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 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 three kids. Her happy place is watching college football on Saturday mornings in the Fall.

Kathy grew up roaming the orchards and surrounding hills of San Jose, but encountered Jesus while living in Hong Kong with her husband Jim and their three children in the late 1990s. She returned to the United States with a hunger to learn more and enrolled in Bible Study Fellowship. A few years later, she served as a Teaching Leader for BSF, then on staff of Women’s Bible Study at Central Peninsula Church. In 2018, she became Grace Church’s first Director of Women’s Ministries and Congregational Care.

Alongside her role at Grace, Kathy is pursuing a Master’s of Counseling degree with Westminster Online Learning. Her favorite ways to unwind are laughing, hiking and spending time with family and friends, but especially with her one-year-old grandson.

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.”

Since 2014, Iron has been serving as a pastor at Grace. Iron is a native of Korea who immigrated to the US at age six and grew up in and around New York City. He graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (BA) in 1990 and from Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.) in Philadelphia, PA in 1994. He also earned a M.Th. from New College, University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1997. Iron was a High School Youth Pastor and Director of Christian Education at Korean United Church in Philadelphia, Assistant Pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, Associate Pastor at City Church of San Francisco, and Senior Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Orange County.

Iron likes to spend time with his family, learn obscure facts, and follow his beloved New York Yankees. He is married to his wife Grace, and they have one daughter, Charlotte.

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 31 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, neighborhood children for Back Yard Bible Clubs, young women for 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 grandson, Kai.

Ben grew up in South Carolina, graduating from Clemson University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. While Ben’s plan had always been to pursue a career in medicine, the Lord instead called Ben to ministry (and he couldn’t be happier now about that change in plans!). He then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia where he worked in youth ministry for nearly a decade and graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary with a Master’s in Theology.

In 2021, Ben moved to the Bay Area to join Grace as an assistant pastor and quickly realized why it’s called the “Best Coast.” In his free time, Ben loves spending time with people in any capacity, running, hiking, all things related to games and sports (particularly volleyball, football, and baseball), playing the piano, and exploring different foods and cultures.

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.

Allison is a native of the great state of Texas and loves all things BBQ and college football. She moved here with her family in 2014 so her husband Jon could begin his work on a PhD in English Literature at Stanford. They love everything about California’s natural beauty and find a way to be on a hike or at the beach whenever they can.

The Director of Children's Ministries role was a natural fit for Allison as she loves communicating God’s great love for his children to his children. She has been serving in children’s ministry for most of her life, either as a volunteer in her church, a summer camp counselor, an Outdoor Education instructor, a registrar for Pine Cove camps, and on the GraceKids check-in team.

To get on her good side, bring her a latte and tell her that you think her children, Nate, Caed & Emerson, are hilarious, sweet and kind.

Sharon is a Bay Area native who is proud to represent the rare Golden Bear contingent at Grace.

The Communications Coordinator role has been an opportunity for her to serve the Grace community through her love of detail and language. Previously, she was a high school English teacher and now works in tech content strategy.

She and her husband, Daniel, have been attending Grace since 2019 and enjoy coffee, moderate walks, and shorter runs.