Leadership & Staff

Minister
Rev. Jenny Amstutz
Reverend Jenny Amstutz (she/her), a native of southwest Denver, began her ministry at Columbine UU Church the summer of 2021 after completing her Masters of Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School. She brings a passion for environmental and social justice to her ministry, having spent a decade building and promoting sustainable living residential demonstration projects (ecovillages) in Virginia, California, Missouri and Ireland. Rev. Jenny has been a passionate Unitarian Universalist ever since she discovered the religion in the early 2000s. She is a mother to five wonderful human beings and lives in Lakewood with her husband, children, and a menagerie of pets. www.jennyamstutz.com

Faith Development Coordinator
Rev. Alwen Bledsoe
Reverend Alwen Bledsoe is a native of Colorado and lives in Lakewood with her husband Chris, children Jadyn and Kieran, and a plethora of pets. She received her Masters of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology and is an ordained Episcopal priest. She has a passion for social justice and for educating children, youth, and adults. In fact, she was a teacher in her former life and has taught everything from kindergarten faith studies to college-level writing. Rev. Alwen is delighted to be serving at Columbine UU Church!

Music Director
Leah Tracy
A newcomer to Colorado, Leah Tracy is a composer and vocalist with a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Bowling Green State University. Leah was selected as a winner of the HerVoice Composition Competition by Chicago A Cappella, and her piece sing to us, cedars for ten-voice unaccompanied choir was performed the Kansas City Chorale. In her music, Leah hopes to provide audiences a moment to reflect on their emotions and memories with music that is often based on childhood experiences and nostalgia. She is also passionate about the creation of accessible choral music and strives to write music for singers of many ages and ability levels, while still experimenting with the many sounds that the human voice can make. Leah has two cats named Leonard and Maurice.

Accompanist
MJ Erickson-Eger
Music has been a significant part of MJ’s entire life (there is a story of her at age three loudly singing Christmas carols as her mother tried to navigate her across busy Philadelphia streets). However, her education and professional careers have been as both a school psychologist and a geologist. She always has too much on her plate and fills her days with interests in science, gardening, knitting and running (oh, and music). MJ started accompanying at age 11. In this capacity, she enjoys the opportunity to be musical wallpaper, along with singing alto in church and chamber choirs. She is also still working on getting an acceptable sound out of her cello.

Office Administrator
Sarah Weed
A born-and-raised UU, Sarah joined the Columbine UU staff in October 2019. She lives with her two teenaged sons and a very bad-but-beloved rescue dog named Coraline. She studied at Knox College in Illinois, and has lived on all the inhabited continents. Sarah enjoys travel, cuisines from around the world, and spending time at her family’s home in the Pike National Forest.

Leadership
Board of Trustees
Laura Mirabito, President
Georgia Ferguson, Vice President
Richard Pilatzke, Treasurer
Sue Zloth, Past President
Shared Ministry Team
Leslie Patten
Maris Biela