Meet the Staff at MVPC

 

Pastor Stephen (Steve) Weber

came to MVPC in 2000 after a stint on active duty as a chaplain with the U.S. Navy. Prior to this he served as pastor of churches in northern California and northern Idaho. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and Whitworth College he highly values the role of the local church in the life of believers. Initially he was a sports writer for a daily newspaper in Colorado before responding to a call to the pastoral ministry. He shares his life with his wife Cindy, and children Luke, Melissa, Laura and Jeffrey. Outside of the pulpit you might catch Steve hiking the Cascades, biking Skagit Valley, swatting tennis balls or coaching youth soccer. In the winter of 2003 he was called back to active duty and served four months in Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. You may contact Pastor Steve Weber by email at mvpc@mvpres.com or by calling MVPC at 360-424-7675.


Michelle Hanna, Church Secretary

Michelle is our Church Secretary. She and her husband, Bruce, have 4 children; 2 girls and 2 boys.  Michelle grew up in Kirkland and went to college at Pacific Lutheran University.  She has always been active in music programs and has enjoyed playing with the Skagit Community Band for the last several years.  Her background includes working with non-profit organizations such as Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and the Arthritis Foundation.  She is a Board Member of Mount Vernon Cooperative Preschool.  Michelle can be reached by calling the church office or emailing mvpc@mvpres.com


Denice Grant, Director of Music Ministry

Born in Brasil, and a daughter of missionary parents, Denice Raymundo Grant began her musical studies at the age of four. In 1973 her family moved to Portugal, and she had the opportunity to study at the Lisbon National Conservatory, and thanks to another move in 1975 to Canada, at the Toronto Royal Conservatory. Mrs. Grant went on to pursue a BM in Voice and Piano performance at Walla Walla College, where she studied piano with Leonard Richter and voice with Marianne Scriven. She received a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University, where she was a student of Donald Walker. After moving to Seattle in 1990, Denice was employed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet as company pianist, and then by the Houston Ballet in the year 2000. Since returning from Houston in 2002, she started a piano and vocal teaching studio, is involved in chamber music, and has accompanied several professional choruses in the area, some of which include the Bellevue Chamber Chorus, the Northwest Girl Choir, the Choir of the Sound, and The Seattle Choral Company, with whom she recorded Carmina Burana in 1999. She was the organist at Shoreline Calvin Presbyterian Church from 2002 to 2007. She has also worked with the Seattle Opera, the Seattle Symphony Chorus, the Bellevue Symphony, and the Intiman Theatre. Denice has appeared as solo pianist with the Rainier Symphony, the Port Angeles Symphony, and the Seattle Philharmonic, and in March of 2008 she will perform with the Skagit Symphony in Mt. Vernon. In December of 2006 she released a sacred vocal CD titled "If My People Who are Called by Name Shall Pray..." Denice is currently enrolled at the University of Washington pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts program in Piano performance and is studying with Craig Sheppard. Denice and her husband Ozzie live in Burlington; they have four children and two grand children. Denice may be contacted by email at music@mvpres.com


 

Ruth Haines, Children's Choir Director & More...


Ruth has been actively involved in the Music Ministry at MVPRES for a couple of years now. She can be seen directing the children's choir, tickling the ivories in the Sanctuary or singing along with the Chancel Choir & Glorify!