Vestry

Matthew Bartlett

Vestry, Senior Warden Originally from San Diego and the son and grandson of Episcopal priests, I was literally raised in the church. After heading back east for college, I came to San Francisco in 2005 to attend law school and began attending St. Mary's shortly thereafter. I was drawn to St. Mary's by its intellectual yet grounded preaching, its music, its fellowship, and its commitment to our rich Anglican liturgy. Additionally, I was drawn to St. Mary's because of the large number of young families attending. I knew it was a healthy church and I wanted to be a part of that. My wife Jamie and I were married at St. Mary's in 2010 and live in Alameda with our two daughters, Abigail and Edith. Abigail was baptized at St. Mary's two years ago by Rev. Claire and Edith will be baptized at St. Mary's in the Spring. To keep the lights on, I practice law at DLA Piper LLP, but I spend every chance I get with Abigail and Edith or experimenting in the kitchen. We regularly attend both the 9am and the 11am services. I was a member of the most recent Profile and Search Committee and am a regular presence in the nursery with Abigail. My family and I have been blessed by St. Mary's over the last decade and look forward to continuing in our journey together for many years to come.

Christian Cebrian

Vestry, Junior Warden Attended UNC-Chapel Hill for a B.S. in Biology with honors. After several years in various production jobs such as an assignment desk editor and videographer for television news, I went to U.C. Hastings and received my J.D. in 2006. I am now a partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson on the land use team. My practice focuses on development entitlements for residential and industrial projects. Amy and I came to St. Mary’s around 2008 after being invited by old family friends Kathleen Murray and Arthur Perkins. We had been attending Grace Cathedral for about a year before Kathleen’s invitation but felt so much more at home when we came to Union Street. All three of our children have now been baptized at St. Mary’s and Kathleen is Gloria’s godmother. Amy and I are on the Parish Life Committee along with the Gamboas. Our primary focus on the committee is to keep growing the Parish Retreat. We view the retreat as a wonderful opportunity to build community and to give parishioners the opportunity to take a deeper dive into discernment than they may have the rest of their busy years. I also recently joined the Ushers. Amy sings in the summer choir and has been also been singing in the choir for special services. Gloria and Nathaniel are both in the Children’s Choir. Gloria is also considering becoming an acolyte next year.

John Adair

Vestry

John grew up in the Minneapolis area and regularly attended St. Luke’s Episcopal Church with his family. He received a BA with distinction from Northwestern University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley. John is a real estate investor and is currently the Founder and Managing Partner of Glencrest Group. Prior to Glencrest, John was the Principal in charge of capital transactions for Prime Residential and an attorney with Orrick. He is a licensed real estate broker, active member of the California State Bar, and has passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.

Laura Akel

Vestry

Laura Akel was born in Carmel, Indiana, and moved to Cincinnati for her middle and high school years. Following college and a move to San Francisco, she married George Akel at the Princeton United Methodist Church in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2001. Laura and her family found St. Mary's when they were searching for a church home and a faith community in which to baptize their older daughter, Sadie. Sadie, who is now 17 was baptized at St. Mary's Unplugged service on Easter Day, 2004, and her sister, Callie, 15 was baptized on the same feast day in 2006.

Laura served on the St. Mary's Unplugged Steering Committee during the tenure of the Rev. Lily DeYoung and the beginning of the ministry of the Rev. Jennifer Hornbeck and was involved in the search process that brought Jennifer to St. Mary's. She was also a member of the Discernment Committee that met with Eric Metoyer during his journey toward ordination. Laura served on the Vestry during the tenure of Rev. Jason Parkin and through our parish transition from 2009-2011. She has served on the Stewardship committee a number of years and helped with other parish ministries.

Laura attended Babson College in Boston and has been employed by PeopleSoft and Oracle for the past 25 years. At People Soft, she served as the Director of Development for the Application Development toolset, and now She works in product strategy for Oracle's Mobile Application Development Platform and holds five U.S. patents in internet technology.

Nancy Clothier

Vestry

Nancy is a native San Franciscan. . She and husband Tom raised their 3 children in the Sunset District. They have one granddaughter.

Nancy began attending St. Mary's in 1993 with a focus on outreach and adult education. In 1999, she volunteered to provide a website for the church and has been webmaster ever since. Nancy has also participated in Pastoral Care, is a member of the Altar Guild and a member of the vestry.

