Staff Biographies

Anita R. Warner, Pastor

Pastor Anita R. Warner has served as Pastor at Advent Lutheran Church since 1999 and as Associate Pastor at Advent before that, from 1994 to 1999. She has a lifelong love of scripture, the community of faith, and the church's music and arts, and she is awed by the work of the Holy Spirit whenever these come alive in the minds and hearts of people.

Pastor Warner was raised in Michigan and North Carolina and active in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod as a child and young adult. She was a member of the first graduating class of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, and received degrees from Michigan Technological University and Stanford University in Materials Science and Engineering. She taught and worked in that field at Stanford University as a young adult.

However, a sense of call to serve in the church as pastor had been present since childhood, and she became a member of an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation where she was encouraged to pursue that call. In 1989, she entered seminary at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago to prepare to serve the church in ministry. She is glad to return to Silicon Valley in California to serve a congregation in ministry and remains interested in faith and science, which are so much a part of our everyday lives.

Anita's vocation involves a ministry of reconciliation, where individuals, reconciled to God in Christ, are "ambassadors for Christ" in the world. St. Paul testifies to this in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NRSV): "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Anita's mentors in faith include Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu, Henri Nouwen, C. S. Lewis, Douglas John Hall, Jurgen Moltmann, Marian Wright Edelman and those who work for nonviolent social change here and around the world.

Anita is married to Marc Northcott and they have two children. When she is not working, she enjoys hiking, family time, gardening, cooking, reading, playing piano and listening to music.

Marie W. Juncker, Spiritual Life Minister

Marie Juncker accepted the call to ministry at Advent Lutheran Church in 2003. She shares Christ's love through her ministry by encouraging and accompanying people along the way to engaging life in a more genuinely life-giving way open to the Spirit. As a spiritual director and expressive artist, she brings a creative and contemplative approach to her ministry with individuals and groups, opening up such experiences as praying with icons and lectio divina (sacred reading of Scripture). She delights in the many gifts of the Spirit that bring God's grace to our everyday lives and enjoys supporting the discovery and sharing of these gifts, unique to each person. She hopes to be an instrument of God's transforming grace as she supports people to embrace true vocations that are given for the renewal of all people and the whole of creation.

In 2005, Marie was named by the Churchwide Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Division of Outreach as a Mission Developer for Living Water Anchorage, a new satellite mission of Advent. Reaching across religious, societal and cultural traditions, she prays that through this mission the hearts of all who engage it will be opened up to the grace that brings new life now and to come.

Marie has lived out her faith by seeking a more just, compassionate and life-giving world through individual, community and organizational renewal. For more than 30 years she led and consulted with public and non-profit agencies working for the betterment of community life in the hope of addressing the broken-ness of this world and all that suffers most for it. In time she brought more of her gifts to her work. She incorporated the expressive arts that had been a grace for her through difficult times as she engaged them as prayer. She drew on this transforming experience as she facilitated people both individually and in groups to open up to the wellspring from within that generates new vision, deeper relationships, and genuine values. She encouraged people to realize the seeds of their potential by engaging life more authentically in their families, workplaces and communities. Through all of this, her experience and love of Christ deepened and she felt called to share the grace and truth that she encountered in Him. This moved her to a spiritual life ministry. She hopes through it to inspire compassion, hope and imagination, opening us up to the grace and truth that leads to new life.

Marie earned a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology and a Masters Degree in Community Development from the University of California at Davis, CA. She received her training in the art of Spiritual Direction through Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA and Bread of Life in Davis, CA. She trained in Expressive Arts with Natalie Rogers completing a multi-year program at the Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute. She is a qualified Myers-Briggs practitioner and a graduate of the Peter Block School for Leading and Managing Change.

Marie's love of cats, humor, the imagination and engaging many forms of creative expression is shared with her husband, Arthur, a composer, musician, visual artist and professor and their son, Andrew, a film artist and media specialist.

Casey Carlson, Youth Children and Family Minister

Casey Carlson is a California Girl. She was born in Torrance, CA was old enough to remember living in Lakewood, CA, but mostly remembers moving to Martinez, CA where her father was to work as a youth director while he worked on his Masters in Divinity at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. After he was ordained, the family moved to Longview, WA for five years. Casey was brought back to California the summer before her freshman year in high school. It was like coming home again. Washington is a beautiful state, but even then she knew she was a California Girl. She has since traveled all over the states. One main reason for this was her membership in the Western States Servant Band. As a leader in this band, she traveled to Montana, Georgia, Louisiana, Washington, and of course, California.

