Meet the Team!
Our Ministers: every member of the congregation. Each of us is given opportunities in daily life to be about the work of sharing God's gracious and redeeming word. Join us in the work of study, worship, fellowship, and works of justice.
Our Pastor is the Rev. Greg Schaefer is a California native, having grown up on a Bay Area cattle ranch . A Lutheran pastor since 2004, he came to Palo Alto after serving as Associate Dean of the Chapel and Director of Admissions at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. Before that, Pastor Greg was a grad student at the Graduate Theological Union, studying religion and psychology, and is now a grad student again, in a doctoral program at San Francisco Theological Seminary. Besides such lofty things as theology, Pastor loves golfing, hiking, sailing, flying, cooking (and eating), traveling, horseback riding, and spending time with his wife, Gwen . . . not necessarily in that order! Contact PG at Pastor@UniLu.Church.
Our Children's Ministry Coordinator, Melissa Gonzalez, is a teacher and mother of two. Her grandfather presided over the dedication of University Lutheran Church in April of 1968. Melissa brings a wealth of experience, enthusiam, and dedication to the Children's Ministry, providing leadership for Sunday School as well as Vacation Bible School in the summer. Melissa can be reached at children@unichu.org.
Our Worship and Music Director is Carol DeZutti, a Bay Area native who grew up worshiping in and working for the Lutheran church. Carol is am award-winning pre-school teacher, and she and her husband have raised their (now grown) children at UniLu.
Our Choir Director is Bill Walker, a lifelong pianist and singer. He earned a Ph.D in computers and music at the University of Illinois before coming to the Bay Area in the mid 90's to pursue a career in software engineering and management. He loves to relate the history of sacred music to our current worship experience. Bill also enjoys playing jazz piano and photographing birds.
The Church Council meets once a month, on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm, in the Fireside Room. If you would like to come to a Council meeting to observe, to share a perspective, or to participate in a discussion, feel free to join us. You can email the Council as a whole at Council@UniversityLutheran.Church.
