Staff Team

The Reverend Tera Klein

Minister

Rev. Tera Klein has served as Throop’s part-time minister since 2012. In March 2017, she accepted the call to serve as their settled, permanent minister. Rev. Tera earned her Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School, where she won the prize for religious education. Currently, Rev. Tera also serves as adjunct faculty at Starr King School for the Ministry. Prior to her ministry at Throop, Rev. Tera worked for 16 years as UUA Congregational Life Staff.

Rev. Tera is active outside of Throop. She serves as co-chair for CLUE-Pasadena (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice and is on the boards of UU Animal Ministry, UUs for Jewish Awareness, and Faith Action for Animals. She’s a member of Pasadena Environmental Advocates and on the steering committee of Transition Pasadena.

On April 2, 2017 she married Rabbi Jonathan Klein. They share their life with four children and two cats.

Samantha Lynn Wilson
​Intern Minister

Samantha Lynne Gupta is a life-long Unitarian Universalist earning her Master in Divinity in 2014 from Claremont School of Theology. Her early journey towards ministry included youth-led community organizing in California and South India, spiritual activist leadership trainings for young adults on water justice and health care, and community-based research for university students partnering with non-profits in Riverside to generate knowledge for grassroots change.

Samantha now facilitates restorative justice circles in California prisons, supports rural faith communities and regional districts of faith leaders in dialogue and action on racial justice, and is the core staff counselor for a permaculture-based social justice youth program at Quail Springs Permaculture.  She is a doctoral candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in Community, Liberation, and Ecological Psychologies. Her dissertation is a collaboration with anti-racist organizing groups as part of multiracial coalitions in Los Angeles.

Megan Dowdell
​Community Minister in Affiliation

Megan Dowdell is a Unitarian Universalist minister, educator and social scientist living in Los Angeles, California with her partner, as well as a cat named Emerson and a dog named Violet. The relationship between religion/spirituality and health is central to her vocation; it guides her work in community, congregational and academic settings.

Megan teaches and serves as faculty advisor to theological students at Starr King School for the Ministry, a member school of the Graduate Theological Union, which is located in Berkeley, California. She feels privileged to partner with students in developing their gifts for ministry and religious leadership through Master of Divinity and Master of Arts programs.
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Megan’s doctoral dissertation project is a phenomenological study of the religious/spiritual experiences of women of color coping with congestive heart failure. She is committed to working at the interstices of multiple spaces: the academy, clinical practice, justice movements, and global communities of faith. These loyalties have guided me to various exciting projects: teaching didactic seminars and participating in research symposia with hospital chaplains; co-developing an immersion course trekking across Transylvania; creating a congregation-based support group model for people with chronic conditions; and leading trainings on class and classism for leaders.

Da'Jon James (DJ)
Music Director

My name is Da'Jon James (DJ) and it has been such a joy working with Rev. Tera Klein and the choir. I can not wait to start as the Music Director in January.

Words can not begin to describe my excitement for 2018 year as I happily jump on the bandwagon of camaraderie, joy, and acceptance that Throop has been growing.

From the many of you that I've met I have learned a few things about Throop. I learned that you practice what you teach, you treat everyone with respect, and that you truly care about the well-being of all. The sense of family and kinship I felt when entering the building was unmatched by any other organization or place.

I am currently finishing my Masters at USC in Choral Music and plan to continue there for a M.S. in Arts Leadership. I am looking forward to using my experience to expand our music program by reaching out to the congregation (get yourselves ready) and the community to be the megaphone for the already vibrant Throop experience.
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Athaliah Renee Talbot
​Nursery Coordinator

Athaliah Renee Talbot comes with joy and enthusiasm to the Throop Unitarian Universalist Community. Her career in working with children and families spans a mixture of roles and experiences that have prepared her well for the position of nursery coordinator. From building children’s ministries from the ground up in churches to teaching music as a Music Together™️ instructor; from working one-on-one with families and their children as an in-home parent partner to facilitating parent infant-groups through RIE®️— Athaliah has a sensitivity to and a presence with children and families that is welcoming and affirming.

With a deep value and talent for creating spaces that are child-centered, Athaliah has been sometimes sought out by children’s ministry coordinators and parents, but mostly she can be found living a slow, and largely unscheduled life with her kids: doodling, baking, reading, and listening to and making music. Lots and lots of music. 

Athaliah embodies and carries a unique capacity for inclusion and dynamic experiences in diversity. She firstly lives out this model in her home with her husband Geoff, who’s a Kiwi, and their two children, Gabriel and Amélie Rose. 

Athaliah Renee is currently completing her RIE®️ certification here in Los Angeles as well as working on her teacher certification at Pacific Oaks College. ​

Nancy Watkins
Church Administrator

Nancy, a Pasadena native,  has served as the Administrator of Throop since March of 2011.  She came to Throop with a  background in nonprofit administration and real estate and serves as both the administrator and tenant manager.  Nancy graduated from Pasadena High School and received her BS from the University of Southern California.  She is currently working  on certification from the Association of UU Administrators. Nancy resides in Monrovia with her partner, David, their 4 young adult (17-24) children, granddaughter, and a plethora of animals.
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Chris Moore
​Percussionist

Chris Moore is the percussionist and security staff member at Throop and has been told he specializes in positivity, general cheer and possesses a wit that walks a fine line between shenanigan and tomfoolery. Chris has been standing on the side of love for over 8 years at Throop where he has shared his gift of music and being a part of the great Throop vibe we have all shared in creating. Chris's K-9 side kick Furley is a staple part of the security detail as well and has earned an honorary position on the staff. As a team they form the backbone of keeping Throop a safe and happy place. Because Throop has such a unique collection of people ranging from mensches to out right rascals, Chris has expressed his secret to enjoying the "Throop experience" as an ongoing mindful exercise that Throop is a fictitious eccentric small town in a book where all the members are colorful characters weaving their own story that is Throop. By holding this philosophy everyday is a page turner.

Board of Trustees, 2018 - 2019

Top row (left to right)::
Tara Sindeband - Member at large
George Yenoki - Vice President
Melanie Hooks - President

Bottom Row:
Garrison Hack - Secretary
Roy Inong - Treasurer