The Reverend Laura Mariko Cheifetz serves as the Transitional Executive Presbyter. A biracial Asian American queer ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she has served previously in racial and gender justice advocacy, religious publishing, reproductive justice, and theological education in the Midwest, East, and Southeast. Born in San Francisco, raised in eastern Oregon and western Washington, she is a double “pastors’ kid.” Laura is a graduate of North Park University (MBA, ’11), McCormick Theological Seminary (M.Div. ’05), and Western Washington University (BA in Sociology, 2000). She is the co-author and editor of “Church on Purpose: Reinventing Discipleship, Community, & Justice” (Judson Press) and co-editor and contributor to “Race in America: Christians Respond to the Crisis” (Westminster John Knox Press), and a contributor to the documentary series “Trouble the Water: Conversations to Disrupt Racism and Dominance.” She serves on the advisory team for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the board of PANAAWTM (Pacific Asian North American Asian Women in Theology & Ministry) She lives with her partner and their rescue dog in the East Bay.
