Our Staff & Leadership

Therin hails from Nashville, TN by way of a few other places. Prior to joining the staff at Westminster, she worked in the consulting and nonprofit industries. She also spent a year in new church development in Mukilteo, WA. She is a proud alumna of United World College of the Atlantic (high school), Stanford University, and Princeton Theological Seminary. In her unscheduled time, she loves getting to know her neighbors, watching hockey, playing cello at a beginner level, getting outside, and doing just about anything with her family. She and her college sweetheart, Alex, have three kids and two beloved Australian Shepherds.

Julie is a native Washingtonian and a lifelong Presbyterian.  So far her life journey has included being an enthusiastic student, a camp counselor, a singer in a loud Christian band, a management consultant, a PC(USA) pastor, and most importantly a spouse and a mom of two remarkable young adults.  As a Minister of Word and Sacrament, Julie is honored to come alongside people on their life and spiritual journeys.  Julie is also a facilitator prepared by the Center for Courage & Renewal, and enjoys creating spaces where people can connect who they are with what they do.  Julie loves to paddle board, cook, garden, hike, and walk with her spouse Cris and golden retriever Cait.

Amber grew up in Yelm, Washington, with a large extended family and a community of friends and neighbors. Growing up in a small town and working in her Mom's beauty salon from a young age taught Amber many valuable life skills. Life is lived with the people around you and the lessons you learn become what you embody in the future. The lessons Amber learned taught her to value integrity, honesty, compassion, kindness, and courtesy. In her work life, Amber loves to bring organization out of chaos and to create and facilitate opportunities for people to come together in support of a common cause. In her home life, Amber is happily married to her best friend, with whom she shares two loving children. She is delighted to have the good fortune to be a part of the Westminster community.

Sarah was born in Quinault, Washington, and raised in the rural town of Humptulips. She has attended Presbyterian churches throughout her life and has learned a lot about church leadership and children’s ministry through the years of watching her mom, who is a retired Presbyterian pastor and former children’s minister. Sarah loves working with kids and families and has served in multiple churches as a youth group volunteer. In 2007, she graduated from Trinity Lutheran College with a BA in Biblical Studies. She started working in hospitality and children’s ministry at WPC in 2018, and is delighted to have added to her role, in 2022, the leadership of WPC youth. Sarah spends her free time writing, painting, and reading a variety of novel genres.  She and her husband, Steven, grew up in opposite ends of Grays Harbor County, met in 2009, married in 2011, and now live in Olympia. The couple welcomed their son, Sebastian, in December 2018.

Dawn Sonntag has extensive experience as a church musician across the U.S. and in Germany. Before relocating to Olympia in 2019, she taught full-time at Gonzaga University and at Hiram College in northeast Ohio. Dawn earned a D.M.A. in composition and voice, with a minor in choral conducting, at the University of Minnesota; an M.M. in choral conducting at the Ohio State University; and a graduate artist diploma in piano at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik, Heidelberg. She composes operas and choral, instrumental, and solo vocal music and loves to explore trails, rivers, and foreign languages with family and friends.

Lawrence came to Westminster in 2014. He is married to Andrea and has five children: Cassy, Isabella, Lauren, Jacob and Ariela. Lawrence loves serving, volunteering and learning new skills. "God, wife, family is the order to my life."

Samantha Curtis was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and earned her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology at University of Maryland Baltimore County. As she embarked upon her career, she made the conscious choice to dedicate herself, time, talents, and strengths to amplify the voices of marginalized people and communities to help lift others up. Deeply humbled by the opportunity to join Hope Village, she will strive to do as much good as possible. In her free time, Samantha loves to hike, read, explore, create, and experience life with her family.