Rev. Michelle Odinma is a Seventh-day Adventist Christian minister and contemporary singer/songwriter. After completing her Master of Divinity Degree from the Andrews Theological Seminary in 2020, she began serving as the Pastor for Community Life at Church of the Advent Hope where she currently ministers.  Along with being a cat mom of two, she enjoys filling her life with good food, good people, and good music. 

Lay Leader: Wayne Kammerer, Reception Host: Gloria Schofner, Usher: Mary Sheeran

Revd Joseph J. Nicholson (Non-denominational Protestant) spent the first 30 years of his career as an entrepreneur.  He founded a dozen companies, mostly related to software and the financial services industry.

Following the sale of his operating businesses and a brief retirement, he was called to seminary.  He received a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2016 and a Masters degree of Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary in 2020.  He was ordained in 2017 by the Non-Denominational Protestant American Fellowship Church.

From September 2014 to January 2021, he served as chaplain to the uniformed personnel of the EMS division of the New York City Fire Department.  Since April 2019, he has served as pastoral counselor at Chelsea Community Church.

Lay Leader: David Williams, Reception Host: Wayne Kammerer, Usher: Edie Diane Nichols

Happy Labor Day

August Hiatus Join us when we return September 8, 2024

August Hiatus Join us when we return September 8, 2024

August Hiatus Join us when we return September 8, 2024

August Hiatus Join us when we return September 8, 2024

August Hiatus Join us when we return September 8, 2024

Jill Hausman has been the Rabbi and Cantor of the historic Actors’ Temple, Congregation Ezrath Israel, in Manhattan since 2006, and is the Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical Seminary International (RSI).  She previously served as Cantor/Assistant Rabbi at Boro Park Progressive Synagogue in Brooklyn, and has been an aquatic biologist, a singer, and actor.  Her commentaries on the weekly Torah portion have been published by The Jewish Week in New York City, now online at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, by Tikkun Magazine, and her poems and prayers can be found at www.ritualwell.org.

Lay Leader: Jeff Cubeta, Reception Host: Wayne Kammerer, Usher: Mary Sheeran

Mary Sheeran (Episcopalian/Chelsea Community Church) has been a member of Chelsea Community Church since 1987.

After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in History, Humanistic Studies, and Theater at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, she taught at the Foxhollow School in Lenox, Massachusetts. She performed leading roles in regional theater productions, off-Broadway plays, and in operas in New York City. She also was a theater critic for the trade papers Show Business and Backstage. 

Mary also has had a career as a medical editor, which was how she met Hilda Regier, who invited her to join an Easter choir for Chelsea Community Church. Mary became a member shortly thereafter and served on the church's board for several years.

As board Chair, she was invited to audit a class at Union Theological Seminary; and inspired,she enrolled at nondenominational New York Theological Seminary, earning her Master of Divinity degree. She did field service at St. Peter's Chelsea, where she was active in their liturgy and education committees and served on the vestry, the altar, and in the choir. 

In 2006, her first novel, Who Have the Power, was published about the effects of silver mining in the west on the Native peoples. She has since had three other novels published, two of which have won awards; and she is working on number five.

Lay Leader: Mary Sheeran, Reception Host: Edie Diane Nichols, Usher: Sandra Almeida

Revd Dana Fenton (American Baptist) teaches sociology at Lehman College, where she is a tenured lecturer.  She has completed a two-year term as grievance counselor for full-time faculty at Lehman through its union, the Professional Faculty Conference.  She earned M.Div. and M.Phil. degrees at Union Theological Seminary and has an M.Phil. in sociology from the City University of New York Graduate Center.  She is a former pastor of churches in Long Beach and Queens.  She continues to do outreach with an Episcopal mission in Tbilisi, in the Republic of Georgia.

Lay Leader: Wayne Kammerer, Reception Host: TBA, Usher: Gloria Schofner

Revd Joseph J. Nicholson (Non-denominational Protestant) spent the first 30 years of his career as an entrepreneur.  He founded a dozen companies, mostly related to software and the financial services industry.

