St Paul Staff

Pastor

Pastor Ross Goodman is a graduate of Wake Forest University, Princeton Theological Seminary and the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He received a Doctor of Ministry from Andover Newton Theological School in 1995. He served Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in North Quincy for ten years before coming to St. Paul in 1996. Since he has been here St. Paul has expanded in membership, staffing, programming, outreach and facilities. While he is full time in his ministry here, Pastor Goodman also consults with Children’s Hospital Chaplaincy, assists the New England Synod with various projects, and he maintains standing as a Fellow with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.

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Associate Pastor

Pastor Elizabeth (Liz) Senft has been worshiping here at Saint Paul since last summer. She is a retired ELCA pastor having served congregations in Maryland and Ohio. She also worked as Director for Church Relations for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Currently she is on the Institutional Review Board, reviewing clinical trials at Boston Children’s Hospital. Liz has rich experience and wisdom through her ministry of growing and developing congregations. Recently I learned of a longstanding tradition in the Episcopal Church of welcoming retired clergy into the congregation as Pastoral Associates, offering both a pastoral role and receiving the many gifts clergy can offer in retirement. Liz and I have been talking about how this tradition might work in a Lutheran setting and have thought this could work well here at Saint Paul. Upon my invitation and the approval of the church council last December, we welcome Liz to this wonderful new part-time voluntary position. She will occasionally preach, preside, teach, and be available for pastoral care.  A decade ago Saint Paul had two full time pastors and an intern for a ten year stretch when former intern Susan Henry was called to serve here for ten years before moving to House of Prayer in Hingham. We were all the richer for that and it enhanced the experience and learning for many interns. Pastor Liz served in the capacity of Pastoral Associate at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Charlestown before moving to Winchester to be near her daughter and family.

Vicar

Samm Melton-Hill (she/her/hers) joined St. Paul as a Pastoral Intern in September 2019 after graduating from Harvard Divinity School with a Master of Divinity. Samm grew up near St. Louis, Missouri, but eventually made her way to Eastern Kentucky University, where she met her wife, Brittany. Here, she studied Psychology and Social Justice and was a four year member of the women’s soccer team. While at Harvard, Samm completed Field Education at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Quincy, MA and was a Chaplain Intern at MCI-Framingham. Academically, her studies focus at the intersection of science, technology, and religion, technology and ministry, and public church history. In her free time, Samm can often be found watching the Boston Bruins with her wife, spending time outside, learning how to play hockey, or traveling.

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Music Director

Ryan Patten is an organist, scholar, and composer based in the Boston area. He holds a Master's degree in sacred music from Boston University and a Bachelor's degree in organ performance from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He is currently earning a PhD in Editorial Studies from Boston University's Editorial Institute where he is focusing on the creation of scholarly critical editions of music, with a particular focus on repertoire of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era. In addition to his studies, Ryan also works as a Teaching Fellow in BU's Humanities department and as an organist at the School of Theology. As a composer, Ryan primarily works with organ and voice, and some of his work is published through MorningStar Music Publishers.

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Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministry

Kourtni holds a Master of Divinity from Boston University. She will be joining us on October 1st and will be responsible for all aspects of preschool, children, and youth education. Kourtni is working toward ordination as a member of the clergy in the United Methodist Church. She has been involved in various aspects of Children’s ministry for almost ten years and has a particular love of Church History and exploring artistic expressions of faith..

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Business Administrator

Paul became St. Paul’s business Administrator in 2014. He brings with him over 35 years of financial experience ranging from being the Chief Financial Officer at a nonprofit social service agency, to managing the finances and administrative responsibilities at a residential remodeling company. Paul majored in accounting at Providence College, graduating with a degree in Business Administration. When he is not in the office, Paul enjoys woodworking, cooking, and traveling around New England. He lives in Woburn with his wife, with whom he shares three grown children and eight grandchildren.

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Property Manager

Dennis O’Brien takes care of upkeep and routine maintenance at St. Paul. After graduating high school, he attended East Coast Aero Tech and was trained as an airplane mechanic. He began his long career in automated equipment maintenance, working at such companies as Teradyne and and Millipore (where his achievements included winning an award for modifying a machine to increase productivity). More recently, he spent six years as Maintenance Manager at Photo Etch Technologies in Lowell. With an extensive knowledge of carpentry, Dennis enjoys helping friends and family with all kinds of remodeling projects.