Rev. Sara Gross Samuelson
Pastor Sara lives in the Ardenwald neighborhood of Milwaukie in a 100-year-old house with her husband, Josh, dog Copper and their young son. Together, they enjoy maintaining a somewhat delusional list of possible DIY house and yard projects.
Sara has a long history working in outdoor ministry, education and the performing arts. Before coming to Gethsemane, she served as the outreach coordinator at Camp Lutherwood Oregon, was a mission developer for a small emerging community in Milwaukie, and served her first call as the Associate Pastor for Faith Formation at West Linn Lutheran Church.
Sara has memorized unseemly chunks of dialogue from Aaron Sorkin’s productions, is openly prideful of the Pacific Northwest and its outdoor wonderlands, and has a complicated relationship with her book-buying habits. In her spare time she buys more books than she can read, dances with Classical Ballet Academy on Foster and loves farmers markets, hiking, baking and the beach.
Her passions in ministry include justice for women and children and advocating for housing rights for all her neighbors and neighbors to be.
Anna Lewis - Office Administrator
Anna has lots of things to love about working at GLC, but the top two would have to be the amazing people she works with and the pretty view from the office.
When not coordinating chaos at GLC, she’s home coordinating the chaos of two giant dogs, three chickens, three snakes, an indeterminate number of gerbils, and a husband. Somewhere in there, she also writes books (four so far, still working on getting them published) and makes feeble attempts at cleaning the house. It’s really rewarding to train the dogs in the jobs they were bred for and see them shine.
Jan Cumming - Contributions
Jan has been a part of the Gethsemane community since the beginning. She enjoys working with people on projects that support the church’s outreach programs. The connections Jan has made with Gethsemane members have provided her with much love and support through the years.
When she’s not hanging out in the finance office or helping volunteer with a church project, she enjoys helping out with her grandchildren and watching them participate in their many different sports and activities.
Josh Banke - AV/Sound
Josh is a musician and sound artist who retired from live performances several years ago.
He’s still an avid collector of field recordings (mostly bird calls) which he’s made throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Born in Hannibal, Missouri and raised in Nebraska, Josh moved to Portland in the mid 90’s and has lived here ever since. He’s found Gethsemane Lutheran to be a tightly-knit, friendly and compassionate community whose mission is to assist and minister to the poor and disenfranchised.
Brooke BENFIELD - Organist
Brooke began playing the organ for Gethsemane Lutheran Church in February 1988 when Pastor Jim Liefeld was here and has spent these many years caring for and even building out the organ in our sanctuary. In fact, he was an instrumental part of moving and constructing the digital pipe organ where it now sits in the sanctuary. Aside from his time at the keys, Brooke enjoys riding his motorcycle.
Dale Van Horn - Custodian
Dale does a lot behind the scenes around here, keeping things tidy and mending small fixes as our custodian.
Dale’s family has been around GLC for a long time, Dale and his wife Ann were married here, their kids went to the preschool in the building and they were baptized here. One of the things Dale loves about GLC is that the community is constantly evolving, so getting to know new people and seeing what new ideas are bubbling is a joy.
Dale shares that something that brings him life and joy is the Pacific NW weather…. Spring and Fall especially are the best.