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Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
401 Grizzly Peak Blvd
Berkeley, CA 94708
Church Leaders
Pastor Clare McElaney (she/they)
Email: pastor@sothb.org
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Pastor Clare (she/they) is in her first call as pastor at Shepherd of the Hills. Originally from the east coast, Clare moved out to California in 2017 to attend seminary at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union. Clare interned at University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley during the pandemic and worked in pastoral children’s, young adult, and campus ministries before receiving the call to be pastor here in March 2023!​​​
Pr. Clare also works part-time as a hospital Pediatric Chaplain in Oakland and San Francisco. Pr. Clare’s ministry training is in Evangelism and Justice. Other formative ministry experiences have been with the San Francisco Night Ministry and the ELCA's Young Adult ministries. They identify as queer and are a member of Proclaim, a ministry within Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, which is a professional community for Lutheran ministers and candidates who identify as LGBTQIA+. In their free time, you can find Pr. Clare spending time with their friends, maybe reading, tending to her potted plants, adventuring around the bay, or expanding her vinyl collection.
Administrative Assistant
Church phone: (510) 524-8281
Email: office@sothb.org
Gretchen Kell, Music Director (she/her)
Nick Gawlikowski is the council president and has been a member of SOTH for 12 years. He has been a member of the finance committee for the last 6 years. Nick and his wife Angela have 4 kids (ranging from 10-17 years old). He is also a former president and current board member of the Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League and works as a management consultant with EPAM Systems. Otherwise, you can typically find Nick driving kids to events, coaching youth sports, or watching dance and music performances.
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Jeanne Killian (Kreter-Killian) (she/her)
Email: cs@sothb.org​​
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Jeanne has been a church member for 30 years. She enjoys singing in the choir and helping in any other way. Currently she is Council Secretary and Cantor for Sunday Services. She worked for many years as a Software Test Engineer when she wasn't busy volunteering for Girl Scouts with her kids and doing other community activities. She currently works for the EPA as a contractor.
Felicia Layser Robertson (she/her)
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A lifetime member at Shepherd of the Hills, Felicia grew up in the Berkeley Hills and was baptized and attended nursery school here (and may have snuck some sugar cubes off the fellowship table during worship back then). Felicia also enjoys coordinating events and coffee hour as much as sitting down on the downstairs patio before and after worship and breathing in the fresh air. Felicia serves as Treasurer at Shepherd of the Hills.
Email: council@sothb.org​
Laurel Gawlikowski
​Email: council@sothb.org /community@sothb.org
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Laurel joined Shepherd of the Hills in 2013 when she was five and has grown up in the congregation since. A current high school senior attending community college through dual enrollment, Laurel is passionate about dancing, advocacy and social justice, and eating chocolate.
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Grant Ricketts
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