To contact any staff member at the church office, call (512) 476-3523.

Clergy

• Rev. Morgan S. Allen, Rector - About

  Morgan began ministry at Good Shepherd in May of 2009, after serving parishes in Louisiana and Texas, as a priest, deacon, and lay professional. Born in Monroe, Louisiana, and raised in Shreveport, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Louisiana State University and received his M.Div from the Seminary of the Southwest, in Austin. Morgan and his wife, the former Missy Boutte, were high school sweethearts and have two children, Michael Stephens and Mary Virginia; an old beagle named Buddy; and several 1972 Buick Gran Sports.

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• Rev. Chris Duncan, Priest for Mission- About

  Chris began ministry at Good Shepherd in July of 2009, after graduating from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia where he served as a seminarian at St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Northwest Washington, DC. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Richmond, he graduated from Texas A&M University in 2004. While in college, he worked as the Director of Youth Ministries at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station. After graduation, he worked for a company that provides video, print, and web assistance to churches and other non-profits during capital stewardship campaigns. Chris and his wife, Casey, met at Camp Allen in high school, but did not start dating until college. They were married one month before leaving for seminary in 2006. Chris works with the outreach groups at Good Shepherd and sits on the outreach committee. He is the clergy member that speaks with those requesting assistance from the parish ministry fund. Additionally, Chris works with the Director of EYC, Alex Easley, with GS acolytes, organizes youth confirmation each year, and contributes to youth Sunday school.

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• Rev. Kathy Pfister, Associate Rector for Program - About

  Kathy began her ministry at Church of the Good Shepherd in July of 2010 after graduating from the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Prior to seminary Kathy served as the Missioner for Young Adult & Youth Ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina (2000-2007) and as the director of youth ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans (1994-2000). Born and raised in New Orleans, she traveled east for college and graduated from The American University (1991) in Washington, DC. She and her husband Phil have two children: Charles and Camille. As Priest for Pastoral Care & Small Groups Kathy continues to develop and fine tune the pastoral care services offered at Good Shepherd. Working with the Eucharistic Visitors as well as St. Bridget's Guild and Altar Guild our hope is to attend to our parishioners with care and love. Three small groups for women were formed this fall with great success. Kathy will continue to experiment and develop small group opportunities, including co-ed groups.

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• Rev. Charles James Cook, Assisting Clergy - About

  Charlie is a retired Professor of Pastoral Theology at the ETSS. He served as interim rector at Good Shepherd from 1998 to 2000. Earlier, he served churches in the dioceses of Northwest Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. He is a graduate of Drake University and ETSS. His wife, Chris, served 15 years as Head of Good Shepherd School.

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• Rev. Dr. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Assisting Clergy - About

  Cynthia is Professor of New Testament and Academic Dean at the Seminary of the Southwest. A graduate of Williams College, she received her M.Div., Th.M., and Th.D from Harvard. She taught at Harvard and at the College of the Holy Cross. She is the author of Community and Authority: The Rhetoric of Obedience in the Pauline Tradition (1998) and Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of John (2007). She and husband Frank have three children: Rachel, Emily and Henry.

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• Rev. Robert Terhune, Assisting Clergy - About

  Bob served numerous Florida churches before assuming a chaplaincy at Ft. Logan Mental Health Center in Denver and later at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston. He was head of the English department at Houston Community College from 1971 until his retirement in 1994. Bob is a graduate of Yale University and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. He is married to Lorna Terhune.

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• Rev. Rob Leacock, Assisting Clergy

Programming & Music

• Jonathan Babcock, Choirmaster About

  Jonathan serves part-time as Choirmaster of the Good Shepherd Choir and Evensong Choir. A respected choral musician, educator, and clinician throughout the US, Jonathan is an assistant professor at Texas State University, where he conducts the University Singers and Men’s Choir and teaches choral conducting, literature, and pedagogy. Prior to coming to Texas State, Jonathan served on the faculty of the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College (City University of New York). A native of Binghamton, New York, he was admitted to the degrees of Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music at the Crane School of Music (State University of New York at Potsdam), and Doctor of Musical Arts at the Hartt School (University of Hartford).

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• Jeane Burks, Coordinator of Children's Ministies - About

  Jeane has been part of Good Shepherd for over 20 years, first singing in the Good Shepherd Choir then subsequently joining the church. She directs the Primary and Junior Choirs and oversees Children’s Ministries. Previously, Jeane was the Early Childhood Music Coordinator/Opera Program Specialist at the Austin Lyric Opera/Armstrong Community Music School as well as having taught preschool for Good Shepherd Episcopal School and at Hyde Park Baptist CDC. She has a MM from UT and is married to Paul Burks.

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• Eric Mellenbruch, Director of Music / Organist About

  Eric has been Organist of Good Shepherd since 2000 and was named Interim Director of Music in August 2008. Before coming to Good Shepherd, he studied graphic design at the University of Houston, earned degrees in church music and organ performance from Baylor University, and served as music intern at the Seminary of the Southwest. Eric is responsible for the musical component of over 200 liturgies each year (three celebrations of the Holy Eucharist each Sunday, Choral Evensong each month, weddings, funerals, and other occasional services) and for a music ministry which involves not only the whole congregation, but also four choirs and their two directors, choral scholars, cantors, clergy, organ, piano, bells, and other instruments, and includes occasional outreach opportunities and concerts on our campus. He also produces all printed worship aids and oversees maintenance of the church’s musical instruments.

