Our Staff

As of December 16, 2024, Janine was appointed Acting Administrator for UUC. This is a full-time, transitional position that is designed to help us bridge some gaps as we determine and implement next steps in re-imagining and re-building our staff team. She will help us maintain continuity in congregational services, program leadership, communications, and support to the Interim Minister and Interim Executive for Finance and Operations in their transitional work. 

Janine  joined  UUC staff as Director of Minsitries in 2016. In that role, she oversaw church programs and staff supporting learning, spiritual deepening, connection & communications, congregational services, and leadership development. The position became half-time in July 2024, in response to budget decisions and the need to begin restructuring staff responsibilities as the church entered a time of ministerial transition. 

Earlier in Janine's professional career, she served the Unitarian Universalist Association in the Pacific Northwest for twelve years, as District Executive and on Regional Staff. She worked in nonprofit management and consulting for 25 years before that. Janine is a UU lay leader whose first UU church was in Woodinville, WA, where she served in a variety of leadership roles including Board President. She joined UUC as a member in 2019.

Janine has practiced Zen Buddhism since 2001, and was ordained at UUC as a Soto Zen priest in 2019 by James Myoun Ford, Roshi (who is also UU Minister). Now an authorized Zen Teacher, Janine leads UUC's Zen Meditation and Study group. Janine and her spouse are both Seattle natives and have a daughter in Portland and a son and daughter-in-law in Duvall.

Office hours: Janine is generally at UUC on Sundays and Tuesdays through Fridays, with Mondays and Saturdays off. Office hours are by  appointment. Email is the best way to reach her.

Aria found her passion for faith development and family ministry at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship as an Our Whole Lives facilitator and as a preschool teacher for the Bellingham Cooperative School. Aria received her BA in German Studies from Western Washington University and, before coming to UUC, she served as the Director of Children and Family Ministry at the UU Church of Spokane. Aria completed credentialling at the Advanced Level through the Unitarian Universalist Association in Spring of 2020. She enjoys baking, contra dancing, square dancing, and embroidery.

Office Hours:  Aria's regular office hours are Monday through Thursday. She is available by appointment for in-person, Zoom, or phone meetings. 

Click here to see the rest of the Family Ministry Staff.

Karen is a conductor and composer who has served on the UUC staff since 1994. She is also the Artistic Director of Seattle Pro Musica, with whom she has recorded eleven critically-acclaimed CDs, and received the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the ASCAP-Chorus America Award. Her compositions are performed internationally, by groups such as The Hilliard Ensemble, and are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing and by Karen P Thomas Music. Named the 2012 Washington state “Outstanding Choral Director of the Year,” she guest conducts in North America and Europe, and serves on the boards of Chorus America and the American Choral Directors NW Region. For her leadership in multiple areas, including making choral ensembles welcoming spaces for transgender and nonbinary singers, she received a 2018 Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award.

Office hours: Thursday afternoons before rehearsals of the Handbell Choir and Loft Choir, and by appointment.

Click here to see the rest of the Music Staff

Through her experience as a yoga teacher and long-time UU member, Amanda loves helping people discover tools that help them live meaningful lives.  Working as the Youth Ministry Coordinator at UUC is the latest expression of her passion.  Before arriving in Seattle in 2021, she was an active member at UU fellowships in Bismarck, ND and most recently in Anchorage, AK where she served as a religious exploration teacher, a Coming of Age mentor and as a board leader.  She got her feet wet at UUC by teaching World Religions to 6th and 7th graders and participating in a parent's Small Group Ministry before starting in this position.

Amanda lives in the Greenlake neighborhood with her husband, two kids and two dogs.  She also teaches yoga at 8 Limbs Yoga and the Ballard Health Club.  She enjoys gardening, spending time with friends and family, and exploring the Pacific Northwest by land and sea.

Teddy MacQuarrie is a Texas native, having lived in the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area and completed his Masters of Theological Studies at Brite Divinity School. With a background in ministry and education, Teddy is currently a graduate student in clinical psychology with deep interests in poetry, the outdoors, Buddhist spiritual practice, and is a proud dog parent.

Jasmin Capestany grew up at UUC and has been working in Sprouts since high school! As a teen, she was involved in regional youth leadership and active at youth cons. Jasmin is passionate about ensuring that Sprouts is a place kids feel welcome in and cared for. She is interested in early childhood education and in her free time enjoys working on her art. 

Jacob Finkle is proud to serve at the music director of UUC’s Intergenerational Choir. Finkle teaches K-5 General Music at Silver Firs Elementary in Everett, WA. He received a BA in Music from Vassar College with a correlate sequence in Early British Literature. At Vassar, he served as the conductor of the Camerata Choir, a student-run early music group.

Upon completion of his degree, he moved to Seattle, WA where he recently completed an M. Mus. in Choral Conducting and a Music Education Teaching Certification at the University of Washington. As part of his degree, he served as the Non-Residential Differential Fellow for the Men’s Glee Club. Finkle also currently serves as the Conductor of the Seattle Jewish Chorale and as the Conductor of the Adult Choir at Temple De Hirsch Sinai.

Jacob is an avid SCUBA diver and goes diving whenever his increasingly busy schedule permits.

Dwight is one of Seattle’s most versatile musicians, performing in the musical theater, choral, symphonic, jazz, gospel and collaborative recital worlds, including frequent appearances with the Seattle Symphony, and more than 50 musical theatre productions with the 5th Avenue, Paramount and Village Theaters. Dwight has toured to Johannesburg with Lee Oskar and Friends, and Europe, Japan, and South America with The Northwest Girlchoir. Presently, he is the accompanist for Seattle Pro Musica.