Following the sale of his operating businesses and a brief retirement, he was called to seminary.  He received a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2016 and a Masters degree of Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary in 2020.  He was ordained in 2017 by the Non-Denominational Protestant American Fellowship Church.

From September 2014 to January 2021, he served as chaplain to the uniformed personnel of the EMS division of the New York City Fire Department.  Since April 2019, he has served as pastoral counselor at Chelsea Community Church.

Lay Leader: TBA, Reception Host: TBA, Usher: TBA

Diane Trinkaus has been a non-denominational Christian minister for 15 years.  

Upon graduation from high school, Diane spent 8 years a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph order of nuns.  

After leaving the order, Diane worked for 32 years as a public school educator; and she was honored with the prestigious Empire State Excellence in Teaching Award.

Following her 1989 diagnosis of breast cancer, Diane turned to painting as a connection to her spiritual self, a spiritual practice she continues to today.  Her experience as a 34-year cancer survivor has made her uniquely qualified for her work as a volunteer at the Hudson Valley Hospital infusion center.  At this center, she has been able to offer emotional support and spiritual guidance to patients as they face their cancer diagnoses and chemotherapy treatment.  She has also volunteered at Hudson Valley Hospital for a powerful national cancer advocacy program called No One Dies Alone, or NODA.

Diane is now on her sixth year as guest lecturer at the Utica College School of Nursing.  Her course, Spirituality in Nursing, focuses on guiding future caregivers toward serving the physical and spiritual needs of their patients; while also nourishing their own spiritual well-being.

Lay Leader: Wayne Kammerer, Reception Host: Edie Diane Nichols, Usher: Sandra Almeida

Revd John Magisano (Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches)  served as Chelsea Community Church's Pastoral Counselor for 11 years (2004 - 2015). He has served various churches and currently serves All Souls Bethlehem Church in Brooklyn as their interim pastoral counselor.  He earned his Master of Divinity Degree at New York Theological Seminary in 1999.  John recently retired from NYC Office of Technology & Innovation (OTI) as Senior Coordinator for Learning & Organizational Development.  He lives in Brooklyn with his husband Xris and their feline overlord, Wolverina.  

Lay Leader: David Williams, Reception Host: Gloria Schofner, Usher: Sandra Almeida

Scott Barbarino wears many hats; he has been a performer, producer and promoter. In 2007, Scott added another hat to his collection, Publisher, by creating NiteLifeExchange.com, a news and reviews website “Where Broadway Meets Cabaret,” focusing on Cabaret performances in NYC and Broadway performers who grace the cabaret stage. His career began at the original Duplex Cabaret, where he became a singing bartender and eventually the Manager and Host of “Stars of Tomorrow,” one of the first competition shows in cabaret. Over the next 40 years, Scott also managed and/or booked acts at The Parkside Lounge on New York’s Lower East Side (Cheez Whiz), Chelsea Lobster Company (The Lounge-O-Leers), THAT Bar (Weekly Dance Party), Dillon’s Supper Club aka The Reprise Room (The Siegel’s Monthly CD Release Party), The Cutting Room (Rhonda Ross) and Iridium Jazz Club (Terese Genecco & Her Little Big Band) which played for over 100 performances to mention a few. His vocal comedy group Barbarino & The Bev Naps is a two time MAC Award Winner (1999 & 2000). He has been the Artistic Director of Ellen’s Stardust Diner on Broadway for the last twenty years. Scott has served on the Board of Directors of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs as Member-at-Large (1997-2000), President (2004).

Lay Leader: Scott Barbarino, Reception Host: TBA, Usher: Gloria Schofner

Rev. Linda Tarry-Chard (United Church of Christ) served as Associate Minister for Membership, Care and Parish Life at The Riverside Church of New York City for nearly 14 years.   The Founding President of the Project People Foundation (PPF), a nonprofit organization that funds education and social justice programs for adults and children in South Africa and the United States.   Since 2008 PPF has collaborated with Splash Fit Swim Club to provide free life-saving swimming skills and a healthy outlet for fitness and fun to students living in Harlem and the South Bronx.  Tarry-Chard provides clergy supply for churches in the tri-state area.   She holds an M.S. degree in education from Fordham University and an Masters of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary.  

