Mary and her husband live in a two family house in Ferndale, WA, which is located just south of the Canadian border.  Their youngest daughter and her family live downstairs.  Three other grown children live in southern BC Canada, and one lives in Tokyo, Japan. Her spouse is the occasionally retired pastor Glenn Alden.  They have lived and served the New Church in three corners of the US, in northern BC Canada, in Australia, and most recently in South Africa.  Mary has friends all over the world but is delighted to be living out the rest of this life near the Salish Sea and considers this area and the Cascadia New Church her home.  

Mary is a registered nurse retired from a varied career spanning 48 years.  She received her education at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia PA and at the University of Northern British Columbia.  The last 15 years or so of her employment were largely spent doing quality and process improvement in both acute care and home health.  She brings her skills of data collection and analysis, process facilitation, and change management to the board.

Mary is the Vice-Chair of the Board and the representative for the North Cascadia circle. Her term ends July of 2026.

Tom lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife Lauren.  Upstairs are their son Adam, his wife Ashley, and two grandchildren Wilder and Rosie.  He has been in Portland since May 2023 after spending 37 years in Seattle.   He grew up in Vancouver, Washington; spent six years at a boarding school on Vancouver Island (Shawnigan Lake); then went east for college (BAC and Pitt), graduate school (Northwestern) and law school (Penn).  After law school, he and his family (Lauren and 3 kids) lived in Glendale, MD for five years while he practiced law in Washington, DC, before moving to Seattle in 1985.  He taught law for 37 years at the University of Washington before retiring and moving to Portland.

Tom is the representative for the Western Oregon/SW Washington Circle. His term ends July of 2026.

Julie lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with her husband Mark and their 3 children. Julie was born in Taipei, Taiwan and grew up in the Vancouver area before leaving to study at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. She alternated between living in Waterloo for school and Ottawa for work placements before returning to Vancouver in 2005 with a master’s in industrial and organizational psychology.

Julie has 10 years of leadership experience in human resources and is currently working part-time as a freelance HR professional while she and Mark raise their young family. They have attended Vancouver worship services put on by visiting General Church in Canada ministers since 2007.

Julie has volunteer experience helping local non-profits carry out cultural, community and youth activities. She enjoys traveling, tending her small urban garden and cheering her children on.

Julie is the Secretary of the Board and a representative-at-large. Her term ends July of 2026.

Nathan lives in Coupeville, Washington which is on Whidbey Island. He lives there with his wife Erin, four children, five cats, and a dog. He has been in Washington since 2006. He grew up mainly in Pittsburgh, PA, attending the Pittsburgh New Church School for elementary school. He attended High School at the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, PA. He’s also lived in Tucson, AZ and the San Fransico Bay Area.

Nathan previously served in the Air Force as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician and went on two tours to Afghanistan. He is currently a Transportation Planner working primarily on planning for bicycle and pedestrian facilities in Snohomish County. He has previously served on the Light for Life (Seattle) New Church board.

Nathan is the Chair of the Board and one of the two representatives for the Puget Sound circle. His term ends July of 2026.

Pam has been a member of the General Church of the New Jerusalem since birth. Her parents—mother, Natalie Henderson, and father, Hubert Rydstrom—were born near, raised, met, and married in Glenview, Illinois.

Her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1954. Soon after, their friends—the James Barrys—also moved to Phoenix and together the two families formed the Phoenix Circle. She attended college in Bryn Athyn from 1967- 1969, transferring to and  graduating from Westminster College in 1971. Also in 1971, she married Leigh C Latta III, from Glendale, Ohio. They lived in Bryn Athyn from 1971-76 where Leigh taught 7th grade and was in charge of the Dining Hall. In 1976, and after much research, they moved to Joseph, Oregon in order to raise their three sons in a rural environment. She knows what it means to be both an isolated New Church member as well as a member of a New Church Society.

Professionally, she worked 32 years for the State of Oregon Medicaid program Aging and People with Disabilities. Other concurrent employment included Joseph High School Theater Advisor (19 years), Children’s Services Foster Parent (10 years), and Toma’s Restaurant Waitress (8 years) where she honed her people skills!

Pam is a representative-at-large. Her term ends July of 2026.

Terry is married to Rev. Philip Schnarr and together they raised their five children in the Toronto and Bryn Athyn Church congregations.  She has been passionate about worship music and church outreach.  Shortly after they moved to Bryn Athyn in 1993, Terry became directly involved in the music program and went on to serve as Principal Organist from 2000 – 2023.  In this capacity, she had many administrative duties and collaborated frequently with ministers and congregants. 

For 12 years Terry co-chaired the Bryn Athyn Church Outreach Committee which explored numerous aspects of church growth and implemented many improvements to worship and visitor services.  She retired in June of 2023 and moved to Whidbey Island, Washington with Phil and their son James.  She is enjoying living closer to her children and participating in Cascadia New Church activities.

Terry is one of the two representatives for the Puget Sound circle. Her term ends July of 2026.