Stephen Gamboa

Vestry

Stephen Gamboa, MD, MPH. I was raised in South Carolina in the Presbyterian church. But after 12 years at an Episcopal school, Episcopal summer camp, and youth group at the Episcopal church in Charleston, becoming an Episcopalian was inevitable. I earned an AB in Art History from Davidson College (alma mater of Stephen Curry) and an MD from the University of North Carolina. I completed two residency trainings, one in Family Medicine and the other in Emergency Medicine. Early in my career, I earned an additional degree in health policy and management at Harvard University. I currently work at Kaiser Hospital, San Francisco as an emergency physician and a hospitalist, which means that I care for patients sick enough to be in the hospital or emergency room. I also teach medical students and residents as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF. Before coming to St Mary's, my family and I were parishioners at the Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa. When we moved to San Francisco in 2016, we quickly found a spiritual home at St Mary's. We feel immensely blessed to be part of the community we've found here. As parents, we've especially appreciated how St Mary's supports our children in their spiritual journeys. I'd be honored to serve as part of your vestry and hope that I'm able to use whatever talents I've been given to serve the parish.

Cynthia Harper

Vestry St. Mary's has given so much to our family over the years, and I’m always grateful for the chance to be able to give back and to extend the generous spirit of St. Mary’s to others. Serving on the Vestry is an important way to help to support St. Mary’s as a vibrant community and a source of spiritual strength and renewal in our hectic lives. I am a professor at UCSF School of Medicine, where I conduct research and run training and education programs in women’s health for providers caring for underserved patient populations. I went to Middlebury College in Vermont and to graduate school at Columbia and Princeton Universities. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, and then moved to San Francisco. We came to St. Mary’s shortly after arriving in SF over 20 years ago, and have found an extraordinary community of friends and fellow worshipers. Over the years I have served in several ministries, including Parish Council and Newcomer’s Welcome Committee. My first experience serving at St. Mary’s was with the Sunday school with holiday/summer teaching a long time ago, and I’ve come full circle now as a preschool teacher for 3 to 5 year-olds (the best job ever). I have two daughters, Corinne (21 years) and Camilla (17 years), who have been actively part of the children’s and youth choirs, acolyte program, confirmation, youth group (!!), and Sunday school, including as perennial volunteers (4th, 5th, 6th grade classes and preschool). Our favorite things about St. Mary’s are the people, the music, the sermons, the courtyard, and of course, its perseverance through thick and thin. As a family, it has been an extraordinary experience to be part of this live and ever changing community and to find and cherish the eternal here.

Molly Irwin

Vestry

Originally from Colorado, I was born to a Christian family of artists with two sisters and a love of learning. I graduated from Colorado State University, where I also did a year of theological Christian Studies through Rivendell College.

For the past ten years I have been hustling the tech startup life in the Bay Area. A Mechanical Engineer turned Program Manager, I’ve worked in a variety of fields from robotics, to Internet of Things (IoT) consumer devices, to high design coffee products, and am now at Apple. My experience is in running projects with small and large teams, budgets, timelines and goals. Give me something to do that is new and unknown, and I’ll figure out how to get it done!

My husband Conrad and I were married at St Mary’s and we just welcomed our first child, Irene, to our family. We found St Mary’s originally because of the choir and stayed because of the vibrant community. We are still singing in the choir, and have become involved in the Evangelism efforts of the Welcome Team, Parish Fair, and JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) efforts of the church.

In my spare time, I enjoy woodworking, cooking, and small electronic DIY. To relax I play accordion and mandolin, folk-dance or just drink coffee.

Will Long

Vestry

Originally from North Carolina and the son of a Presbyterian minister, I was raised in the church. My early education included a year abroad in the 5th grade while my Dad did graduate work in theology in Edinburgh, Scotland. I graduated from Davidson College in Economics, with summer work at St. Anne’s Oxford, and then received my MBA in Finance from UNC-Chapel Hill.

After working in corporate lending at Wachovia Bank, I moved to Washington, D.C. where I worked in Finance for Intelsat, an international satellite technology firm. I met my partner, Ray Hahn, about 25 years ago, who established his dental practice in the Virginia suburbs. We joined St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., where we were drawn to its strong community, outreach and active Christian education programs. We were both active as leaders in youth and adult education. I served on the Endowment Board, and became an Elder after co-directing the adult and youth Christian education programs.

