Staff
The Rev. Jerald Stinson – Senior Minister
email: jstinson@firstchurchlb.org
A magna cum laude graduate of both Occidental College and the Divinity School at Harvard University, Rev. Jerry Stinson has been the Senior Minister at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, California since 2000. A former United Church of Christ missionary in southern Africa, he has served as minister of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad, California, as minister of the Community Church in Almira, Washington; and as Director of Human Services for the City of Newton, Massachusetts.
Rev. Stinson's priorities at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach have included:
- Bringing the best contemporary religious scholarship into sermons and the church's adult education opportunities.
- Helping this congregation define itself as a community of seekers where questions are valued rather than a community of believers locked into dogma.
- Trying to lift up the possibilities of a Christian faith that focuses on a God beyond theism, a human Jesus and an ethic of compassion, forgiveness and love – while still honoring the right of every member to think for himself or herself.
- Designing Sunday services that maintain the beauty and richness of our tradition while at the same time using language that reflects modern sensitivities and our liberal theology.
- Honoring the richness and wisdom of other world religions, by helping Christians move from seeing themselves as followers of the best or only true religion, to seeing themselves as followers of one among many equally important pathways to God.
- Putting community outreach and social justice advocacy at the center of our congregation's life. In particular this has meant advocating outreach to the homeless in Long Beach, advocacy of equal marriage rights for all in our nation, and calling for an end to American imperialism and militarism throughout the world.
- Affirming and strengthening the role of lay leadership in guiding the church into the future.
Rev. Stinson is currently an Associate Fellow of the Westar Institute (Jesus Seminar) and on the steering committee of the Institute’s Liturgy and Literacy Seminar. He has lectured at two Jesus Seminar sessions and presented a paper at a third session. He is a member of the Christian Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California, a member of the Long Beach Jewish-Christian-Muslim Leadership Forum, and on the City of Long Beach Steering Committee for the Homeless Strategic Planning Process. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Southern California-Nevada UCC Conference Task Force on Immigration, the Clergy Advisory Committee of California Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
He is active with several organizations opposing the death penalty, advocating equality for people of all sexual orientations, supporting reproductive freedom, calling for affordable housing and striving for human rights for migrant workers and the undocumented. A life-long pacifist, he has spoken in several settings about the establishment of Just Peace churches. A strong advocate of religious pluralism, Rev. Stinson has served as co-president of the Long Beach Interfaith Religious Leaders Association and has spoken about Christian sources of anti-Semitism at several Anti-Defamation League events and Yom Ha'Shoah commemorations.
For his denomination, the United Church of Christ, Rev. Stinson served the national church as a member of the directorate of the Office for Church In Society and as chair of the Board of Directors of the United Church Board for World Ministries. He served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California UCC Conference and chaired its Social Concerns Commission. He was a featured preacher at the UCC National General Synod and at the Installation of the Southern California Conference Minister.
In 1992, Rev. Stinson was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award by the City of Oceanside, California and the Oceanside NAACP in recognition of his involvement in the struggle for civil rights. In 1997, he was the first United Church of Christ minister to receive the Disciple of the Year Award given by the Pacific Southwest Region of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ and the Southern California Conference of the United Church of Christ in recognition of his commitment to social justice, peace and freedom for all.
Rev. Stinson is married to Kay Gault, who is a teaching specialist at Lafayette Elementary School in Long Beach. They have three children and three grandchildren.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Bloomfield - Minister of Visitation
email: bloomfield_ed@yahoo.com
Dr. Ed Bloomfield is a native Californian and a retired philosophy professor from Cerritos College. He holds degrees from Whittier College, Harvard Divinity School and Claremont Graduate University. A lifelong member of the United Church of Christ, Ed was ordained in 1966 and has served churches in Whittier and La Habra Heights. He has been the Minister of Visitation at First Church since 1998.
His hobbies include traveling with his wife, Veronica, reading, book collecting, entertaining family and friends, and spending time with his daughter, Veronica Elizabeth, his son-in-law, Miguel, and his grandson, Henry, all of whom light up his life.
Cynthia Hoeger - Director of Children's and Youth Ministries
email: whoeger@firstchurchlb.org
Cynthia Hoeger, or as she’s lovingly referred to, “Wally,” graduated from Chapman University with a B.A. in religious studies, and a B.A. in organizational leadership. Her passion for youth is focused on creating opportunities that foster leadership development and awareness of social justice issues. She has served as a voting delegate at the General Synod, as a board member for the Southern California/Nevada Conference Board of Directors, and as the youth co-moderator of the Youth Roundtable. Over the years, she has spent many summers and weekends up at Pilgrim Pines as a volunteer counselor, staff member, junior camp director, and program leader for After Thanksgiving Day Camp. One of her greatest accomplishments was her missions internship for the Disciples of Christ group at Chapman University, which involved leading a group of college students through southern India. Outside of church, Wally enjoys playing rugby for the Belmont Shore Landsharks and playing the guitar.
Curtis Heard - Director of Music
email: cheard@firstchurchlb.org
Curtis received his bachelor of music degree from Cal State Long Beach where he studied piano, composition, and choral directing. Since 1992, he has been Choir Director at Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach. He is also plays the piano, celeste and keyboard for the Pacific Symphony.
