Pastors: Reverend Nathan Winterhof and Reverend Sara Pearson

Prince of Peace called husband and wife Rev. Nathan Winterhof and Rev. Sara Pearson as co-pastors in April 2015. Sara and Nate moved back to the Bay Area after serving as solo pastors to two congregations in the far north woods of Wisconsin. Both graduated from seminary at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) in Berkeley, California and work 3/4 hours to allow more time for their young children.
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Meet Rev. Nate

The Rev. Nathan Winterhof's first call was with a wonderful community and feels delighted and blessed to have been called to serve another at Prince of Peace.

"I'm not exactly new to the area, but it's been a while since I've been here so it feels both like coming back and finding something new; I am excited for the adventure ahead."

Pastor Nate's Bible verse of choice is 1 Thess. 2:8, "So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us." It's his favorite verse because it recognizes the profound value of a faith active in love, and how sharing God's love for the world also means knowing your neighbors and being known by them.
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As such, Pastor Nate (or Pastor Nathan, or just Nate, if you prefer) will be doing a lot of learning about the history, culture, and life of Prince of Peace and the larger Silicon Valley with his whole family.

Email Rev. Nate

Meet Rev. Sara

Rev. Sara Pearson hails from Omaha, Nebraska. Before answering the call to be a pastor, Sara worked at a variety of jobs in a variety of places including time as a naturalist in SE Alaska, volunteering for the Peace Corps in West Africa, and caring for the elderly in Denver, Colorado.

Sara is excited to be away from the mosquitoes and ticks of Wisconsin and back to the loving warmth of the Prince of Peace (PoP) community where she served as intern in 2009-2010. She also looks forward to being part of an awesome staff and inclusive community, and to expanding the programming and outreach of this vibrant place. 

When Sara is not working she is probably chasing after their two small children or romping with their black lab, Poe. Sara's favorite California hobbies are surfing, climbing and biking.

Email Rev. Sara

Co-Pastors: How does that work?

Primary Responsibilities

BOTH: Leading worship, Pastoral Care, & Retreats. Sara and Nate take turns delivering the sermon, leading the ceremonial part of worship, meeting with those in crisis, and leading retreats. In addition, they each have specialties.

SARA:

• Fellowship
• Evangelism
• Outreach
• Social Ministry
• Synod
• Local Churches
• Community
• Personnel Management
• Adult Education
• Finance, Budget & Audit
• Vendor Relations (Building Usage)

NATE:

• Youth
• Children
• Worship & Music
• Visitation
• Stewardship
• Property Maintenance
• Computers & Technology

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Office Staff

Office Manager:
Anne Hess

Anne joined the team in May 2007 as Community Life Director to focus on building relationships within Prince of Peace and to assist the congregation in active involvement in our community.  In December 2018, Anne took over as the full time office manager when Carol Gobby retired. Still you will often see her around Prince of Peace with a camera, taking action shots of all of our fun activities for the website, Facebook page and newsletters.

​Anne received her Bachelor of Human Environmental Sciences from the University of Missouri at Columbia. She has worked in retail management, IT services marketing, training, and human resources. 

When not at Prince of Peace she volunteers at her children's school. She also loves sailing, reading, and crafts.

Email Anne

Director of Youth & Service Ministry:
​Drew Ajer

Drew joined Prince of Peace in May 2019. Originally from San Diego, CA, Drew has traveled a lot since childhood. He  graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College (an ELCA affiliated school in St. Peter, MN) with a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy.

Drew early career started with Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Milwaukee, WI. Being placed at an inner city school with at-risk youth which ignited a passion for working with youth and creating and implementing systems of simplicity, sustainability, and justice. He spent a total of years teaching English and working with community leaders towards improving the segregation and inequality issues that plague Milwaukee.

