Portland Mennonite Church Staff
ABOUT KEVIN SEIDELKevin (he/him) joined the PMC pastoral team in June 2026 as lead pastor after a career of teaching literature at Eastern Mennonite University. He grew up close to the Pacific Ocean, in Malibu, California, and met his wife, Jennifer, when they were students at U.C. Berkeley. Kevin earned an MA in theological studies from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he decided to pursue literary studies instead of formal pastoral ministry. He received his PhD in English Literature from the University of Virginia, taught literature for 18 years at EMU, and held several academic leadership roles. His book, Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel: The Bible in English Fiction 1678–1767, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021. Kevin is a longtime practitioner of Scriptural Reasoning, which brings together Jews, Christians, and Muslims to read one another's scripture. Kevin and Jennifer have been lay leaders and small-group participants in Vineyard, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and a few nondenominational churches. They became members of Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 2019. They have two adult children, Elias and Matt. Kevin enjoys good coffee, good conversation, and being outdoors, even in the rain.
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ABOUT CURTCurt grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Eastern Mennonite University before serving three years in Eswatini with Mennonite Central Committee. He received an MA in Christian Formation from Anabaptist Mennonite Theological Seminary before moving to Oregon in 2007 to lead a Mennonite Mission Network Service Adventure Unit in Albany, and began serving at PMC in 2009. Curt lives in Oak Grove, OR, with his wife Karin, and they have two adult children, Jonathan and Chloe. He enjoys Saturday morning yard sales and a good cup of coffee.
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ABOUT KRISTENKristen (she /her) joined the PMC pastoral team in the fall of 2022. She grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and then attended Eastern Mennonite University to study music and liberal arts. After graduating, she spent a year working with Mennonite Central Committee in Bolivia. She lived in Oklahoma City for seven years, first working on a masters in flute performance and then performing and teaching music. She also conducted children’s orchestras with the El Sistema Oklahoma program. Kristen studied for an M Div at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary with a concentration in Theology and Peace Studies. She is married to Luis Tapia Rubio, and they are enjoying getting to know Portland. Kristen loves finding interesting recipes to cook, hanging out with friends over coffee or dinner, and reading sci-fi novels.
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ABOUT CODYCody was born and raised in Missouri, and moved to Oregon with his wife Hannah in 2021. Cody Studied in the Chicago area, earning a Masters in Systematic & Historical Theology from Wheaton College Graduate School, and completed a PhD in Theological Ethics at University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He is an avid reader of fantasy novels and Cormac McCarthy. Additionally, he and Hannah love to hike, kayak, and eat good food.
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