fitting neatly into boxes, and resonates with the living Christ who crossed all boundaries to share the love of God who calls us into deep relationship and community.

Jeny lives near Haller Lake with her husband, Lars and son, Gunnar, along with their dogs Leia, Pippi, and Tasha. She has two adult, daughters, Annika and Erika. She has a passion for knitting and counts that as an essential part of her daily meditative practice.

She is a HUGE Marvel Comics geek and if you really want to get her talking, ask her about anything connected to Captain America.

 

Dustin Wilsor

Director of Ministry

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Dustin Wilsor (he/him) has had an extensive and varied career across the country as a theatre creator, administrator, educator, and minister. He received his BA in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University, and his MDiv & MA in Theology and the Arts at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. He is on the ordination track in the (PCUSA) under care of Woodland Park Presbyterian. In ministry, he is committed to creative reimaginings of liturgical worship tradition, and is particularly interested in the intersection of theology and pop culture. He wrote his thesis on the Theology of Musical Theatre, and is passionate about developing creative, story-centered worship that seeks to invite fully-engaged participation in the Word rather than one-way observation of the Pastor. In this time at Northminster he hopes to begin to explore new ways in which we might experience and interpret scripture.

 
 
 

Rev. Martín Jiménez

Associate Pastor for development

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Martin Jimenez is a Chicano (Mexican American from California) from the rural/suburban spaces south of the San Francisco Bay Area. My dad's family settled in Los Angeles early in the 20th century after escaping the violence of the Mexican Revolution while his mom's lineage comes through Oregon with various relations dating back to the earliest moments of the country.

After the rock and roll dream fizzled he finished his BA at San Francisco State University as the departmental honoree of the photojournalism school and went to work at a California weekly for a few years.

In 2006 he moved to Seattle to pursue Seminary where he worked and studied until graduating in 2012 and leaving employment there in 2016. Since then he has managed a Lilly Endowment Grant at Seattle Pacific University (Pivotnw.org) that seeks to understand why 20-somethings eschew church and what can be done to reverse that trend.

Valencio (2) and Petra (8) are the kids he raises with his wife Ali who works at UW. If he is daydreaming it is probably about his next time sailing on the waterways of the PNW, thinking of the next DND adventure to take his party on, or recalling a great Warriors basketball play from a recent game.

 

Joseph To

Music Director

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Award-winning choral director, Joseph To (he/him) serves as music director for multiple organizations, including the Norwegian Ladies Chorus of Seattle; the Magnolia Chorale; Northminster Presbyterian Church; and the Seattle School District, one of the most diverse school districts in the nation.

He holds a master’s degree in choral conducting and a bachelor’s degree in music education. Interested in world music, especially Chinese choral music, Joseph has studied and presented Mandarin and Cantonese choral music and ethnomusicology implementation in secondary music education.

He serves as the Community Repertoire and Resources Chair of the Washington Chapter of American Choral Director Association (WAACDA). He is the recipient of the “Outstanding Emerging Choral Director” 2022 by the WAACDA and he will be presenting in NAfME Northwest regional conference in 2023 about ethnomusicology implementation plan for secondary music classrooms.

 

Chen Liang

Accompanist

Chinese-born pianist Chen Liang is an active figure on stages around the world. As a recording artist for KNS Classical in Spain and a performing artist for Chengdu City Concert Hall in China, Chen gives numerous recitals every year around the world.

As a passionate educator, Chen has been serving as a piano faculty at the State University of New York (Geneseo) and Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah.

As a music entrepreneur, Chen is a Board Member of the Seattle International Piano Competition and the Artistic Director for the “Beyond Clouds” summer piano festival in Chengdu China.

As an active collaborative pianist, Chen plays for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Choral Company.

Before joining the beloved Northminster Presbyterian Church, Chen was the organist and pianist for the United Church of Pittsford in New York. Chen received his degrees in piano performance from Lynn University (BM) and the Eastman School of Music (MM, DMA).

Our Elders

Per polity of the PC(USA), our church is governed by a board of elders nominated and elected by the members of Northminster. Those elected are ordained as Ruling Elders as serve three-year terms as leaders of our congregation. They also may serve Seattle Presbytery.

Our Current Ruling Elders are:

Carol Charles, Clerk of Session
Jonathan Bowdler, Budget and Finance
Saskia De Vries, Beyond Our Walls
Bronwen Matthews, Worship and Music,
Rebecca Rufin, Treasurer
Sara Timmons, Community Outreach, Nominating, Buildings and Grounds
Trisha Wirta, Community Outreach

Our Deacons

Per polity of the PC(USA), deacons are nominated and elected by the members of Northminster to serve and care for the needs of the whole congregation. This includes prayer, financial support, home visits and bringing of communion to those unable to attend church. They serve three-year terms.

Our Current Deacons are:

Elizabeth Schmidt, chair
Jen Jensen
Lisa Lady
Liz Tennant
Dawn Thornhill

Our Incorporation

Per the laws of Washington State, churches are legally formed as non-profit organizations. Our officers are:

Saskia De Vries, President
, Vice President
Rebecca Rufin, Treasurer
Carol Charles, Secretary
Szu-yu Huang, Financial Secretary