Lay Leader: TBA, Reception Host: Jennifer Lynch, Usher: Wayne Kammerer

Lay Leader: Jeff Cubeta, Reception Host: Wayne Kammerer, Usher: Joanne Downes

Rev. Robert Yarnall (Interfaith) has been the featured speaker at Unity of Montclair since 2019 and speaks regularly at Unity of New York and the New Thought Spiritual Center on Long Island.  He is an ordained interfaith minister (from One Spirit Interfaith Seminary) and longtime member of Unity of New York, where he’s served on the board and as a prayer chaplain.  He’s also an actor and writer now living in the Hudson Valley. www.RevRobert.net

Lay Leader: Mary Sheeran, Reception Host: TBA, Usher: Sandra Almeida

Gary Ryan ThM (Episcopalian) Gary studied basic Clinical Pastoral Education while a chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and did his advanced psychotherapeutic training and supervision at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in NYC where he was the Chief Resident Chaplain during the height of the AIDS crisis.  More recently he also worked at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC as a chaplain during the height of the Covid crisis. 

Gary studied philosophy at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and theology at Harvard Divinity School.  He has written for the Associated Press, represented the Archbishop of Canterbury at the United Nations, and taught chess in NYC’s inner city, where the present World Rank No. 2 player was one of his early students. 

From Mississippi, Gary presently lives in Brooklyn, writes poetry and short stories.   He loves art, travel, and flyfishing; and he claims New Orleans as his second city.

Lay Leader: Joanne Downes, Reception Host: TBA, Usher: Gloria Schofner

Reverend Joseph J. Nicholson (Non-denominational Protestant) spent the first 30 years of his career as an entrepreneur.  He founded a dozen companies, mostly related to software and the financial services industry.

Following the sale of his operating businesses and a brief retirement, he was called to seminary.  He received a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2016 and a Masters degree of Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary in 2020.  He was ordained in 2017 by the Non-Denominational Protestant American Fellowship Church.

From September 2014 to January 2021, he served as chaplain to the uniformed personnel of the EMS division of the New York City Fire Department.  Since April 2019, he has served as pastoral counselor at Chelsea Community Church.

Lay Leader: Wayne Kammerer, Reception Host: Jennifer Lynch, Usher: Joanne Downes

David Williams is a non-denominational Christian and technology investor who currently manages a fund investing in blockchain and digital assets. He began his career on Wall Street in the late 1980s, and for the past 30 years has been involved in starting and investing in software and internet companies. He and his wife Courtney have been married 35 years and have three sons. David and his family lived in Beijing, China, from 2002 through 2007. As founder of non-profit GoodWork International, David assisted faith based organizations seeking to alleviate poverty in China through entrepreneurship and community development. David has a B.S. in Economics from Southern Methodist University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He has also taken course work at General Theological Seminary here in Chelsea and The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lay Leader: David Williams Reception Host: Wayne Kammerer Usher:

Please join us for a second series as e discuss the difference between Medicare & Medicaid services. Learn how to keep control of your care as we discuss these two important programs.

Our speaker will be Britt Burner, Esq. of Burner Prudenti Law PC, a 20-year boutique law firm specializing in Estate Planning, Trusts & Estates, Real Estate, Guarianship, Medicaid and Special Needs Planning.

Vi Lynk (Episcopalian) is interested in the intimate details of the intentional life understood and articulated in relationships. Drawing from her training and experience as an installation and performance artist, she has worked to facilitate community within and across multiple fields and facets of life: in elementary classrooms, through technology driven storytelling, at tables, to name a few. She completed a Masters of Divinity degree at Berkeley Episcopal Divinity School and just finished a Masters of Sacred Theology degree at Yale Divinity School. Vi continues to discern how to practice the call to love as an artist, a theologian and a spiritual leader as she pursues ordination in the Episcopal Church.

