Meet your chapter candidates!

Meet your chapter candidates in person at Sunday's forum.

Jennifer Jow
I was born in Hong Kong, adopted by my parents at 18 months and grew up in the bay area. Growing up I attended a Methodist church and belonged in the youth group and sang in the choir.

After I graduated from high school I enlisted in the US Navy and immediately went right to boot camp. Upon completion, reported to training command base in San Diego, CA. While on active duty, I started college and continued my education after I left the Navy. I earned my Bachelors of Science in Management along with a Masters of Arts in Business Organization from University of Phoenix.

Worked at WW Grainger for 12 years as an Account Manager Executive working with large organizations utilizing the consultative selling technique. Held several different leadership roles.

During my quest in 2007 to find a church to call home and feel comfortable being myself, I saw a flyer about St Paul’s Cathedral. My friend Mark and I decided to attend the 8am service and discuss how we felt afterwards. What I liked about St Paul’s Cathedral is that the people there made me feel welcomed and the mantra of “Whoever you are, wherever you find yourself on the journey of life, we invite you to join us .”

This statement clinched it for me as well as the feeling that I felt inside of me that said this is the right place to call home. In April 2010, I got confirmed and started to volunteer to be a greeter after the 8am service and help out on St Georges Day.

Also, I am involved in several Mission and Outreach programs that meet on a monthly basis. My current passion has been working closely with ECS staff to understand the needs of the residents of the Downtown & Uptown Safehaven (concentrating on Uptown) and provide the resources if possible to full-fill the need. The other outreach programs I attend is the Showers of Blessings and Cathedral for the City. I volunteer at the cathedral cleaning and organizing certain areas to provide better utilization of space and eliminate unnecessary stuff.

This is my first time on chapter and I look forward to being a part of a group that is involved in the governance of the cathedral. It will be a great experience for me and with my strategic business and management background I can suggest ideas and provide sound feedback. 

Jasmin Kaeser
As a native Kentuckian, I have lived in San Diego for two years and have been attending St. Paul’s for most of that time. I love the warmth and inclusivity of this congregation; from the first moment I stepped into St. Paul’s I felt welcome. I’ve also come to realize how much I appreciate being able to ask questions without judgment, which I struggled with growing up as a Roman Catholic. As a scientist, I love learning more about the history and traditions of the church, and I hope that serving on chapter will give me a greater understanding of the inner workings of the Episcopal faith. This will be my first time serving on a board for a faith organization. As a young person who is new to this Episcopal thing, I hope to provide something of an outsider’s view to some of the issues we discuss and I look forward to getting to know more members of the church! I attend the 10:30 AM mass most Sundays with occasional forays to the 8 AM and 5 PM services. I am currently working through the Education for Ministry program at St. Paul’s and am a member of the Urban Collective 20’s and 30’s group. I enjoy attending the 9 AM forums and special events like St. George’s Day and Zydeco, which I’d never experienced before last year!

Outside of St. Paul’s, I work at the City of San Diego Crime Lab as a DNA analyst. I love using my scientific skills to benefit the public, and I truly do feel that my work helps to make the city safer. A large portion of my job is explaining complex concepts simply, and I hope to be able to use that skill as a chapter member. In my free time I enjoy volunteering with the San Diego Humane Society in their kitten nursery. I have two cats of my own, Diana and Clark, who prevent me from bringing a new kitten home every week and kindly tolerate my affections. Prior to moving to San Diego, I served as a scout member on the board of the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana and was an active participant in my college’s volunteer organization, the Bonner Program. I look forward to bringing a new perspective to chapter and learning more about each of you on this journey of faith!

Mark Lester
Since arriving at St. Paul’s in 1991, I’ve been challenged by a remarkable variety of opportunities in which to serve: from membership on the Christian Education, Music, and Incorporation/Evangelism committees in the early 90s, through a commission charged with imagining the future of the Cathedral in the 21st century, to two terms on Chapter. I became People’s Warden in early 2012, and was Dean’s Warden from 2012-2013 during our transition between deans, also serving in an ex-officio capacity on the Endowment and Finance Committees. I continue to serve on Finance, as a manager of Nutmeg & Olive LLC, charged with campus redevelopment, and as a lector at 8am (my usual service) and Evensong. My perspective approaching a new term on Chapter is one of familiarity with the organizational and governance structures of the Cathedral, and also, of patience learned through experience: I’ve come to understand that the Cathedral’s future evolves organically and prayerfully, in God’s time, and not always in our time or according to our plan. I love this place heart and soul, and am excited about serving on Chapter once again, if elected.

