LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
a movement for wholeness
LCC Staff
Rev. Tami Groves (she, her)
Interim Transitional Minister
Tami Groves was born and raised in a small town in Northeastern Ohio and a suburb of Columbus, OH. She is therefore a dyed-in-the-wool Ohio State University Buckeyes Football fan, loves rhubarb, knits as a spiritual practice, loves all fiber arts, dogs and snow. Her bio family are mostly in Ohio and her immediate local family consists of a Pandemic Puppy Mocha (aka MoMo), her fabulous daughter Michelle and a lovely diverse group of people who are chosen-family.
Tami loves to learn and so she has a long list of subjects she has studied. They are as follows: Just completed training as a Professional Coach with an emphasis in church and clergy coaching. Earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology (Social Welfare) from Mount Vernon Nazarene College. Studied Urban Ministry at the Bresee Institute (Azusa Pacific University), Graduate studies in Early Childhood Educational Administration at Bank Street College, NY,NY. Earned a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University, Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, GA. Studied Conflict Resolution at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
Tami was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at Brookhaven Christian Church in Atlanta, Ga. From that day forward she has served churches both DOC and UCC in several cities such as San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta, Athens (Ga), Berkeley, and Fremont (Ca). Previous to joining the DOC & UCC she began ministry in the tradition of her youth (Church of the Nazarene). She had the privilege of working as a researcher for the Howard Thurman Papers Project at Morehouse University in Atlanta, Ga.
Tami is passionate about reconciling people to each other and to God. Helping people find spiritual growth, healing and hope is her calling.
Jeremiah Jenkins
Minister in Training
Originally from Orlando, Florida, Jeremiah Jenkins is currently pursuing his MDiv. A Presbyterian for over 20 years, Jeremiah joined up with the Disciples of Christ shortly after moving to the Bay Area 3 years ago. He loves the idea that the Table is central to Disciples theology and praxis and that everyone has a seat at the Table!
Rita Lilly
Music Director
Rita Lilly is a professional classical singer and teacher who moved to California from NYC in 2000. Specializing in the performance of early music, she sang and toured with the renowned Waverly Consort from 1988-1997. Since coming to the Bay Area, she has been a featured soloist with numerous ensembles and orchestras in the bay area and throughout the country. Previously, she earned her BA/BS in voice with K-12 music certification from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. She was the Music Director of St. Jerome Catholic Church from 2004-2009, is the voice teacher of the SFEMS baroque workshop, is on the faculty of the Pacific Boy Choir Academy as their private voice teacher, maintains her own voice studio in her home and thoroughly enjoys being director of the LCC Choir.
She enjoys her family time with Nitash Balsara, professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UC Berkeley and founder of SEEO and her two lovely children,
Sonya and Matthew.
Lino Rivera
Pianist
Born in the Philippines, Lino Rivera has performed as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and accompanist on three continents. He makes it his mission to advocate and premiere contemporary works; to explore and meet the artistic, creative, and technical challenges of piano transcriptions; and to discover and perform obscure solo piano repertoire throughout the ages. Lino is a celebrated performer for Composers, Inc., an organization based in San Francisco that is dedicated to promoting works by contemporary American composers.
Lino holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Santo Tomas, the University of Hawaii, and a doctorate from the University of Maryland. He currently serves as professor in the Performing Arts Department at Saint Mary's College of California, while maintaining active concert engagements internationally. He recently performed in Switzerland and Mississippi, and he served as soloist for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major with the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra last spring. He will again be teaching and performing at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Germany this summer.
Madeline Dell
Spirit Kids Teacher
Madeline Dell is a teacher and caregiver for our preschool-Kindergarten class. She is a Senior at Las Lomas High School, and she enjoys the opportunity school gives her to be with her friends. In her spare time she likes to relax with her friends or in her bed. She also spends time babysitting and and tutoring. Of her LCC job, Madeline says, "I love working with the kiddos! They're so sweet, kind and smart. I really enjoy working with them, and I'm very grateful that the church decided to hire me." The kids love her gentle spirit and and care and we are so pleased to have her!
Diana Silva
Bookkeeper
Diana Silva is our bookkeeper. She has been a part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) all her life, growing up in the San Jose church and later attending Disciple churches in Kansas and Virginia. Diana and her family joined Lafayette Christian Church in 1984, with Diana becoming the Treasurer two years later and by 1993 was taking care of all the bookkeeping for our church. In 1987, Diana became our organist with four years of previous experience in Alexandria, Virginia and for 32 years, her gift for music enriched our weekly worship. Diana retired as the LCC organist in 2019. She is married and has two grown children who consider this church part of their family.
Kelley Lawton (she, her)
Office Administrator
Kelley Lawton has been our "church secretary" and Office Administrator at LCC for 18 years. She loves coming to work in this warm and loving, close-knit community and walking about our beautiful campus, filled with lush old trees.