She received her BA in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Music from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA. It was during her studies to become an elementary school teacher that she realized her heart was stirring to do something more than teach; she wanted something that would encompass all of her passions for not only education, but also music, art, and especially faith. Through her leadership in her home church’s youth group, singing with the WSSB, and through multiple mission trips, God grew that slight stirring of a spark to a raging fire. In the year 2002, she began studies at Wartburg Theological Seminary for a Masters in Divinity. The California Girl missed her home, but took full advantage of her surroundings learning not only from her amazing professors, but also from the people that filled her new community. After two and a half years of study through WTS, Casey decided to take a step back and reconsider where God was (and is) calling her.

Casey is ecstatic to have been led to Advent as the new Youth, Children, and Family Minster. God has blessed her with a vocation that not only complements her gifts, but also connects with and flows from the depths of her heart. She has always been struck by the verse from Luke 6, "For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." In her mind, she has reworded the phrase so that it says, "For out of the overflow of my heart my life speaks." Pray for her as she strives to live a life overflowing with the love and grace of God. Pray for her as she strives to share this life calling with the youth and families she meets throughout her time at Advent. With that said, I guess you can say this California Girl is more of a God Girl!

Marc Northcott, Director Of Drama Ministries

Marc Northcott, a teacher, director and actor, has been teaching drama for more than 25 years. He is the Director of Drama Ministries at Advent Lutheran Church, Program and Artistic Director for Christian Music Theatre in Morgan Hill and the Artistic Director for Christian Music Theatre in Palo Alto. He also teaches drama at his Drama School in Morgan Hill.

He has been a full-time drama teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and the Harker Academy in San Jose. He has directed for Palo Alto Children's Theatre, San Diego Reader's Theatre Institute and San Diego State University. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from San Diego State University. He, also, studied acting for three years under the direction of Paul Gregory of the Royal Academy of London and acted in film, TV and on stage while living in Los Angeles.

Marc brings a high level of excellence and a strong professional enthusiasm to all his drama teaching. His Puppet Ministry at Advent Lutheran is a highlight for children and adults during Sunday morning worship on the first Sunday of every month. Marc is married to Reverend Anita R. Warner, Pastor at Advent Lutheran. They have lived in Morgan Hill since 1994 and have a daughter and a son.

Phillip Robb, Director Of Music Ministries

Phil Robb is the part-time Director of Music Ministries at Advent Lutheran Church. He directs the Adult Chancel Choir and the Youth Choir. The relevance of historical and traditional church music in worship is a very important part of his focus and commitment as the Director of Music Ministries at Advent Lutheran. He values the opportunity to join forces with other staff members that find the arts important and necessary in meaningful Christian worship. Phil is also the Music Director of the Christian Music Theatre (CMT) Summer Program for children. He has directed the music for CMT productions since 2001.

In addition to his part-time music position at Advent Lutheran church, Phil has been the Choral Director at Gilroy High School since 1984. The Choral Program at Gilroy High School has become one of the finest in the state, annually receiving high commendations across the western states. The Gilroy High School Chamber Singers have traveled abroad many times to Japan and Korea, and most recently to Germany and the Czech Republic. He, also, directs the Gavilan College Concert Choir, a college and community choir of sixty singers.

Phil has been directing children and adult choirs in the Gilroy and Morgan Hill area for the past 29 years. His love for teaching music and for singing is evident in his fun loving style, enthusiasm, focus and constant drive for excellence. In 1997, the California Alliance for Arts Education recognized Phil Robb for his outstanding contributions to arts education and in 1999, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce named him 'Educator of the Year'.

Before coming to Advent Lutheran Church, he was the part-time Choir Director at Gilroy Presbyterian Church from 1980 to 1999. He graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California and received his teaching credential from San Jose State University. He and his wife, Pam, live in Gilroy and have two grown children.

Ruth Butterfield-Winter, Accompanist

Ruth Butterfield-Winter, pianist, is a native of California. She studied with Adolf Baller and John Delevoryas in the San Francisco Bay Area before attending the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she studied with Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff. Ruth is known throughout the Bay Area as a sought after chamber musician, accompanist and teacher. She has collaborated with many musical performance groups.

She is a founding member of the Clavion Piano Quartet of San Francisco, has played with members of the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall and was recently the guest artist with the San Francisco Bay Area Winds. Ruth plays in musical productions for TheatreWorks and American Musical Theater. She has served as orchestral pianist in the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and the Santa Cruz Symphony. Before returning to California in 1994, Ms. Winter lived in New York City, where she was on the accompanying staff at Juilliard School of Music and played with the New York Chamber Ensemble. She was also invited to accompany students for Master Classes of Yo Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and Luciano Pavarotti.

Ms. Winter enjoys encouraging others to succeed in music. She is collaborating with several local, national and international artists to invite, introduce and promote a diverse group of professional musicians to the South Valley Area. She continues to produce several annual concerts and variety shows since she joined the staff at Advent Lutheran Church in 1999.