Curtis has been involved with church music for as long as he can remember, first as a member of the children’s and youth choir at Hawthorne United Methodist Church, and later as a choir director and pianist. He began his church directing career at La Habra United Methodist Church. He then was the Choir Director and Handbell Choir Director for fifteen years at Bixby Knolls Christian Church in Long Beach. In 2005, he became the Choir Director and Organist at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Tustin.
In 2009, Curtis was music director for Brundibar, presented by CANTO in association with the Long Beach Opera. He has been the music director of numerous musical theater productions including Gypsy, Oklahoma, Anything Goes and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. As a pianist/keyboardist, he has performed with the Pacific Symphony, the Cypress Pops Orchestra, Musical Theater West, the Long Beach Mozart Festival, South Bay Civic Light Opera and other musical organizations. He is also in demand as an accompanist for vocal and instrumental recitals.
Curtis has written numerous compositions for choir, solo piano, organ, chamber ensembles, and the theater. He was a recipient of a COLA grant for his one-act opera, Permissable Union, premiered in 2010 at California Plaza in Los Angeles. Another of his operas, The Last Resort was performed at the NOW festival at the Redcat theater at Disney Hall. His choral compositions have been performed by the Notre Dame Glee Club, the University Choir of Cal State Long Beach, The Long Beach City College Women's Chorus, the Singer's Club of Cleveland and the combined honor choirs of the Long Beach Unified School District. He has collaborated with performance artist Ken Roht on several shows, including An Enjoyable Evening with Three Special Girls, Larry Swell's Big Bang, Seven Seals and a Riding Monkey, Growing with Ghosts and the 99-cent only productions. Other theatrical works include the opera, Knight of the Dark based on the secret society of the Knights Templar, Harry Thaw Hates Everybody for the Mark Taper New Works project, and Leopold and Loeb, a Laugh Riot! (LATC and Seattle's On the Boards Theater). His compositions also include several published choral works, piano and organ pieces, an Easter Cantata for Choir and Woodwind Quintet, handbell music and other chamber pieces.
Curtis’ wife Lisa Bode Heard has been our congregation’s alto soloist for over twenty years and their son Clayton is an active member of our youth group. Curtis enjoys spending time with his family, camping and hiking, cooking, attending the theater, the Long Beach Aquarium, and the Huntington Gardens. Curtis is also an avid fan of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, and the Angels.
Tracy Halter-Balin - Director of Children's and Youth Music and Assistant Director of Music
email: thalter@firstchurchlb.org
Wherever the worlds of music and children intersect, you might likely find a connection with Tracy Halter-Balin. She has a bachelor's of music degree and credential from California State University, Long Beach in music education. Since the late 80s she has been the smiling face behind First Congregational Church's children's music program. She currently directs the All Seasons Choir, All Seasons Continued, the Beloved Bells youth handbell ensemble and Bellisimo, our adult handbell choir. She also oversees the Charming Chimes children's group, sings in the Sanctuary Choir and loves playing guitar in the All Seasons Strummers. She has organized youth music tours, plays and appearances at music conferences, in addition to helping plan music for the year's morning worship services. Tracy is also active at the Southern California/Nevada UCC Conference level as an adult advisor for the Youth Roundtable, attending meetings and volunteering at winter and summer camp experiences.
Outside of the church walls, Tracy has been ringing handbells for 25 years and is a member of Pacific Bells Handbell Ensemble. She also loves singing with Avocation, a female quartet that includes her two cousins and a great friend. As time permits, she enjoys teaching piano lessons. As for her working life, Tracy has been helping out at Halter & Associates for the past few months and is starting a new adventure as the office manager and co-owner of an auto repair shop known as Matt’s Imports.
Marc R. Dickey, Ph.D. - Organist
email: mdickey@firstchurchlb.org
Since 1988, Dr. Dickey has served on the faculty of the California State University, Fullerton Music Department, where he is in charge of the highly regarded music teacher training program. He holds music degrees from The University of Michigan and from Northwestern University. He has published articles in the leading journals in music education, and is sought after as a clinician for instrumental music ensembles throughout the United States and Canada. Dr. Dickey has been organist at First Church since December 1992. He has also performed as organist in the Long Beach Bach Festival, the Long Beach Mozart Festival, and for the Temple Israel 's High Holy Days.
Ruth Warkentin - Office Manager
email: office@firstchurchlb.org
Ruth Warkentin has worked in the office at First Congregational Church since 2000. Her duties include editing the newsletter, keeping the church calendar, booking events for outside groups, updating the website, coordinating mailings, and maintaining the database. She holds an M.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine and is an active member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach.
Yvonne SaMarion - Maintenance Supervisor
email: ysamarion@firstchurchlb.org
Yvonne SaMarion joined the church staff in April 2003. Her chief responsibilities are making sure that rooms are set up for various events and classes. She schedules custodial help for the facility and tries to ensure that everything remains in working order. A native New Yorker, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in biology, from Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee. She has done advanced coursework in wildlife management and, more recently, in early childhood education. She moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to take the position of trainer for a fast food company. She eventually became the training manager for their west coast region. She eventually left the position to work with young people from the inner city as a director with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. She is an avid reader, an active participant in the choir and has been a member of several boards and committees within the church.