Lay Leader: Wayne Kammerer, Reception Host: Edie Diane Nichols Usher: Joanne Downes

Rev. Gloria Jean Skeete (National Association of Congregational Christian Churches) is on the ministerial staff of the Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church in Brooklyn, where she has served since 2015.  She occasionally fills in as Pastor while Flatbush-Tompkins conducts their current pastor search.  She was previously a pastor at the New York Congregational Nursing Center in Brooklyn.  She graduated from New York Theological Seminary in 2012 with an Masters of Divinity degree.  Her seminary education included internships at Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Brooklyn and Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.  Before going to seminary she worked in the fashion industry.

Lay Leader: Jeff Cubeta, Reception Host: TBA Usher: Edie Diane Nichols

Maribelle Vazquez (Metropolitan Community Church) is a native New Yorker Puerto Rican aka Nuyorican, raised in the South Bronx during the tumultuous events of the 1960s and 70s. Raised in the Assemblies of God tradition, Maribelle's spiritual journey was marked by periods of internal struggle and crises of faith reconciling her sexual orientation and gender expression with the heteronormative, cisgender narrative she heard from her home pulpit. She opened her heart to God and shortly thereafter, accepted the truth that God loved her just the way she is. Since then Maribelle has devoted her free time to ministry as a deacon, lay preacher, communion celebrant and an unofficial chaplain for the ill. She retired from administrative and social services careers, and she continues growing spiritually at Metropolitan Community Church and self study.

Lay Leader: Joanne Downes, Reception Host: Jennifer Lynch Usher: Gloria Schofner

Rev. Lisha Epperson (Episcopalian) is Assistant Priest at St. Peter's Chelsea.  Rev. Epperson is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and received her Master of Arts in Ministry from General Theological Seminary. Lisha is a professionally trained dancer who has taught dance to hundreds of children in the NYC public school system and brings to her work in ministry a love for the creative and performing arts. More recently, she founded the Creative Arts Project - a free arts enrichment program for children in Harlem. Lisha and her husband Rodney are native New Yorkers and parents to five children.

Lay Leader: Pam Palmieri, Reception Host: Wayne Kammerer & TBA Usher: Joanne Downes

Rev. Raquel Irizarry (United Church of Christ/Unitarian Universalist) is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and Columbia School of Social Work.  She is an activist, a writer, a guest minister, as well as lead facilitator of a Brain Training program for adults with early to mid-stage memory loss.  She is currently a member of both the UCC Metro Association Board of Directors and their Social Justice Committee, and is a member of the NYS/NYC Coordinating Committees for the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.  She is also a long-time member and the Council President of All Souls Bethlehem Church in Brooklyn.  Raquel loves/does photography, sings a little, and is a believer in the power of God's abundant Love.

Lay Leader: Edie Diane Nichols, Reception Host: Gloria Schofner, Usher: TBA

Rev. Michelle Odinma is a Seventh-day Adventist Christian minister and contemporary singer/songwriter. After completing her Master of Divinity Degree from the Andrews Theological Seminary in 2020, she began serving as the Pastor for Community Life at Church of the Advent Hope where she currently ministers.  Along with being a cat mom of two, she enjoys filling her life with good food, good people, and good music. 

Lay Leader: David Williams, Reception Host: TBA, Usher: Mary Sheeran

Marisa Hulstine (Interdenominational) BA ’20, MA ’23, is a graduate student at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York focused on Social Ethics.  Her area of interest lies in embodiment ethics as a path forward in confronting the harm caused by Purity Culture.  As someone who grew up in a conservative evangelical town, she holds close to those who have been silenced and rejected by the church.  Recently, she completed her Master’s thesis entitled “Embodiment Ethics In The Face Of Purity Culture: An Examination Through The Lens of Womanist and Feminist Theologies.”  This work is only a starting point in holding accountable the church’s behavior in enabling oppressive systems, and centers the voices of those who are reclaiming their bodies outside the walls built by Purity.

Lay Leader: Mary Sheeran, Reception Host: Edie Diane Nichols, Usher: Gloria Schofner