We moved to San Francisco in 2013, where I joined Charles Schwab at their headquarters, supporting executive groups in Enterprise Finance with budgeting, forecasting and business evaluations. Ray and I joined St. Mary’s soon after moving here. We were drawn to St. Mary's by its close community and diversity. At our first parish retreat, we agreed to become chalice bearers. We also co-lead the adult Lenten Series in the spring of 2016. Ray and I were married that same year and live in the Lone Mountain neighborhood near USF. We regularly attend the 11 a.m. services. I am looking forward to serving on the Vestry of St. Mary's and continuing to contribute to such a strong community.

Rebecca Peacock

Vestry

I am more than honored to serve the St. Mary the Virgin church and community. If you haven’t met me yet, I’m originally from the Philadelphia area. I graduated with a Bachelors in Philosophy in 2015 from Eastern University and later moved to the Bay Area to be closer to my then-boyfriend Kyle Peacock. After we got married, we joined All Souls Episcopal in Berkeley and fell in love with the best parts of life in the Episcopal Church: music, fellowship, love, and community. After moving to San Francisco, where I work as a legislative aide for the City and County of San Francisco, we started looking for a new church to attend and stumbled on St. Mary’s. From the first Sunday, we knew we were home. Here we have found a living, thriving, and welcoming community. We have been attending for a year and a half now and have been blessed to participate in the adult choir and young professionals’ ministries. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to serve the church on a leadership basis and hope that it brings me to a deeper understanding of God, self, and community.

Arthur Perkins

Vestry Arthur is originally from Cape Cod. He attended Bentley University, Waltham, MA, where he received a B.S. in accounting. He later attended U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Business and completed classes in finance, real estate and economics; and, developed a lifelong interest in wine. Arthur started his 40-year career auditing public and private company financial statements for 10 years; the last 30 years he switched to strategy, operations, and financial restructuring consulting. He retired from Deloitte in 2010. He maintained his California CPA license until 2016. Arthur has served on community and professional organization boards, including the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) where he served as President and Chairman. He is also an honorary member of the TMA’s Turnaround, Restructuring & Distressed Investing Hall of Fame. Arthur started attending St. Mary’s around 1989-1990. He and his wife, Kathleen Murray, were married at St. Mary’s in June 1991. He has served as an usher for 25+ years and a Stephen Minister since St. Mary’s inaugural Stephen Ministry class. He also participates in the Justice Ministry discernment group; and, is a member of the Diocese of California’s Finance Committee. Arthur is married to Kathleen Murray, who served on St. Mary’s vestry from 1989-1992, and as a chalice bearer for 30 years. She also founded the annual parish retreat. Arthur’s step-daughter, Anne Murray Ladd who was baptized at St. Mary’s and confirmed at Grace Cathedral, passed away in June 2003. Arthur & Kathleen have no other children.

Sheila Santangelo

Vestry

Sheila is a native San Franciscan and grew up in Noe Valley. She currently lives in Marin County with her husband Dave Davis, and their adopted dog, Arlo. She has 3 sons and 5 grandsons and will soon have a granddaughter in February! All live within a 15- mile radius and they enjoy spending time with each other.

Sheila is an avid traveler and enjoys solo travel to far off destinations. Her most recent solo trip was to Vietnam and Laos. She contacted University students from both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and while they benefited by being able to practice their English, she got a personal guide for a day! Next solo trip will be February 2020 to Kenya for an African Safari. Other hobbies include hiking and dancing. She performed Flamenco at the Mission Cultural Center and has had extensive training in Tango, even travelling to Buenos Aires on three occasions to dance with the local Milongueros.

She has worked in the Title and Escrow Business for 32 years and has managed offices for 3 major companies. She worked in San Francisco for many years, but now works in Marin County. Sheila first went to Grace Cathedral for an Easter service in 2013 and fell in love with the service. After researching many churches, she found a home at St. Mary the Virgin and was received in 2014. She became a regular at the 7:00 a.m. Wednesday service, which she attended while working in San Francisco, and currently attends the 8:00 a.m. Sunday service where she is an Adult Acolyte and Usher. Sheila was also in the first Stephen Minister class and had the honor of working with wonderful people.