About Us

Grace was born in Singapore and has called the Bay Area home since moving here 10 years ago. As a pastor's kid, she spent a few years of her childhood in Los Angeles while her father attended seminary. She attended college In Munich, Germany, where she accumulated an embarrassing knowledge of Oktoberfest songs. She is fluent in English, German, Mandarin and food-blog lingo.

Before joining Grace Staff at the end of 2019, Grace had previously worked as a government liaison with oil and gas equipment companies. She also spent several years in Human Resources specializing in talent attraction. Attracting humans to God's Kingdom has been her most fulfilling job to date.

Grace values ministering to the littlest ones in our midst because of two deep convictions- that each child has an eternal soul, and that our period of influence with the kids is limited. She has been involved with children's ministry ever since her teens and has volunteered with Young Life back in the day when she could pass as "cool". Grace also currently serves as the Children's Supervisor for the Bible Study Fellowship Class in San Mateo, overseeing the preschool program there. She relishes being the Games Director for her local AWANA club and has thought of many ways to tire kids out on a weeknight.

On the weekends, you'll find Grace cheering for whichever Little League team her sons are on, or heading out with her husband and three children (Ethan, Eva and Evan) for hikes. If you're (un)lucky, you might also catch the whole family dancing to Meghan Trainor or belting out a Disney soundtrack in their living room.

A native Texan, Kristyn moved to the Bay Area in 2006 to attend Stanford, and a few months later, started getting rides to Grace through Reformed University Fellowship (RUF). After college, she worked as a management consultant at McKinsey in Dallas before coming back to Stanford in 2012 for her MBA. From 2014-2019, Kristyn worked as a senior financial analyst for the CFO of Stanford, where she performed financial analysis and managed strategic projects for senior leadership and the Board of Trustees.

In 2020, Kristyn came on staff at Grace as Executive Director of Operations to manage the church's finances and other administrative aspects of the ministry. She lives in Menlo Park with her husband, Jack, and their four kids. Her happy place is watching college football on Saturday mornings in the Fall.

Annabel grew up as a ‘Third Culture Kid,’ living in seven different countries before her 21st birthday. She eventually landed in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2015. Here, she intended to start Veterinary school, though instead joined her Church team, working in Home Groups ministry – a decision she is very pleased with! In Florida, she met the love of her life - her husband James.
In 2020 they moved to Palo Alto for James to carry out his post-doctorate at Stanford. Annabel writes stories for fun in hopes that they will make people laugh, connect with the reader, and be a sliding door into a new perspective. She joined the Grace Pres team in 2023 in the communications role. Her mission is to ensure our congregation feels truly at home, establishing effective communications and fostering a welcoming atmosphere within our church community.
When she is not at Church, you can find her climbing up rock walls, pitching a tent in the Santa Cruz mountains, or splashing in fountains with her family.

Jim grew up in Palo Alto, attended Stanford as both an undergrad and business executive, and spent 40+ years working globally in the Services and Support Organizations of Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and Cisco. Jim also spent the majority of the past 20 years in Bible Study Fellowship, serving as either a Group or Children's Leader. For fun, Jim loves hiking with his wife Kathy, running, playing golf, and playing almost any song from the 60's and 70's on guitar.

Kathy joined the staff at Grace in 2018 and has served in ministry as a Bible teacher, speaker and mentor for the past 24 years. Having grown up in Silicon Valley, she loves the Bay Area and its people. Kathy also lived in Hong Kong for four years with her young family.

Kathy received her Master of Arts in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary in 2023 and has completed the coursework for the Formation Certificate from the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation.

She and her husband, Jim, have three grown children, two spirited grandchildren, and a “career change” Guide Dog for the Blind named Rosie. Hiking, reading, laughing, and time with dear friends feed her soul, as does a morning cup of good coffee.

David (aka “DJ”) has been a Pastor at Grace since 2011, having previously served as the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) Campus Minister at Stanford University. He and his wife, Mindi, have 3 delightful children – Kylie, Jaden, and Averly – who keep life exciting and unmanageable. Their favorite family ritual is exploring the Bay Area to “see something beautiful” and “eat something delicious.” While both David and Mindi share a common love for Crossfit, Mindi is the real athlete in the family. She’s also an insanely good cook, with remarkable gifts of hospitality.

David also loves finding new places to eat, cycling, college football, snow skiing, live music, and great coffee – especially when these things are shared with others. His heart is for Grace to always feel like a place where you are “free to struggle” instead of “struggling to be free.”

