Joey Lopez | Community Organizer; Lead, Faith Land Initiative
Pronouns: he, him, his
Email Joey | 206-525-1214

Joey Lopez (he, him) is a Southern transplant to the Seattle area. Joey has a passion and purpose for building collective power and channeling that power towards collective liberation. Joey believes that alone we are incredibly powerful people, and when we organize that power, our wildest dreams become reality.

Joey lives into his purpose as a facilitator, trainer, and community organizer at The Church Council of Greater Seattle. As a trainer, facilitator, and organizer, Joey strives to embody the values he has learned throughout his life and the intersections of his experiences. Joey’s upbringing in a rural southern community, constantly hearing “sit down and stay awhile,” nurtured his value of deep, authentic relationships. His kinship with LGBTQ elders reminds him of the importance of persistence and bringing others along the journey toward liberation. And, the generations of resilience modeled by his Puerto Rican ancestors inspire him to sustain the work in new ways.

In his moments of play and rest, you can find Joey spending time in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle with his partner, Dustin, and dog, Baldwin, reading queer fiction and/or science-fiction, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Tara Miller  |  Operations Manager
Pronouns: they, them, theirs
Email Tara | 206-204-3588

Tara Miller came to Seattle from Virginia through the Global Missions Fellows program of the United Methodist Church in 2012, where they supported families experiencing homelessness through Mary’s Place. They then provided administrative and communications support to faith communities and advocates across the state through Faith Action Network (FAN). They now support the organizing work of the Church Council as the Operations Manager, returning after an internship with CCGS as part of their Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry Masters of Transforming Spirituality degree. Tara got their Bachelors of Science in Psychology and Biology from the College of William and Mary.

Tara’s deepest places of learning and praxis come from their personal struggle growing up with nationalistic Bible Belt Christianity, the encouragement of youth ministers who asked systemic questions about injustice, families surviving poverty in Appalachia and Seattle who lived out what community should be, working at a grocery store and attending community college where they learned a lot more about life through the people living it than through their insulated four-year institution, Black and Indigenous protest leaders in Seattle who taught them how to use their body and resources, coming into their queerness and genderqueerness, and by connecting with people of faith and conscience who keep fighting for systemic change. Tara’s default is pessimism, but they find joy in adventuring across the state, doing photoshoots with their friends, thrifting for wild costumes, watching and performing in drag shows, and sneaking cuddles from their standoffish husky-child Kodi.

Michael Ramos  |  Executive Director
Pronouns: he, him, his
Languages: English, Spanish
Email Michael | 206-204-3852

In his role as the Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Michael connects congregations in King and South Snohomish Counties, empowering them in working toward God’s shalom. He has worked on ecumenical community building for two decades and enjoys connecting spirituality with social justice. At the Church Council, confronting homelessness, immigration accompaniment and reform and building a living wage future have been his central commitments with faith communities throughout the region. Michael served as Director of Latino Ministries for the Catholic Diocese in Oakland in the mid-1990s before moving back to Seattle with his wife, Donna, and their two (now-grown) daughters. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Seattle University.  After growing up and going to college in New York City, Michael came to the Pacific Northwest thirty years ago.

Cinda Stenger | Development Lead
Pronouns: she, her, hers
Email Cinda | 206-525-1218

Cinda has been in corporate settings for over 35 years but has always been driven by social justice work in her “free” time- it kept her balanced and filled her soul. Upon losing her job in 2020 due to COVID19, it was an opportune time to put her passion for social justice front and center, to truly pursue what her faith calls upon her to do. Cinda’s deepest spiritual desire is to serve: to be of service to her community, to support those who are building beloved community, to bring about the transformation of our society. Cinda believes in co-creating God’s kin-dom on earth through practicing radical love, deep listening and compassionate understanding for the liberation of all.

When not in service to her community, you could find Cinda in service to her garden attempting to grow her own vegetables, learning to cook various cuisines (South Asian is currently her favorite exploration for plant-based deliciousness), hiking up to a waterfall, or hanging out with friends and family over a delicious meal.

