Paul Fromberg is one of three founders of Convivium West. He is the rector of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Paul is a painter, specifically an iconographer. In addition to his congregational ministry, Paul teaches at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and for the Episcopal Church in Minnesota and has taught at the Virginia Theological Seminary. Paul is the author of The Art of Transformation (Church Publishing, 2017). Paul serves the Episcopal Church as Chair of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music and as the Church’s representative on the Consultation on Common Texts. Paul is married to Grant Martin and lives in San Francisco with their dog, Frankie.
Alissa Newton is one of the three founders of Convivium West. Alissa serves the Diocese of Olympia as Canon for Congregational Development, and St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Kent, WA as Vicar. She also directs The College for Congregational Development in the Diocese of Olympia. Her professional interests include multicultural Christian Community, Child Theology, and the development of churches of all sizes and locations into communities of faith that are more faithful, healthy, and effective. Alissa loves to read, garden, hike, play the drums, and spend time with her family which includes husband Andrew, and two daughters. Born and raised on the West Coast, Alissa now lives with her family just south of Seattle, WA.
Phil Brochard is one of the three founders of Convivium West. Phil has served as the rector at All Souls Parish in Berkeley, California since the fall of 2008. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the General Theological Seminary, Phil has long had an interest in what makes and keeps all kinds of Christian communities vital. Phil is a trainer with The College for Congregational Development, and an evangelist for implementing intentional development practices within congregations and other types of communities of faith. He lives with his wife Sarah and two sons in Albany, CA, and is the proud owner and driver of a very large truck.
Arienne Davison was born in Western Washington the year the Episcopal Church ratified the “new Prayer Book.” She was baptized the week she turned 21. She attended the University of Washington, Seattle followed by a brief interlude in Alexandria, Virginia. Currently, she is a priest serving in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. She currently serves as Vicar of St. Bede in Port Orchard, WA and as a trainer at the College for Congregational Development (Olympia). Formerly the Canon for Multicultural Ministries (Diocese of Olympia), Arienne continues consulting and coaching to help people grow in their Intercultural Competency.
Arienne is married to an Assistant State Auditor who she met playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games. They have two children who enjoy playing with trains. In her spare time, Arienne enjoys board games, video games, and knitting.
Arienne is married to an Assistant State Auditor who she met playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games. They have two children who enjoy playing with trains. In her spare time, Arienne enjoys board games, video games, and knitting.
Originally from Vancouver, BC, Martin Elfert has lived, studied, and worked up and down the West Coast - his license plate collection includes California, Washington, and Oregon. Raised without a church connection, Martin had a major God sighting during the birth of his first child and, thereafter, he wanted/needed a community, a set of stories and symbols, and a practice within which to respond to that experience. Thanks to being married to a P.K. (i.e., a Preacher’s Kid), Martin found his way to Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral, the community that would eventually encourage him to seek ordination. Since then, he has served as a priest at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, WA, and now at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Portland, OR. Martin is a proud alumnus of the University of British Columba, the Banff Centre for the Arts, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and the College for Congregational Development. He is a past recipient of the Bishop Millard Preaching Prize, the Beatitudes Society Brave Preacher Award, and the Grade One Perfect Attendance Award. He blogs from time to time at spokanefavs.com.
Kate E. Wesch is Rector of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, Seattle, Washington where she has served since 2017. Kate served as Associate Priest at Epiphany, Seattle from 2009-2017. After coming to Seattle, she served St. John the Baptist as Associate Priest from 2006-2008 and Holy Spirit, Vashon as Interim Priest in Charge from 2008-2009. Currently, Kate serves on the House of Deputies State of the Church Committee and was a deputy to General Convention for the Diocese of Olympia in 2018. Raised up for ministry in the Diocese of Oklahoma, Kate received a Master of Divinity degree in 2006 from the Seminary of the Southwest. Kate and her husband, Joel, enjoy a fast paced and active life with their two children, Avery and Myles, and one bearded dragon named Toothless.