Iron joined the pastoral staff at Grace in 2014. Prior to this he has pastored in Southern California (Orange County), San Francisco and Manhattan. Iron grew up in the NYC area and graduated from the SUNY at Stony Brook. He also has an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary and a M.Th. from New College, University of Edinburgh. He and his wife Grace met in Manhattan but have spent most of their married life in California and they have a daughter who lives on the East Coast. One of his hobbies is watching British crime dramas.

Elsie embraces her tri-cultural background as a Chinese American who lived and raised her three daughters in Basel, Switzerland with her Swiss husband, Daniel, of 34 years. Prior to joining Grace, Elsie was actively involved at PBC Cupertino for 24 years, serving alongside her pastor at Psalms and educational conferences throughout Europe. She has a deep passion for Hebrew and a heart for hospitality, having hosted innumerable guests for dinners, Back Yard Bible Clubs, and cooking classes, and coordinated a variety of celebrations and weddings.

Some of her favorite activities are walking her dog Milly while chatting with a girlfriend, spending an entire day cooking in the kitchen, sitting at the beach for hours doing absolutely nothing, making vacation memories with her daughters and sons-in-law, and babysitting her grandchildren.

Cynthia and her husband, Mike, began attending Grace in 2021 when they moved from Ithaca, NY back to where she grew up in Cupertino. Cynthia has faithfully volunteered in our GraceTeens ministry for the past two years, and led the middle school girls Bible study this past year. She looks forward to bringing her love of building relationships and belief in the power of Christ-centered community to continue to serve the teens and families at Grace in this more formal capacity.

Previously, Cynthia worked as a user experience researcher and as a coordinator at Apartment Life, a community building ministry. She loves hanging out with friends and family, playing volleyball and board/card games, and the performing arts!

Katherine is a Bay Area native who grew up in the East Bay. She has been working in science education in many capacities since college, and eventually wound up at Stanford in 2016 for her Master’s in Education. She then worked as a high school chemistry teacher for five years at Mountain View High School.

After not growing up as a Christian, she found Jesus in 2017 while attending Grace, and is so thankful for the sweet way God pursued her through the welcoming community of this church. For five years before she joined the staff, she volunteered as a 2nd/3rd grade leader for GraceKids. As the Elementary Director, she loves using her teaching experience to continue to serve the little ones of our church, and hopes Sundays can be a time where each kid feels God’s love and the hope that the gospel brings us!

Some of her favorite activities include taking long walks, baking new treats for family and friends, reading at a coffee shop, and watching an absurd amount of cooking shows. She lives in Palo Alto with her husband Hunter and their two children.

After a career in banking and capital markets, Rod and his family relocated to Marin County in 2004 where he founded and has pastored Grace Church of Marin, a loving, gospel-centered church located in San Anselmo, the heart of the county.

Rod married his best friend and former colleague, Gwen, in September 1991. They are still nuts about each other and are the proud parents of 3 twenty-something boys: Reid, who lives in San Anselmo with his wife, Carly; Kevin, who lives in San Francisco with his wife, Anna; and Rick, who lives in Washington, DC.

Rod is a 2004 graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary where he earned his MDIV. Before that, he managed the loan syndications business and currency risk management business for Wachovia Securities and Wachovia Bank, respectively. Rod spent 15 years at Wachovia working in New York and Atlanta. While a banker, he served as a Deacon and then Ruling Elder at Intown Community Church in Atlanta.

Rod loves being a pastor, taking sports photography, hiking, and hanging out with his family and friends. He is passionate about loving and equipping pastors and other leaders and will talk about the gospel with anybody, anytime!

Jess originally hails from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where she grew up the middle of three girls. Coming from a musical family, she was first obliged to play and sing old hymns and bluegrass tunes, but then found herself grateful in college when she joined a folk band and started leading worship for RUF. Jess graduated UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Education, then became an intern for RUF Stanford and “accidentally” started her ministry career in California.

After working for RUF for five years, Jess came on staff at Grace in May 2018 to serve as the Director of Creative Arts and Congregational Care and interim Worship Director, or affectionately known as the Director of Colors and Feelings. She currently coordinates our worship team and crafts our Sunday services by choosing songs, Scripture readings and prayers that complement the preaching of the Word.

When she’s not making music, Jess loves listening to music — discovering new artists and going to see her favorites live. She loves hosting movie nights and trying out new recipes on her dinner guests. She is also a part of the Crossfit community and likes to lift heavy things.