E.N. West | Organizer & Co-Founder, Faith Land Initiative
Pronouns: they, them, theirs / he, him, his
Email E | 206-525-1218

E.N. West, affectionately known as “E” (they/he), proudly hails from the DC metropolitan area, by way of Alexandria, Virginia. E deeply believes “we are uninhibited when we know our power” and is committed to co-creating a world where everyone intimately knows how powerful they are and directs that power toward collective liberation. They are many things, but at the heart of all of them, they are a community organizer based in Seattle, Washington.

E feels called to community organizing as both a vocation and way of life. They are also deeply committed to lifelong leadership formation. To those ends, they’re currently:
• Building toward a world without reproductive oppression as Co-Director at Surge Reproductive Justice.
• Organizing around faith communities and land stewardship as a Co-Founder and Faith Land Organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of The Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Rev. Jenn Hagedorn

Pastor Jenn (she, her) was born in the Pacific Northwest and grew up among the evergreen trees and mountains of the Northern Cascades. Her early experiences of church were in the justice-seeking, progressive church community of Northshore United Church of Christ. While she felt the call to ministry early in life, Jenn took a more circuitous route. She received her bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Rehabilitation from Western Washington University and her master’s degree in public health from the University of Washington before attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She currently serves as pastor at Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ in Issaquah, WA. Jenn has worked as an anti-racist trainer, community organizer, chaplain in hospital and skilled nursing setting, social justice liaison, and associate for stewardship and congregational life. She first got to know the Church Council of Greater Seattle as a Justice Leadership Program Intern working on economic justice and workers rights. Jenn is thrilled to return to CCGS to support their unfolding mission and is grateful to be a part of their faith-based, community-organizing approach to the important justice issues of our day. 

J. Vince Larkin | President

An active member and current moderator at All Pilgrims Christian Church (DOC/UCC), with connections to Metropolitain Community Church, Vince’s faith journey had its beginnings in the LDS tradition. Previous board work includes All Pilgrims and MultiFaith Works, where he served as president through the merger with Rosehedge, remaining on the combined agency’s board through its sunsetting. Professionally, Vince is the General Manager at Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider. His calling in life centers around helping people through transitions which come with death and loss, and finding unique ways to celebrate the significance of lives well lived. Ecumenical work done by the Church Council is so important today as our society finds itself more and more divided. Regardless of individual tradition, the reality of our faith is that we are all one in God’s presence. Whether by focusing on homelessness, living wage, or other issues of social justice, we are stronger when we work together.

Steve Pomeroy | Treasurer

Steve is a native of Spokane, did much of his growing up in Arizona and spent several years in Wisconsin before settling in the Puget Sound area in 1978.  He graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in education and received a masters degree in business administration from the University of Puget Sound.  After eleven years of teaching junior high school for Milwaukee (WI) Public Schools, Steve moved to the Seattle area and worked more than 30 years as the business manager for a consulting engineering firm.  He served as a self-sustaining pastor of the Renton Community of Christ congregation for more than 16 years and has held a number of jurisdictional leadership positions for the church.  Steve has served on the finance committee of the Church Council since 2009 and previously served on the board of directors 2014-2020.  He and his wife Mary Ann have been married more than 40 years and reside in Bellevue.

Deborah C. Towner

Deborah is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest.  She is married to John Towner, has 3 adult daughters and 6 grandchildren.

Deborah spent the bulk of her career as a Senior Vice President with General Electric managing one of their commercial real estate investment departments. There she managed a nationwide team involved in mortgage financing, equity acquisitions and securitization of investment grade properties in the $2 million to $50 million size range with annual volumes of $2 billion.  This career blessed Deborah with deep management and leadership skills both strategic and operational.

Deborah had a second creative degree and career in architectural interiors and worked for a commercial Architectural firm downtown Seattle for nearly a decade.  She is now fully retired.

Deborah has been a member of Community of Christ all her life. She is currently serving as administrative lead on the pastorate team at her congregation and also serves on the world church’s investment advisory board. Deborah has served in many capacities over the years such as worship director, finance officer, camp director and counselor and others.  She is fully committed to Community of Christ’s enduring principles and mission initiatives and lovingly walks with her faith community every day.