With warm & grateful hearts- the ELM community would like to thank outgoing ELM Treasurer Rev. Jan Peterson, pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Omaha, NE, for her years of ministry as ELM’s treasurer. Jan’s kind heart, dedication, and many many skills will be greatly missed. As we thank Jan for her ministry to ELM, we also welcome Janet Katari as she assumes the ELM Treasurer role. 

Janet is excited about joining the ELM Board as Treasurer, because of the strong role ELM has played in supporting queer seminarians and rostered leaders, and because of the extraordinary opportunities for ELM’s future. “Janet has strong gifts for this type of leadership. The ELM Board is pleased to welcome Janet during this season of transition.” ELM Board Co-Chair, Margarette Ouji 

Rev. Janet Katari (she/her) recently started as the senior pastor at Christ Church, Lutheran in San Francisco after graduating from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 2020. She also serves on the Witness Discipling Team of the Sierra Pacific Synod and has experience as a Mission Developer, staff & board member for non-profits, management consultant, and chemist. Janet’s call to ministry is nurtured by her curiosity about God’s role in the world, a commitment to developing ways to help people find connections to God, and a yearning for God’s justice broadly applied. She moved to the Bay Area in 1991, and she and her partner Carrie have lived together in Berkeley for the past 7 years. Between them, they have four children aged 24, 23, 19, and 15. In her downtime, she enjoys playing viola in a couple of orchestras, learning guitar, enjoying board games with family and friends, and taking her dogs on adventures.