Clergy and Staff
The Rev. Elizabeth Molitors
Rector
Elizabeth came to Trinity in November 2018, after serving as a rector and associate rector at churches in the Diocese of Chicago. Although she comes from hardy Midwest stock and is accustomed to sub-zero weather, overcast skies, and snowdrifts, she has now fully embraced life in beautiful, balmy Santa Barbara and has taken to wearing sweaters when the temperature dips below 70 degrees.
Elizabeth has a passion for great liturgy and music, education and hospitality, and wants to do whatever she can to make everyone feel welcome and engaged. Outside of church, Elizabeth spends most of her time exploring area beaches and hiking with her dogs (Augie and Frankie), creating food and baked goods to share at staff meetings, and dispensing motherly love and wisdom from afar to her adult daughter, Eli, who lives in Western Massachusetts.
The Rev. Sarah Thomas
Associate Rector
Sarah joined the staff at Trinity in August of 2019 and was ordained to the priesthood in January of 2020. She is particularly interested in liturgy, music, ritual, preaching, contemplative spirituality, and creating new forms of being in church.
Although she began working at Trinity in 2019, she and her family have been a part of this community since 2005. Besides her vocation as a priest, she is the mother of three daughters, and her husband Mitchell teaches in the theatre department at Westmont College. Her other interests include exploring the outdoors, making music, reading, and cooking.
The Rev. John Draper
Deacon
John came home to Trinity in 2013 and became an ordained deacon in September of 2021. He married his Anam Cara, Dawn, in 2015 and is the proud papa of his daughter Danielle. John is thrilled to serve at Trinity in a non-stipendiary role as the deacon in both services on Sunday, and to preach on occasion as the voice of the world in the church. He looks forward to participating in additional ministry opportunities with the congregation that will “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12)
John is also passionate about serving as a chaplain at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara where he has the opportunity to meet patients and their families when life has become overwhelming. Co-creating meaning and value with them in their most tender moments as they face an uncertain future is “both a blessing and a privilege.”
Jan Fadden
Parish Nurse
Trinity is grateful to have had Jan Fadden as our parish nurse since 2004. She continues to enjoy working with Trinity and being a part of the church moving forward. Jan has lived and worked in Santa Barbara for 46 years.
During that time she graduated from UCSB with a nursing degree and became a licensed acupuncturist. Her academic endeavors encouraged her to embrace and practice integrative medicine. This personalized approach to care is manifested in all the many relationships Jan has developed with the homeless community over the years, addressing mental health and substance abuse issues. Jan enjoys all activities associated with the ocean, reading, and traveling to distant lands.
Thomas Joyce
Director of Music
Thomas Joyce began his position as Minister of Keyboard Music in September, 2014. Originally from Cambridge, England, Thomas has spent most of his life in the United States. Finding his vocation for music at a young age, he was a boy chorister, acolyte and organ student at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., and went on to study at Interlochen Arts Academy. He later attained degrees in music from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Yale University, and University of Washington.
Thomas enjoys providing choral accompaniment in collaboration with Trinity’s choir and congregation, as well as solo repertoire before and after worship (organ, piano, harpsichord). Thomas also serves as a keyboard accompanist/director of the Women’s Choir at Santa Barbara City College and as an instructor of organ at Westmont College. When not playing music, you can find him out in nature, exploring the diverse geography of California.
Theo Patterson
Director of Children & Youth
Theo joined the Trinity staff at the beginning of 2024. He grew up in Orange County and Santa Barbara and was introduced to Trinity as a college student, when he started serving as an usher. Theo’s love for children and youth inspires him to raise up healers and leaders in environmental, social, and spiritual justice. He earned his dual degrees in Biology and Religious Studies from Westmont College.
Theo is honored to serve the children and youth of Trinity, and is also proud to continue the critical work of supporting Queer Youth of Faith in Santa Barbara. In his life beyond the parish, you may find Theo riding his bike around town, or going on a bird walk in the great outdoors with the Santa Barbara Audubon Society!
Mary Ann Paxton
Front Office Administrator
Carlos Ruano
Sexton
Carlos Ruano joined Trinity in July 2021 as our sexton. Carlos's role includes janitorial, custodial and maintenance responsibilities in and around Trinity's buildings and grounds. He sets up for various church functions and he is there on Sunday mornings and — always with a smile — to prepare the buildings for services.
Carlos was born in Guatemala and immigrated to the United States in 1993. He worked in maintenance at Casa Dorinda, as a painter for many local companies, and in 2005 worked as a sexton at All Saints by the Sea. In his free time, Carlos likes to read biographies, go for walks, fish at Lake Cachuma and watch soccer on TV.
Cami Segna
Business Manager
Cami joined the Trinity staff in 2009. Cami was raised in Santa Barbara and attend university at UC Davis, where her husband was in graduate school. After graduation she and Dan settled in Granite Bay, in Northern California, where they raised two sons. Dan opened his veterinary practice in Granite Bay and Cami worked in Sacramento as the internal accountant for a large CPA firm and then as the finance and operations officer for a stock brokerage company. Cami and Dan returned to Santa Barbara in 2009 to help aging parents and to be closer to their two sons who live in Los Angeles.
Cami’s favorite pastime is travel, the more different the culture from our own the better. When she is not traveling, or planning the next trip, she loves to cook and entertain friends. She is anticipating the birth of their first grandchild with immense joy and expects that grandchildren will now become her favorite pastime. Cami loves being back in Santa Barbara and especially loves being part of the Trinity family.
Betty Wenzel
Director of Communications
Betty serves as Director of Communications, having joined Trinity’s staff in 2016. Betty’s passion in getting the word out to the world about the ministries and events at Trinity comes from her own enthusiastic embrace of this church community, where she and her husband, Pete, have been active members since 2002. Betty’s two children, Grace and Kate, were brought up in Trinity’s church school program, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and take part in the Youth Group.
Besides being part of Trinity’s staff, Betty is also a dedicated volunteer, serving as a Lay Eucharistic Minister, a Catechist in the Children’s program and a member of the Altar Guild. A nearly-lifelong Californian, with a short stint in Seattle, Betty has previously worked in the nonprofit world and high-tech industry. Outside of work, she’s an enthusiastic supporter of the arts in Santa Barbara and loves to play tennis.