Meet the Team
Welcome to the Chapel -- a community of faith so conscious of God's grace that we seek to love God, love each other, and love our neighbors to the best of our ability, and with as much energy as we can muster!
You'll discover that once you settle in here, it's difficult to imagine life as a part of the body of Christ in quite the same way again. Once you give community at the Chapel a chance, you'll discover the unique gifts and charisms of this place, and these will change you and help to quicken your service at work in the world.
Wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome in this community. Join us as we emerge from pandemic, engage new directions, and evolve in our ministry together.
You'll discover that once you settle in here, it's difficult to imagine life as a part of the body of Christ in quite the same way again. Once you give community at the Chapel a chance, you'll discover the unique gifts and charisms of this place, and these will change you and help to quicken your service at work in the world.
Wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome in this community. Join us as we emerge from pandemic, engage new directions, and evolve in our ministry together.
Associate Pastor - Sanna Reinholtzen
Pastor Sanna (she/her) has been the Associate Pastor for Prayer and Healing at the Chapel since 2010. Additionally, she serves as the Executive Administrative Assistant to the President at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA.
Pr. Sanna has a Master's degree focused in Liturgical Studies from Graduate Theological Union and an MDiv from Luther Seminary. Prior to her work at the Chapel, Pr. Sanna served in the midwest at Bacyrus Lutheran Parish and First Lutheran Church. Contact Pr. Sanna |
Director of Music - Andy Bouman
Andy Bouman (he/him) has been the Director of Music at the Chapel since 1994. Andy chooses and plays the hymns and service music for Sunday worship, blending a variety of musical styles. Andy also recruits singers to serve as cantors and members who play musical instruments.
Andy was born in Minnesota and grew up in the Chicago area, but he has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area most of his adult life. He started piano lessons at age 6 and organ lessons at age 15. His first Sunday morning position was playing organ for a small, inner-city church when he was 16. Andy studied organ and church music at Valparaiso University (a Lutheran college in Indiana near Chicago), where he also sang bass in the choir. He studied theology and worship at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He later studied English literature in the Ph.D. program at the University of California at Berkeley. Andy started ballroom dancing as a graduate student at Cal, but after discovering West Coast Swing, he’s never looked back. Andy is a former president of The Next Generation Swing Dance Club in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been an Event Director for Next Gen’s annual convention, Boogie by the Bay, since 1999. He volunteers his time as a judge, chief judge, and scorer at other swing dance events. Andy is married to Holly Halligan, whom he met in college. They live in a 1920s bungalow in Oakland. |
Parish Administrator - Catherine McElaney
Catherine (she/her) is thrilled to be joining the team at the Chapel as the Parish Administrator. Catherine graduated with a BFA in Acting and a minor in Classics from Montclair State University (2018). She has experience working as an office administrator and teaching artist at non-profit organizations on the east coast. She is excited to be starting a new chapter out here in the Bay; she can’t wait to explore the area and become connected in the community.
Contact Catherine |
President - LuAnn Aakhus
LuAnn and her family settled in the Berkeley-Oakland area 20 years ago when their son David enrolled as a senior at Berkeley High School. In addition to the Bay Area, she and her husband Steve have lived in seven states and worked as expats in three countries (Syria, Malaysia, Singapore).
Born in North Dakota and graduating from Augustana Univ, LuAnn earned her MBA from St. Mary’s in Moraga. She spent her career as a Healthcare Operations Executive working in kidney care, building clinics to bring life saving treatments to patients in California.. And the jungles of Borneo. Recently, she managed a provider group of doctors making house calls to elderly high risk patients in OR & NorCal. Today she serves as the Chief Operations Officer for Bicycle Health, a healthcare tech startup treating patients with Opioid Use Disorder. LuAnn and her husband Steve are the parents of Elizabeth and David, and have three active grandchildren, Roland 8, Viggo, 5, and Semret 4, and have a puppy named Leo. She retired this past winter and is planning to do more painting, gardening, traveling, writing stories and telling them to anyone who will listen. |