Dr. Susan Stouffer, Peace Center Director
Rev. Frank Wulf, Pastor
Rev. Wulf, who has served United Methodist and Presbyterian congregations since 1979, grew up in San Diego. He attended seminary school in Pasadena and pursued a graduate degree in religion from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. After 11 years on New York’s Upper West Side, he longed for a West Coast homecoming and returned to Southern California in 1997. For eight years, he served as the United Methodist Campus Minister for the Wesley Foundation serving the UCLA campus. In 2005, Frank was transferred to United University Church to work with residents and students. He also currently serves as the Associate General Secretary of the California-Pacific General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
Susan was born and raised in the Appalachian areas of Kentucky and Tennessee. She became the Director of the Peace Center in 2006. Prior to that she was working on her doctorate in Occupational Science, which she received in 2007 from USC, She wrote her dissertation about how daily activities were related to hope for three men with schizophrenia. In her working life, she has tried to invest her energy and talents in trying to make a difference. She worked from 1998 – 2000 as an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at Barry University in Miami. From 1991 – 1998, she worked as an Occupational Therapist in the University of North Carolina Psychiatric Hospital. She has worked with a wide range of ages from pre-schoolers through older adults, but particularly enjoys working with the very young and very old. She is committed to working for peace and justice and continuing to learn and grow as a peacemaker. She believes strongly in the potential of a generation of peacemakers growing up to change the world – at least their corner of it.
Rod Sprott has been in church administration for over 25 years, serving United Methodist and Presbyterian churches in the Los Angeles area. He is a principal in Church-Biz, providing financial and administrative services for churches and other organizations. A member of United University Church in Los Angeles, he has been active in both local and denominational capacities for Presbytery of the Pacific and California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has served on the boards of Directors of the United Methodist Federal Credit Union and Reconciling Ministries Network. Originally from South Carolina, Rod received a B.A. in Political Science from Clemson University and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina (the other USC!). He attended the National Institute in Church Finance and Administration at Candler School of Theology and, as a certified church administrator, is a member of the National Association of Church Business Administrators, United Methodist Association of Church Business Administrators, and Presbyterian Church Business Administrators Association.
Originally from southeast Massachusetts, Katherine is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. She earned a B.A. in Religious Studies from Hamilton College in upstate New York and a M.Div. from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2010. Her field education included internships with First Congregational Church of Chicago and Interfaith Youth Core, and a Beatitudes Society Summer Fellowship at Campaign for Better Health Care (Chicago). She also worked as editorial assistant for the book Interfaith Just Peacemaking: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on the New Paradigm of Peace and War. Committed to walking with students as they grow in their faith lives, Rev. Schofield joined the staff of United University Church in April 2011.
Rod Sprott, Administrator
Rev. Katherine Schofield, Minister for Campus Engagement
Meet our Church Staff and Volunteers
Thomas Griep, Music Director
Jim Furmston, Organist
Originally from Pine River, Minnesota, Tom is an accomplished composer, arranger, conductor, keyboardist and harmonica player. Tom has a degree in piano performance from Lewis and Clark College and a degree in Composition for Film and Television from the University of Southern California. He has served on the faculty of St. John’s University, St. Benedict’s College, Lewis and Clark College, Woodbury University and was the co-Director of the Film Scoring Program at USC for 5 years. Tom has conducted and accompanied such artists as Carol Channing, Nathan Lane, Cher, David Hyde-Pierce and Olivia Newton-John. In addition he’s worked on shows including Mamma Mia (Shubert Theatre), Ten Commandments (Kodak Theatre) and Camelot (Hollywood Bowl). For more information about Tom’s many projects visit his website http://auditiontrax.com/
Jim enjoys a versatile career as recitalist, accompanist, and composer. He is a native of Canada. Jim received his Bachelors of Music from the University of Victoria, ARCT Diploma from the University of Toronto, and his Masters of Music and Doctorate of Music Arts (ABD) from the U.S.C. Thornton School of Performing Arts. His performances have garnered international acclaim in both worlds of classical and popular music. For years, Jim was a studio pianist for many leading artist teachers of our time including Gwendolyn Koldofsky, Janos Starker, Zvi Zeitlin, Peter Pears, Jascha Heifetz, and Brooks Smith. Jim was invited to perform a debut recital at New York’s Lincoln Center and also performed on the inaugural program of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute. After college Jim was in demand as a session player for television and film and as a coach for many singers. In Hollywood, Jim accompanies many stars, collaborating over the years with Billy Davis, Marilyn McCoo, Nell Carter, Carol Channing, Debbie Reynolds, Joel Grey, Sally Struthers, Jane Seymour, Jeff Goldblum, Marni Nixon, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gene Barry, Ann Margaret, David Hasselhoff, Tony Orlando, John Rubinstein, Gedde Watanabe and Greg Marx (Gummo Marx’s grandson) to name a few.
Alicia Driscoll, Christian Education Director
Alicia holds a teaching credential in elementary education from the state of California. She taught first grade at Parmelee Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles before leaving to become a stay at home mom to her son Zachary. Currently, Alicia works part time at Look Effects, a small visual effects company, doing financial and human resources work. She also volunteers at her son’s elementary school, primarily on the community relations committee, where she frequently works on school food drives for a local food pantry. She is also very involved with United University Church where she teaches Children’s Sunday school for Elementary School age children, and is on the Church council. Alicia loves working with the Peace Kids program because she gets to work with children and teach them about issues relating to peace and justice. Alicia holds a B.A. in English from St. Mary’s college of Maryland.
Vivian Yan, Peace Center Intern
Vivian grew up in Fullerton, California and is currently a junior at USC majoring in history and comparative literature, two extremely broad subjects that allow her to study anything and everything. Growing up in a non-religious household, she became interested in Interfaith activity because of a curiosity about subjects frequently discussed but little understood. She has also worked at USC’s Special Collections archives, and she recently interned at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. At USC she has been involved with organizations like the Interfaith Council and she currently serves as the co-President of the SC Homelessness Initiative. In all of her activities, she hopes to learn more about issues facing her community and the ways people are trying to create change. Vivian joins the UUC as an archival assistant and the Peace Center intern for 2012-2013.
Student Staff
Bianca Ojeda, Adaobi Ugoagu, Victor Vega
UUC’s Elected Leadership for 2013
Governing Council & Board of Trustees
Howard Johnson, Julia Garcia, Alicia Driscoll,
Susan Estrada, José Natividad
Council of Deacons
Wealthea Buchanan, LaDonna Sebastian,
Israel Hernandez, José Muñoz, James Tarrant,
Staff-Parish Relations/Personnel Team
Wealthea Buchanan, Sharon Tool, Barbara Bernd, Cheryl McDonald,
Norlan Gonzalez, Ali Torbatisarraf
Lay Leaders
Israel Hernandez, Cheryl McDonald