I’m retired from San Diego State University Library, where my responsibilities included managing the library’s budget through the state’s good and bad economic times, as well as human resources, facilities, security, communications, and a public service division that included circulation/course reserves, interlibrary loan and resource sharing. For the past seven years, I served as president of the San Diego Early Music Society, and continue as a board member of that organization, which presents the finest visiting artists and ensembles in historically informed performances of medieval, renaissance and baroque music.

I strongly value the Cathedral’s commitment to our Anglican musical heritage, our careful attention to beauty in liturgy, our support for varied and lively opportunities for Christian formation, our renewed emphasis on ministry to the poor and marginalized, and our commitment to be open and welcoming to “all, all, all.”

Joan Reese
I've been part of the St. Paul's community for approximately the past decade and a half.  My husband Bob and I attend the 10:30 service.  At St. Paul's, I've been involved in Peace and Justice and subsequently Simpler Living ministries.  Bob and I have continued our family tradition of preparing and serving meals for Interfaith Shelter guests at St. Paul's, which we originally did over the years at our previous parish with the help of our then toddler through teenage children.  I've participated in organizing and coordinating periodic health screening visits to Casa Hogar Vida Joven/Dorcas House for the past 8 years, working with casa staff to identify appropriate local resources to meet the children's medical needs.  At my previous parishes in New York City and La Jolla, I taught Sunday School for a number of years.  At the latter, I also served on the board--including a term as president--of a fund which provided financial assistance for medical care of individuals in need and also supported a hospital chaplain and pastoral counselor with a parish nurse added during my tenure.

I graduated from Brown University and Yale Medical School and earned a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins.  I'm a developmental pediatrician, now mainly retired, and am active in the local chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, currently serving on the chapter's advisory committee.  I've worked in a number of settings including primary care pediatrics, academic adolescent medicine, child abuse, and for 20+ years was a full-time consulting physician at a social service agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities across the lifespan.  I've served on several statewide committees related to developmental disabilities.  In the San Diego community, I've served on several school district committees, including advisory committees for the gifted and talented program, which I chaired, and the budget process.  I've served on the boards of several nonprofits and currently am on the boards of Scripps Ranch Friends of the Library and the citywide Friends of the San Diego Public Library.  Bob and I are the proud parents of three 30-something children, who are scattered across the country, and enjoy our two grandchildren.

This is an exciting time for us at St. Paul's, with opportunities to consider carefully directions in which we as a parish and community may grow and flourish.

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Chapter also includes new members elected by the Diocese (The Rev Andrew Green) and appointed by the Bishop (Bishop's Warden Lesslie Keller)

 The Rev. Andrew Green was elected to the Cathedral Chapter at the Convention of the Diocese of San Diego in November of 2015.

He is the 8th Rector (Sr. Pastor) of St. Paul’s and has served the Parish since December of 1988.

Andrew was raised in Central California, earned a B.A. in History from the University of New Mexico, and his Masters in Divinity from Seabuy-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Il in 1985. He was hired to be the Curate (Assistant Priest) for St. Dunstan’s, San Diego in 1985.

He has participated in numerous continuing education programs and leadership training programs, and has taken two Sabbaticals and made two pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

As a part of his ministry with St. Paul’s, he serves the Diocese of San Diego, the Episcopal Church, and the local community. He is currently a Deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, a Diocesan Representative to the Chapter (Board) of the Cathedral of St. Paul in San Diego, a Chaplain with the Palm Springs Police Department.

Andrew has been married to Susan Croley since 1977. They have 3 children and five granddaughters. Susan has retired from a career as an elementary school teacher and is studying to be ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church.

Lesslie Keller has been the CEO of Episcopal Community Services (ECS) since March 2007. Founded in 1927, ECS  operates six social service programs in San Diego County. The primary focus is on mentally ill, homeless adults ;  children living in poverty;  and adults struggling with substance abuse. Over four hundred employees in thirty locations carry out these services to approximately 10,000 people a year.

Lesslie moved to San Diego from Chicago where she had been the Director of Finance and Administration for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, overseeing all financial and administrative services for the Diocese’s six corporations and one association. An Illinois CPA, she joined the diocese after working in the public accounting and private corporate sectors.

Born in Tennessee and educated in Virginia and North Carolina, Lesslie’s college major was in mass communications and she worked in several television and radio stations before switching to business and finance. She has two adult children. Her daughter works in the publishing industry in Chicago and her son is a sound engineer in Phoenix. Lesslie loves to travel, read, cook and eat! Oh, yes, and play with Gracie and Sam, her grandchildren!