MEET THE STAFF
Scott has served as the Senior Pastor at Church on the Hill since 2005. Before becoming Senior Pastor, he served two years as the Pastor of Student Ministries here on the Hill. Scott is passionate about LIFE - the life Jesus offers in John 10:10. His role is to lead and teach in such a way that people can find an authentic relationship with Jesus and mature in their faith. He is married with two children, 8 and 10. In his personal time, he enjoys fishing, backpacking, coaching his son's baseball team, and watching his daughter play soccer. He grew up in Southern California where he graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies from Azuza Pacific University and received a M.Div. from Fuller Seminary in Christian Formation and Discipleship. You can check out more on his Facebook page.
Elliot joined the staff in January 2004. Elliot's connection to Church on the Hill goes back a few years. His grandfather, Clarence R. Sands, was the senior pastor at our church for 35 years (1943-1979). When we asked Elliot how it feels to drive up the Hill on Sands Drive (named after his grandfather) to work he said, "very weird, but cool."
Background: born on September 5 in Livermore, CA
Married: December 31, 2002
Family: wife Penny, one daughter Anika Marie, two step-children Calida, and Clayton, and step-grandchildren Luna, Athena and Jesse.
Favorite Thing to Do: Go shopping for used CD's and DVD's. "I can't pass up a good deal on a killer movie!"
Favorite Food: Thai
Hobbies: Waterskiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and traveling to different countries.
Most Unknown/Unimportant Talent: Can pick up almost anything with his toes.
Jay has been on staff since June 2004. He's passionate about teaching, leadership development, and discipleship. He finds his greatest professional satisfaction in helping students and volunteers develop a deep passion for pursuing Christ. He has his bachelor's degree in Biblical Theology & Christian Leadership from William Jessup University and is currently pursuing his MA in Theology at Fuller Seminary.
In his spare time he enjoys hanging out with his wife, Jenny, spending time with friends and family, fiddling around on his guitars, watching good movies, reading great books, being near the ocean, eating sushi & steak, and writing. Jay hopes to write a book someday. No one may read or buy it, but he still hopes to write it.
Tami was born in San Jose and has lived here for her entire life! She joined Church on the Hill's staff in January 2006 as the fulltime Children's Ministry Director. Her area of responsibility includes all children, from birth through fifth grade. Tami has a huge passion and love for children ... and volunteers! Her goals are:
- That the children will have fun while learning about Jesus
- Parents to feel secure and confident when they drop off their precious children
- Kidz on the Hill volunteers be valued.
Family: husband Chuck and four children: Natasha, Charles, Cassandra, and Christopher.
Favorite Thing to Do: spending time with her husband and children
Enjoys: Going to the beach and vacationing in Tahoe
Clayton joined the Church on the Hill & Achiever staff in July 2009. He is excited to be used by God to impact the lives of Junior High students and their families. He and his wife Kim have returned to San Jose from Portland, Oregon where he completed his MA in Pastoral Studies & Spiritual Formation from Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He is passionate about students and desires to see them realize their potential as disciples of Jesus Christ in their communities and spheres of influence.
While not working, Clayton enjoys being around people; it doesn't matter where, as long as people are there. He enjoys reading, watching movies, surfing YouTube for cool videos, listening to all kinds of music, snowboarding, and playing games of all kinds. And if there is a chance for him to laugh in the midst of these activities, he will gladly partake.
Cindy has been working fulltime at Church on the Hill since October 1985 and is responsible for graphics, publications, and production. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has her degree in Art. Cindy also has a background in restaurant work and has fun managing Church on the Hill's food service, kitchen facilities, and Cafe on the Hill. Even though she is so NOT a morning person, Cindy still enjoys getting up early on Sunday mornings to arrive at church by 7:30 am and open Café on the Hill. "Watching people come through the door and head for the Café on Sunday mornings is a kick," says Cindy. "It's cool that Café on the Hill is the Sunday morning hangout." Asked what she's excited about these days (on an earthly level, of course!) she responded, "The big new Home Depot at the brand new Plant Shopping Mall which is right across the street from my house!"
When she's not working, Cindy enjoys doing her own home repairs, puttering around in the garden, taking road trips with her bff, watching 49'er football, and spending time at the beach.
As the Accounting and HR Director, Kathy divides her work duties between Church on the Hill and Achiever Christian School, keeping track of over 90 employees. She is a transplant from the Midwest and a graduate of Western Michigan University with a degree in Music and Business. Her husband Jim is a scenic designer and technical director at San Jose State University, and is currently teaching himself to speak and write Chinese. Their son David is a college student and a martial artist who loves going on missions trips to far-off places. In her free time Kathy enjoys playing string bass with several classical orchestras and musical theatre groups, as well as playing bass guitar in “chick bands” at women’s retreats. She also loves to shop – anything from Goodwill to Macy’s. She’s always on the hunt for that special bargain and loves comparing notes with her other bargain-hunting friends!
With two newly conferred (on the same day) “degrees” in hand—a B.S. in Business with minors in English and Education and an MRS to Terry Weber—Barbara began volunteering for the church, editing Dr. Clarence Sands’ (Elliot Sands' grandfather’s) sermons to be published. It wasn’t long before she began also volunteering in the children’s ministry as first one, then two, and eventually four children were born into her family. Over the years since, Barbara has volunteered in many different positions with children from birth through junior high, currently as PreK/K coordinator. In 1977 she began working at Achiever part-time as a preschool teacher, which she did until 1980 when the pastor asked her to use her secretarial training in the church office. So, she went “up the hill” to assist him, in the days before computers and cell phones, when everything was pretty much done via shorthand, typewriter, and snail mail. The rest is history. She has enjoyed not only serving as executive assistant to four different senior pastors and in other positions on staff over the years but also working hand-in-hand with them as a volunteer—including her current ministry with children and as Missions Secretary. Now working as an assistant in HR, Barbara has seen a lot of changes in staff, office equipment, methods, etc., but the message and mission here have remained the same. On a personal note, away from the office, she is still seeing and enjoying the changes in her family and time spent with her nine (soon to be ten) grandchildren.
Lisa joined the Church on the Hill family in May 2007. She is married with one lovely daughter and loves spending time with her family. She's lived in California her whole life and loves the beach, sun, and outdoors. She graduated from San Jose State in 2000 with a BS in Business/Marketing and earned an MS Learning Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. In her spare time, you can find her hiking to the top of Half Dome Yosemite, kickboxing, napping or traveling to Hawaii.
When you call the church office, Tiffanie is the friendly voice that you hear. She was born in Fresno, CA and has five children. She loves to serve with Kidz on the Hill on Sundays. In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family going on day trips to the park and the beach.
Karl is often spotted at the piano leading worship on Sunday mornings, running music rehearsals on Wednesdays, helping plan the worship gatherings, or hidden away in a dark office working on the website and other things geek.
He graduated from SJSU in 2004 with a BS in Computer Science and is currently working as a software engineer. Karl has been at COTH since 1987, working with the music and arts department since 1999, and currently serves as the music director since May 2006.
In all seriousness, Karl is passionate about worship and helping others experience the joy of glorifying the One who is worthy of praise. His favorite verse is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
