LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
a movement for wholeness
LCC Staff
Rev. Remi Shores (they/them)
Senior Pastor
Remi tried for a long time to think of an "is" statement with which to open this bio, but finally had to settle for "an overthinker," apparently. Remi is bright, quick, sometimes impulsive, sometimes stubborn, definitely imperfect despite suffering from perfectionism, hardworking, occasionally distractible, usually proactive, always well-meaning, and aspirationally well-rested. They are a spouse, a mother, and a queer Christian trying their best to do the work God called them to do.
Remi graduated from Texas Christian University (BA, religion) and Brite Divinity School (MDiv) and was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 2023 at their home church, Galileo, in Fort Worth, Texas. They have about a hundred ideas before they wake up in the morning, and some of them are good!
After ordination, Remi did a pastoral residency program in Des Moines, Iowa. This is their first call as a full-time settled pastor, and they couldn't be more thrilled to be at LCC.
Remi spends a lot of time thinking about what is Next for the Church (or, as they call it, "Next Church"). In a world where "none" is the fastest growing religious designator and more and more people identify as "spiritual but not religious" (which too often means "interested in answering life's toughest questions" -- spiritual -- "and doing it all by themselves" -- not religious), what does the Church look like? What can the church offer to this changing world God still loves?
In their spare time, Remi enjoys reminiscing about the time before kids when they used to have spare time. If they had more of it, perhaps they would crochet, cross-stitch, and roller skate like they used to. In this busy parenting season, most of their free time is less thoughtful and more restful: snuggling on the couch with their spouse after their daughter is asleep, watching trash TV on Netflix. Oh, and reading. They do a lot of reading. Some trashy and some thought-provoking; novels and nonfiction...
Remi tried to think of a good conclusion for this bio but could not. When it's a sermon they can't conclude, their go-to fallback is just, "Thanks be to God." So I guess that's how I'll end here too: for a beautiful and welcoming church, for a scary but exciting call, for willing and eager partners in this work, thanks be to God.
Rita Lilly (she/her)
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.
Diana Silva (she/her)
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 19 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.