»Clergy
The ministers at University Congregational United Church
of Christ work
together in a team ministry model, different from the traditional "Senior--Associate
Minister" model familiar to many in American Protestant
churches.
This means that they collaborate to address the needs of the congregation,
and the preaching rotation among the ministers is relatively equal.
Click to see the leadership staff's schedule.
Catherine Foote - Minister
CFoote@universityucc.org
Catherine was born and raised in Long Beach,
California, the youngest of five children. She became a Christian as
a teenager. After graduating from The Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky with a Ph.D. in Education and
Theology, she worked for ten years teaching Christian education and
biblical studies at San Jose Christian College. She then spent
eleven years as a youth minister and later associate minister at
First Congregational Church in San Jose, California.
Catherine began
her work in ministry with UCUCC on December 1, 2001.
She brings to her work here a passion for ministry, a love of
teaching, and a delight in telling Bible stories. Along with her
responsibilities in preaching and pastoral care, Catherine is also
working Christian education and Stewardship ministries.
Catherine currently lives on Whidbey Island where, in addition to
tending the flock at UCUCC, she raises another flock of Romney
sheep. She also enjoys all sorts of outdoor activities, a joy she
regularly expresses in trips to Yosemite, where she and her sister
have a tradition of hiking to the top of Half Dome to celebrate each
nephew’s graduation from high school.
In addition to her work in ministry, Catherine is the founder of
“Brake the Cycle, National Ride to Stop Child Sexual Abuse,” and has
ridden her bicycle across the country five times, raising funds for
child abuse prevention and recovery programs. She has also written
the book Survivor Prayers, Talking with God About Child Sexual
Abuse.
Catherine is the staff liaison for the following
groups:
Stewardship Ministry
Christian Education Ministry
Convening Leadership Staff
Personnel Board
Library Committee
Catherine's days off are Friday and Saturday.
 Peter Ilgenfritz - Minister
PIlgenfritz@universityucc.org
Peter
grew up in Lynnfield, MS where his family attended Centre
Congregational Church United Church of Christ. Peter received his
B.A. from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York in 1984, and his
M.Div. from Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut in 1987.
He met his partner Dave Shull at Yale Divinity School. He served as
Associate Pastor at First
Congregational Church in Ithaca, New York
from 1987 to 1989. He and Dave moved to Chicago in 1989 where Peter
served as the founding Executive Director of a comprehensive
HIV/AIDS care organization in Evanston, Illinois.
Peter
Ilgenfritz and his partner, Dave Shull were called to UCUCC as
Associate Pastors in June of 1994. They were the first gay couple
called to a mainline Protestant church in the country. Dave left his
position at UCUCC in January, 2006 and serves as Pastor at Spirit of
Peace UCC in Issaquah. Peter and Dave live on Capitol Hill, and
are currently providing home and family for a Guatemalan teenager.
Peter
bikes to church most days, and enjoys going to the gym, baking bread
and drawing. He is a member of a Cho Bo Ji, a Zen Buddhist community
on Capitol Hill and takes part several times a year in week-long
silent retreats.
Peter’s
responsibilities as a member of the leadership staff include
preaching, pastoral care, Christian formation, and serving as the
staff liaison to the Executive Committee, Church Council, and
Worship and Music Boards.
Peter's
days off are Tuesday and Saturday.
 Amy
Roon - Minister
Aroon@universityucc.org.
Reverend
Amy Roon Amy’s educational background includes a Master of
Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion (2002), and a BA in
Vocal Performance from Oberlin College (1996). She has served as
Associate Pastor at the United Churches of Olympia for the past two
years. She was Interim Pastor at Lummi Island Congregational Church
for one year and Coordinator of Outreach and Retention Services at
Bellingham Technical College for two years. During her time at PSR,
she was also Music and Arts Director at First Baptist Church of
Alameda (CA) for three years.
She is active in both Pacific
Northwest Conference and national UCC activities and committees.
In
Olympia, Amy had primary responsibility
for developing activities for parents and families and ministering
to their spiritual needs. She helped the church create an
alternative worship service and also introduced some non-traditional
worship styles (without alienating traditionalists!). She worked to
strengthen the membership process and long-range planning. United
Churches uses the Stephen Ministry model of lay one-on-one
congregational care; Amy has been trained as a Stephen Ministry
leader and has both participated in and helped lead the Stephen
Ministry pastoral care process there. During her time at Lummi Island Congregational Church, she
championed stewardship, reached out to new members, and helped
smooth the transition from a minister who had been with the
congregation for 13 years.
Amy
has tremendous passion and creativity and finds great satisfaction
in helping others discover their strengths and try new things. She
is a musician and artist at heart, with stage experience in piano,
choral music, solo voice, and theater. While at PSR she created and
led an exciting gospel choir of fellow seminarians. She also led the
choir and strengthened her own spiritual direction at First Baptist
Church of Alameda, California. (Amy can sing when called upon, but
feels it is more important to let others carry that role.) She is an
enthusiastic practitioner of InterPlay, a discipline that combines
theater, dance, and spirituality.
Amy’s
other “job” is as mother to an adorable 15-month-old boy named
Benjamin. Amy is an adoptee, and several years ago decided it was
time for her to “give back.” She adopted Benjamin as an infant.
Their dog, Jake, and cat, Winston, keep close tabs on them
both.
Amy's
days off are Friday and Saturday.
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