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• Kathy Jolink, Coordinator of Hospitality & Senior Ministry - About

  Kathy has been a member of Good Shepherd for 20 years. She has served as a Lay Eucharistic Minister, Lay Reader, Adult Christian Education Chair and Sunday School teacher. A UT graduate in Plan II, Kathy has experience as a legal assistant/bookkeeper and served as Financial Administrator at Good Shepherd from 2008-2010 before beginning her current position as Office Manager. In addition to her position as Office Manager, Kathy serves as Wedding Coordinator at Good Shepherd. The chief duties of wedding coordinator include communicating with participants wishing to get married at Good Shepherd, setting them up on our wedding calendar, providing them with a wedding packet regarding wedding protocol at GS from flowers and music to photography and the service itself. Every few months, a wedding seminar is held that Kathy organizes including about 5-6 couples per session. The night of the rehearsal, the clergy officiating and wedding hostess coach wedding participants through the rehearsal and on the day of the wedding, the coordinator assists both the bridal party, groom, groomsmen and ushers through the ceremony and oversees clean-up following the wedding.

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• Sallie Wright Milam, Program Coordinator - About

  Sallie Wright joined The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd staff in March of 2010 as Administrative Assistant and currently serves as Program Coordinator. Sallie Wright grew up in Greenville, MS and was graduated from The University of the South: Sewanee in May of 2009 with a Bachelor's in Spanish Language & Literature. As Program Coordinator, Sallie Wright is responsible for all event planning and coordinating, and works as the liaison between the Clergy and Administrative Staff of GS. Sallie maintains the GS program calendar and reserves spaces for staff and parishioners as requested.

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• Beth Atherton, Director of Stewardship & Development - About

  Beth joins Good Shepherd having previously served as the Executive Director for Caritas of Austin where she navigated the nonprofit through the challenges Hurricane Katrina and led the force behind Caritas’ earned income project. Beth served as Executive Director of Healthcare Access, Referral and Enrollment with Seton Healthcare Network. She also served as Deputy Director of Development and Community Resources at SafePlace and as Executive Director of the Heritage Society of Austin. Beth served as Chair and remains involved with One Voice Central Texas, a membership organization made up of community-based health and human service organizations representing the needs of clients. Atherton’s other credits include: serving as past president of The Junior League of Austin, a Leadership Austin alumna, and consultant for numerous area nonprofits. In addition, Beth has served in various positions with her church and LesAmis de Hospice Austin, Helping Hand Home for Children and Settlement Home Club. We are thrilled to have Beth Join us here at Good Shepherd.

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Administration

• Lisa Andrews Ard, Parish Accountant - About

  Lisa Ard was born and raised in Austin and graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Retail Merchandising. She is married to Mike, her husband of 22 years, and they have two boys — Austin and Adam. After a short stint as an area sales manager for a department store chain, she returned to work in her family sporting goods business until 2007 when she went to Triumphant Love Lutheran Church as the bookkeeper. She and her family are avid Texas Longhorn fans and enjoy sports of all kinds. Lisa is a cradle Episcopalian and attended preschool at Good Shepherd. She is delighted to be back!

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• Jim Lamm, Parish Administrator - About

  Jim joined Good Shepherd as the parish administrator in January, 2012. He was born and raised in West Palm Beach, FL, and spent fifteen years in St. Paul, MN, before moving to Austin, TX, in 2006. Before coming to Good Shepherd, Jim was the Director of Stewardship & Development for St. Louis Catholic Church and School in Austin. Jim has nineteen years of parish administration experience in large and small churches in Florida and Minnesota. Jim holds a MBA in nonprofit management and is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. He and his wife, Karen, have three girls.

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• Tiffany Stewart, Information Design Manager - About

  Tiffany Stewart joins Good Shepherd as the Information Design Manager. Originally from Jamaica she has moved here most recently from Oxford, MS and is an avid dancer, traveler and culture hound. Before coming to Good Shepherd, Tiffany worked as a Graphic Designer for Blufish Design Studios in Starkville, MS. She has a degree in both Electrical Engineering and Graphic Design and enjoys doing crafty things as well as volunteer work.

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• Jean Johnson, Administrative Assistant to the Rector - About

  Jean joined the Good Shepherd staff in February 2012 and is the Administrative Assistant to the Rev. Morgan Allen. Jean is originally from Independence, Kansas and made her way to Austin with her best friend from childhood in 1978. Jean is married to Rom, and they have two grown children, daughter Laura, who is married to Jose, and son Alex. Jean is a proud Kansas Jayhawk, graduating from KU with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She comes to Good Shepherd after planning events for the College of Liberal Arts at UT. Jean enjoys reading by her backyard pond, swimming and scrapbooking.

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• Fernanda Barceló, Receptionist - About

  Fernanda grew up in Laredo, TX and earned a Bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Texas, San Antonio in 2008, and is currently working towards her Masters in Counseling at St. Edward's University. Fernanda moved to Austin in July of 2008 and immediately fell in love with the city, people and culture. As Receptionist, Fernanda greets all who enter Good Shepherd and directs calls to various staff members. Fernanda also works closely with Sallie in various administrative duties. Apart from working part-time at Good Shepherd, Fernanda enjoys spending her time doing yoga, traveling, and hanging out with her Schnauzer, Frida!

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• Miguel Figueroa, Facilities Manager - About

  Miguel has worked for the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd since 2005. The majority of his work is upkeep of the facilities, setup/breakdown of events, hobo wrangling, facility staff management, and liaison between vendors and the church. Miguel's experience stems from watching what his dad did wrong and understanding that you do everything the way you would want it done for yourself.

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