St. Dunstan’s has become my home after retiring from full time parish ministry and moving back to the Seattle area. I am passionate about Jesus, serving the poor, reconciliation and healing, and I get to participate in ministry at St. Dunstan’s with these passions.
I came to Seattle in 1951 as a refugee and immigrant from Estonia, although I was born in Austria. I went to Roosevelt High School, the University of Washington, and Seattle University School of Law. For twenty years I worked as a lawyer, mainly in family law and mediation, along with leading a church conflict intervention ministry. It was through II Corinthians 5:17-20, that I heard a call to serve as a priest in the Church. “God has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” This sent me to Fuller Seminary in Seattle and then Trinity School for Ministry in Pennsylvania.
I have served churches near Albany, New York, in Tacoma, in Frankfurt Germany, and Nashville before retirement. And now I get to do my favorite work of all: I serve as a speaker for Food for the Poor, travelling all over the United States and preaching/fund raising in different Episcopal and Lutheran churches. Food for the Poor is one of the largest relief and development non-profits in the U.S., serving God’s poor in the Caribbean. Matthew 25 says, “as much as you do this for the least of my children, you do it as unto me.” In coming to St. Dunstan’s this work is brought full circle, since I also get to serve with Community Dinners on Tuesdays: gleaning, cooking and drying dishes.
I am blessed with two wonderful children: Kyle is a fused glass jewelry artist at the Pike Place Market and Cara is the librarian at an Episcopal girls’ boarding school in Virginia. My favorite activities are long distance walking and travel.