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Our Pastor
Minister in Training
Coordinator of Christian Ed.
Choir Director
Organist & Pianist
Administrative Assistant
Spiritual Links
Recent Sermons
God is Still Speaking
Progressive Christianity
United Church of Christ
Northern California Nevada Conference of the UCC
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Ministerial Staff
Our Pastor
Together we minister . . .
We are as responsible for the pastoring of this congregation as is our professional staff. We are proud to have the guidance of the talented and compassionate women and men who serve on the staff of this church.
Our pastor, The Rev. Kristi Denham, is a graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary and ordained in the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Kristi is currently a featured columnist with United Press International's Religion and Spirituality Forum.
Click Here to read her column "Woman at the Well."
She has a passion for working with children and youth and a lifetime of commitment to social justice, especially racial and economic justice that mirrors our community's sense of service. Community, service and celebrations of our life in the Spirit are central to her sense of ministry and call. We invite you to join us.
You can contact Kristi via e-mail at: RevKristi@aol.com.
Click on the "Recent Sermons" link in the right sidebar to read sample sermons.
Minister in Training
Brandon Hamm serves as Minister-in-Training at the Congregational Church of Belmont. A student at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, he is working towards a Masters of Divinity degree.
Brandon answered his call to ministry in 2001 after joining a Metropolitan Community Church in suburban Philadelphia. He began his studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and then, after several job changes and relocations, made his way to the Bay Area in 2006. He is currently a member of Peninsula Metropolitan Community Church in San Mateo and is excited to join Congregational Church of Belmont as CCB's Minister-in-Training.
Brandon’s past ministry experience includes earning his master catechist certificate from St. Andrew’s Catholic Church (Drexel Hill, Penn.) and serving on the board of directors at Imago Dei Metropolitan Community Church (Media, Penn.). He is currently leading MCC’s denominational communications for its 2010 global conference.
Brandon lives in San Francisco with his partner Scott. He enjoys traveling around the world and visiting friends and family in the Philadelphia area. He is employed as a public relations professional working with a premium rose grower based in Miami.
Coordinator of Christian Education
The Rev. Valerie McEntee serves as Christian education coordinator at the Congregational Church of Belmont.
Valerie came to CCB with 20 years of volunteer experience in Christian education. In addition teaching, she has served on and chaired a Christian education board, organized family-oriented retreats, worked on the youth mentorship program for the Northern California Nevada Conference’s Annual Gathering at Asilomar, served as a chaplain at Camp Tamarack and currently leads Bible study with boys at Hillcrest Juvenile Detention Center in San Mateo.
In the wider church, Valerie serves on the steering committee for the Women's Network of the NCNC and on the board of the Golden Gate Association. She also serves as a fellow for the San Francisco Night Ministry.
Valerie holds a master of divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion and she did her Ministry-in-Training residency at CCB.
Choir Director, Senior & Youth Choirs
Elizabeth Mye directs both our Sanctuary and Youth Choirs
Elizabeth began her musical studies at age 5 with piano, then voice at 12 and oboe at 14. She grew up in the Congregational Church of Westfield, Mass., where she participated in the youth choir, joined the senior choir at the age of 12 and then was hired as the soprano soloist starting at 16.
She won first place in the all-state music competition in Massachusetts two years consecutively while in high school where she graduated a year early and went to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, on full scholarship for oboe and vocal performance.
While at the university, Elizabeth was a member of the Opera, Chamber and Early Music instrumental and choral groups where she expanded her musical leadership through solo and choral directing.
In addition to her collegiate studies, Elizabeth held several soprano soloist positions through local churches. Her audition and performance of Laudate Dominum won her second place in the National Bel Canto Aria competition.
Elizabeth sang professionally with the Folger Consort in Washington D.C., and the New England Conservatory Camerata. She was Musical Director at the Methodist Church in Malden, Mass., directing the adult and children's choirs.
In parallel to Elizabeth's music career, she has built a career as a Human Resource professional with 20 years' experience directing and building the human resources function, with a focused strength on the ability to effectively manage through high change environments, in start-up and high growth emerging companies, as well as Fortune 100 national and international organizations in the biotechnology, healthcare, high technology and consumer products industries.
"I learned very early in my life that music is a voice through which we all can speak," she says. "There is a voice in all of us and together we can make a beautiful sound. God speaks to me in love and in music, no matter what form. If you want to share or experience 'One Voice' through our choir, come and join us! We would love to have you!"
Organist, Pianist and Accompanist
Jeffrey Jones brings a wealth of musical experience to his position as organist, pianist and accompanist at the Congregational Church of Belmont.
Jeffrey started on the piano at age 6 and gave a full solo recital at age 8. He grew up performing twice a year in his hometown of Morgan Hill. At San Jose State University, he was pianist for the Wind Ensemble and the Symphony Orchestra. He is known as a versatile and prolific sight-reader and has accompanied many singers, instrumentalists and chamber groups.
He also serves as accompanist for the Cantabile Youth Chorus in Los Altos and has also been engaged with the Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale as the rehearsal pianist. In 2009, he gave a command performance for the president of Estonia with alto solosit Helen Lokuta.
In addition to the piano, he plays organ, fortepiano, harpsichord, timpani, marimba and several other percussion instruments. His core strength, he says, is and always will be in the classical piano repertoire. He studied piano with local luminaries Joann Pruitt and Gwendolyn Mok and has had master classes with Stephen Hough, Vladimir Viardo and the late historical music guru Laurette Goldberg. He plays an eclectic variety of standard classical repertoire, forgotten gems, and colorful 20th century composers.
Administrative Assistant
Ron Evans, CCB's administrative assistant, considers himself a “consummate Freethinker.” He's semi-retired and lives in Half Moon Bay with his wife Galyn, who is a member of CCB. They have three children, two of whom live in Alaska and one here in the Bay Area. He is a veteran of both the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force. He has degrees in music, English and political science. He worked for many years in higher education administration and taught at Washington State University while completing his Ph.D. studies in political science. Over the past 30 years, he has also been a professional stage actor and has performed with many Bay Area theatre companies, as well as doing regional theatre, summer musical theatre and children’s theatre.