Our Church Leadership

Our Church thrives because of the energy and style of the people who are a part of our leadership. Here are a few of the people that make our church community special:

The Rev. Ian Delinger - Priest

Our new Rector, Rev. Ian Delinger began his ministry with us on May 1, 2016.  Prior to coming here, Rev. Ian served as the University of Chester’s Chaplain to the Warrington Campus and to the Faculty of Health & Social Care.  He was born in California, and was raised in both rural western Nebraska and on the central coast of California. Fr. Ian is very interested in showing the Church and active faith in a positive light in the public arena, including in the media. 

 The Rev. Tom Tarwater - Deacon, Retired

Tom has served St. Stephen's and the San Luis Obispo community for many decades.  As well as serving as our deacon, he has been active in prison ministries and has played trombone with the San Luis Obispo County Band for over 50 years.

The Rev. Karen Faye Siegfriedt  - Associate Priest

Pastor Karen comes to St. Stephen’s with 25 years of ordained ministry experience.  Born in Boston MA, she made her way out to California in 1981 as a research assistant and later worked as a hazardous waste manager.  Feeling called to the priesthood, she attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and graduated in 1992.  She has served as an assistant at Holy Innocents in SF and St. Luke’s, Los Gatos.  She was rector of St. Jude’s in Cupertino for 12 years and rector of Trinity Church in Sutter Creek for 7.  She has an educational background in nursing, chemistry, environmental management, and theology.  The three great loves in her life are Medicine, the Church, and Steph (her partner).  She and Steph moved to Morro Bay at the end of 2017 and are delighted to be part of the St. Stephen’s family.  .

 Staff

Kris Vander Weele - Office Manager

Kris worked in special education at Hawthorne Elementary School before coming to work at St. Stephen's and prior to that she worked with churches in Pismo Beach and Boston and has a wide variety of expertise in church finance, administration, social media and marketing.  As a member of St. Stephen's she has assisted with Vacation Bible Camp and was part of the Fellowship Craft Group. Both her sons were baptized at St. Stephen’s and have served as acolytes and her younger son is a member of the hand bell choir.

Berkeley Johnson - Canterbury Chaplain

Berkeley serves as Chaplain to the Canterbury Club, an Episcopal, LBGBTQ-inclusive and theologically progressive college and young-adult ministry. It's committed to building a loving, supportive and anti-racist community grounded in the Good News of God in Jesus Christ.