After seven winters in the Midwest, Drew returned home to California. He has spent the last 4 years working for at two ELCA Camps in Southern California: El Camino Pines and Luther Glen. There Drew worked as Program Director of both camps, overseeing Summer Camp, Winter Retreats, weeks of Environmental Education, and creating service learning opportunities for inter-generational ministries.
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Now in the Bay Area for the first time, Drew is thrilled to be part of the Prince of Peace family. He is excited to be able to share his love of community, sustainability, and social justice with the youth and congregation as a whole as Director of Youth and Service Ministry. When not working, Drew can normally be found telling amazing jokes, playing with his two cats, or exploring the Bay Area.

Email Drew

​Music Staff

Photo by: Teresa Tam

Music Director:
​Barbara Day Turner

Barbara Day Turner has been on the music staff of Prince of Peace for almost 40 years. She is also  the founder and music director of the San José Chamber Orchestra, and its family of youth orchestras, celebrating their 25th Anniversary! An ardent advocate for new music, she has premiered more than 130 new works with SJCO alone, as well as 5 operas, an assortment of harpsichord works written for her and a number of other unclassifiable works involving music. Named the 2012 Silicon Valley Arts Council “On Stage” Artist Laureate, Maestra Day Turner is also Music Administrator and Conductor of the Utah Festival Opera where she has been resident conductor for 15 seasons. She has led 25 of the Festival’s mainstage productions, including such works as Barber's Vanessa, Verdi’s Otello, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Mozart's Don Giovanni and musicals including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Secret Garden, and Kiss Me Kate. Maestra Day Turner has conducted opera in Berlin and the Thuringian Symphony Orchestra in Germany as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica de Aguascalientes, Mexico, as well as guest conducting throughout the US. Her discography includes six recordings with SJCO, the PBS award-winning DVD of George Roumanis’ opera Phaedra, the Naxos release of Alva Henderson’s opera Nosferatu, and a recent critically acclaimed Naxos release of varied works by Howard Hersh entitled 6Angels and Watermarks. Recently honored with the SJSU Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Alumna award, she is a frequent adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera national auditions, a judge for the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, and serves on the board of directors of the Women's Philharmonic Advocacy and the advisory boards of the Delphi Trio and Opera Neo in San Diego. Maestra Day Turner holds BA and MA degrees in music, with an emphasis in harpsichord performance from San Jose State University.

Music Staff Associate:
​Kerry Lewis

Music Staff Associate Kerry Lewis assists Director Barbara Day Turner in rehearsing and conducting the choir, writing and arranging music for church services, and organizing/maintaining the music library at Prince of Peace. When he is not conducting the choir Kerry sings in it, as does his wife Elizabeth.
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Kerry is a published composer and a graduate of San Jose State University, where he studied music composition with Lou Harrison. His music has been performed by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the Winchester Orchestra, the Prince of Peace Sanctuary Choir, and other local groups. Kerry and Elizabeth are long-time members of Prince of Peace and have lived in San Jose for many years.

Organist:
​Michael Touchi

Organist/pianist/composer Michael Touchi has been providing lovely "grace notes" at Prince of Peace for over 26 years. The San José Chamber Orchestra's Creative Consultant, Michael's most recent work, Gallarda, was commissioned and premiered by SJCO early in 2014. Written for pianist Jon Nakamatsu and clarinetist Jon Manasse. Gallarda was reviewed as a “work of dancing lyricism”-”exciting”. Other popular works written for SJCO include Kahea, Tango Barroco, Nocturn, and Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings. He has numerous choral works published, and a recording of his brass quintet Chorea Solis was recently released by the St. Louis Low Brass Collective. A pianist and woodwind doubler, his professional affiliations include Symphony Silicon Valley, Opera San José, West Bay Opera, TheatreWorks, and Best of Broadway San Francisco. He can be heard on the Broadway revival cast album of A Chorus Line, Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohéme, George Stiles’ The 3 Musketeers, and has a CD of compositions featuring commissioned works by SJCO. A native of San José, he received his B.A. in music performance from San Jose State University where he studied bassoon with Vernon Read and composition with Brent Heisinger.

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