Meet our Lay Team!
We asked the following questions to our lay team and below are their responses.
-
When did you come to St. Philip’s?
-
What is your current/past profession?
-
What prompted to say “ yes” when asked to become a regular lay preacher?
-
What do you like about preaching?
Sharon Anderson:
St. Philip's member since 2006. Our family joined St. Philip's because it is welcoming and committed to carrying out the Gospel call to help those in need. In addition, the sermons were based on the Bible, with applications for life today. Profession: Science faculty, administrator, and advisor at Cal State Monterey Bay (1998-present) and Michigan State University (1989-1997). Enrolled at Luther Seminary online MDiv program starting in fall 2026. Why I feel called to preach: I enjoy both the spiritual and academic aspects of preparing a sermon, and I feel a call to share my faith with others. As I prepare each sermon, I pray that God will give me words that will help others find a stronger and deeper relationship with and trust in the Lord. What I like about preaching: I enjoy preparing the sermon and digging deeply into all aspects of all of the readings and their context, reading related commentaries, discussing with others, and reflecting on God's faithfulness to unfaithful people. I enjoy turning over my words and sermon to the Lord and trusting him to help me give a faithful sermon.
Lowell Battcher:
Barbara and I moved to Pacific Grove in the summer of 1969 moving from Southern California. We joined St. Philip’s that year and became advisors for the high school group. Since I was a woodshop teacher, I made many of the wood projects you see around the church. I retired from Carmel High School in 1999 after teaching high school for 35 years. I felt called to teaching and after I retired, I prayed to God to lead me to another calling. I have been involved in several different volunteer projects and opportunities. However, as I became involved in preaching, I felt God’s calling. I’ve got to admit, it wasn’t what I was looking for. When we pray to God we must listen to His response. I soon realized that it was more work than “I” wanted to put in… follow where God leads! When I read Scripture, I’m always looking for what God wants me to know for this day. The Scriptures tell many interesting stories and give us background before Christ and the life and meaning of Christ coming to us. With the time we have between our sermons it gives time to reflect and engage with others. For me personally, I like to think about the theologians who put the lectionary together and what their theme might have been. How do I tell you what I think, and using God’s words, now that’s the challenge for me. I enjoy sharing my thoughts, hoping that it will cause someone else to look at Scripture differently and maybe even raise some questions or challenges that we can talk about after the service. Praise God!
Laureen Hill:
Mica and I first started attending St. Philips in early 2024 after we moved back to the area and started looking for a church home. We officially joined as members in 2025. I am currently working for California Lutheran University as the Chief Strategy and Growth Officer and started my work there in late 2024 after serving over three decades in academic medical practice and healthcare leadership. When asked to become a lay preacher, I said yes because I had spent my life teaching medical students, residents and fellows and I felt that was a good basis from which to share the message with our congregation. I am really enjoying my service in this capacity because it requires much more time in the Word than I had previously spent and I learn a lot about the history, culture, geography and people of Biblical times in my preparation. I am definitely not a Biblical scholar but I hope my love for learning and how to apply our lessons comes through in what I am able to share on Sunday mornings!
Emily Rustad:
I started coming to St. Philip's regularly in 2019, not long after I moved to the Central Coast after graduating with my PhD from UC Davis. However, the first time I would have come to St. Philip's would have been when I would come and visit my grandparents and my uncle's family in the early 2000s as a teenager. At the time, my family and I lived in Michigan and they lived across the street from St. Philip's and were members. When I moved to the area more than 15 years later I was excited to be able to be a part of St. Philip's as well. I am a professor at Hartnell College in Salinas, where I have taught agriculture since 2018. I started teaching at Hartnell shortly after receiving my PhD in Plant Pathology. I was helping out with preaching even before we moved to having primarily lay leaders and have always enjoyed being able to give sermons on occasion. I love being able to share my interpretation of scriptures with others and to hear their takes on scripture as well. I think that my experience as a professor has helped in terms of making me more comfortable with public speaking (and vice versa, my preaching has perhaps made me a better teacher). I like being able to think more deeply about scripture and to share my thoughts with others. Even stories that we have heard many times before can be seen in a new light each time we read them and getting to share my perspective with others is truly a privilege. I feel connected with God and with our community when I'm developing and delivering a sermon and am always grateful to have the opportunity to do so.