Clergy & Staff

The Rev. Jon Owens, Deacon

Pastoral Care

The Rev. Jon Owens grew up as a cradle Episcopalian and native Oklahoman and has been ordained for over ten years as a deacon in the Diocese of California and was raised up for ordination by St. James, San Francisco. In his ministry he has served in many outreach and social justice roles as well as other vital ministries. His first parish assignment was Holy Child & St. Martin in Daly City, where he engaged in Asian ministries, youth ministry and health ministry. He then joined St. Thomas Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg Florida creating a 20’s – 30’s ministry program. He served at All Saints in Ft Lauderdale, focused on Christian education and community organizing work. This was all bi-vocational work while he worked both for the YMCA and local government. Educationally Jon graduated from the Episcopal School for Deacons and holds an associates in music from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, A bachelor’s in mass communication from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, a master of nonprofit management and an Education Specialist degree from Florida Atlantic University. He is a PhD candidate for Educational Leadership focusing on human resource development and adult education. He has served as faculty for deacon formation programs. Jon has served the greater church in many capacities, which include being on the board for the School for Deacons, The Association for Episcopal Deacons, being on the Province VIII of the Episcopal Church leadership and serving as Chair of the Executive Council for the Diocese of California. In his free time, he loves to go to the movies, travel, hike and play board games.

Pamela Kruse-Buckingham

Parish Administrator

Email or 510-525-1716

Pam is a non-profit ministry professional who has worked at several Parishes in the Diocese of CA, most recently at Christ Church Alameda. She served as the Parish Administrator of St. Alban’s from 2010 to 2012, and she is delighted to be back! Pam is a wife, mother of 3 daughters and grandmother of 4 granddaughters, aged 2-11. She is a graduate of EfM (Education for Ministry) and is currently running Adult Spiritual Formation programming at St. Paul’s, Oakland, her home Parish, where she is also the Altar Guild Chair. She is also a member of the Diocesan Disaster Preparedness & Response Committee and is serving on a Discernment Committee. Previously, she was on the St. Paul’s Oakland Vestry, the Secretary and Treasurer for the Alameda Deanery and the tech chaplain for the now disbanded Diocesan Altar Guild. In her spare time she loves gardening, writing/blogging, photography and travel. You can find her in the parish office Monday – Thursday, 9 am – 1 pm

Richard Cushman, Ph.D.

Organist

Richard Cushman has been a church organist since his first years of high school. He began to play professionally at. St. John’s Episcopal Church in Petaluma, where he conducted several choirs and oversaw a highly successful rebuild of the pipe organ. Though always dedicated to sacred music, Dr. Cushman devoted his graduate study (UC Berkeley) to renaissance . lyric and drama, especially sacred verse. He has taught at Stanford University, where he received the Walter J. Gores Award for Faculty Excellence in 1997. He has also taught at USF and the College of the Holy Names. Most recently, Richard has taught courses in literature at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, where he now teaches classes in classical Greek and Roman literature, Dante, Shakespeare and early twentieth-century fiction. Among Dr. Cushman’s interests he counts tea, walking, gardening, and supporting young musicians.

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Becky Osborn-Coolidge and Sondra Lavrov

Volunteer Parish Administrators

Becky and Sondra staff the office on Fridays. They produce our Sunday bulletins, manage filing and other important tasks. And, they are friendly people who love St. Alban’s! You can reach them at the Parish Administrator’s email address (see Pam, above).

Morel Briones

Sexton

Morel has been keeping things clean and rolling along at St. Alban’s for well over a decade. A passionate bicyclist and skilled repairman, he keeps in shape peddling all over the Bay Area and beyond!