Our Staff

Church office hours:   Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Rev. Gregory's  office hours:   Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Church office phone:    415-435-9108
Email:    Tib-CCC@pacbell.net

Rev. Gregory's Email:   ​ revdgregory@gmail.com​
Rev. Gregory's cell phone:    845-741-5118

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​Rev. David Starbuck Gregory is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and for the last 30 years has served churches in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. For the past decade, his ministries have encompassed the New York metro area, the Hudson Valley, and the capital district near Albany. Most recently he served as Interim Senior Minister with the Scarsdale Congregational Church UCC in Scarsdale, New York.  ​A native of southwestern Ohio, David earned a B.A. in liberal arts and theology from Cedarville (Ohio) University, followed by an M.A. from Denver Baptist Theological Seminary. He later received a letter of M.Div. equivalency from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, New York.

 His further professional training includes mediation skills with the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, Lombard, Illinois, and a certificate as a trained spiritual director from the Linwood Spiritual Center in Rhinebeck, New York. He is a trained facilitator with the Prepare/Enrich program in couples’ relationship assessment tools and pre-marital counseling. David has served as a trained mediator for the churches of the New York Conference UCC, and for the last several years he has worked as a spiritual director out of his home in upstate New York as well as in Manhattan where he has also been teaching contemplative spirituality at the Riverside Church. He has led individually directed retreats at Holy Cross Monastery in the Hudson Valley, and day long retreats in a variety of local churches.

An experienced singer, Rev. Gregory was part of a seventy-voice choir-in-residence at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in 2005, and has sung in many choral groups and ensembles, and done some solo work as well. David is married to Tripp Hanson, a veteran Broadway actor/singer/dancer, who for the last ten years has been a licensed acupuncturist in private practice serving primarily the Broadway performance community. Their family includes two grown sons who live near Syracuse, New York. Brian is married to Tahmina Kurury and they have three children, Jack, Nai’lah, and the newest grandson Javed. Benjamin is single.

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Joanne Lefferts, our office manager and bookkeeper, has been a valuable part of the CCC community since September 2008. She enjoys bringing a sense of harmony, ease and flow to her work with members of the church community and to all those who visit or hold events at CCC. She also enjoys enhancing the sense of beauty and harmony in the physical space. An unofficial member of the "Sacred Space Team," she often enjoys stepping outside to sweep the labyrinth or tend the beautiful gardens, in preparation for weddings or other gatherings. A lifelong passion for spiritual studies, including dream work, study of the Enneagram, and a devoted yoga practice, finds expression in her blog “Tending the Garden: Seeds of Inspiration” where she shares meditations on life and the spiritual journey. She also enjoys tending her actual garden in Petaluma, hiking the trails of Pt. Reyes, photographing nature, going to the movies with friends, and visiting with her sons Brett and Eli and their families. Older son Brett is currently living in Prague, which makes visits a bit more of an adventure!

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Tripp Hanson, our choir director. Tripp is proud to add “Choir Director of the Community Congregational Church of Tiburon” to his resume, and is dedicated to the idea that the job of the choir is to be joyful noisemakers in the name of bringing light and life to this engaged and deeply mindful community. First inspired by his experience as the soloist in his secondgrade Christmas concert, Tripp spent nearly 30 years of his adult life as a professional performer, but it was during his experience between that first auspicious Christmas concert and his first professional gig at Disneyland in 1978 that he developed a deep love for choral singing – first in church, and then in his high school’s ambitious choral program. And having been awarded a scholarship to the University of Kansas’ Midwestern Music and Art Camp the summer before his senior year, he sang with the 150-member chorus as well as their 16-member featured ensemble. During Tripp’s years at Jacksonville University in Florida he discovered and explored skills that led him into a full-time career, acting and tap dancing. On Broadway, he performed in the companies of musicals such as “Kiss Me Kate,” “Boys From Syracuse,” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” He has performed on concert stages all over the world, as well as in all 50 states, appearing with the Manhattan Rhythm Kings and sharing the bill with Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Rosemary Clooney, Tommy Tune, Sandy Duncan, Christopher Walken and Gregory Hines, to name a few.

In 2007, Tripp decided to give his tap shoes (and the feet inside them) a break. He went back to school and got his Masters degree from Tri-State College of Acupuncture, graduating with honors. He spent the next decade in his private practice, Healing Perspective, serving a variety of high performing clients who wanted to function optimally, and who sought not only acupuncture treatments, but also wanted support with nutrition, gut health and immunity, and spiritual practices as parts of a long-term approach to well-being. He studied the specific applications of functional medicine and nutrition with the leaders in the field, continuing to synthesize and organize individualized nutrition protocols and education for his patients. In 2017, Tripp’s interests and training expanded to include working with the potential of the mind and spirit by training with Mary Morrissey and her Life Mastery Institute, becoming certified as a DreamBuilder Coach and Life Mastery Consultant.

In an interview with Jane Pauley for the Today Show segment “Your Life Calling,” Tripp was asked if he missed performing. His response was “No, I really don’t. I did that for a long time and I loved it, and I’m still part of the tribe, just in a different role. I’m no longer on the front lines; I’m not a warrior. But instead I’m the medicine man.” Tripp is also the proud subject of Chapter 13 of Jane’s book of the same name, Your Life Calling.  And now he’s ours! This very talented man who has done so much for so many now sings in our choir and directs it at the same time, and we are very lucky to have him in our midst.

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​Scott DeTurk, our gifted musical director, graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelor of Music in composition. He is in his twentieth year with CCC, and we feel extremely blessed to have him in our midst. Scott has worked extensively in theater, film, television and recording, as a composer, arranger, orchestrator and musical director. He has nine published musicals, and is currently writing a new musical for the Berkeley Playhouse. Scott has also worked as a writer and composer for numerous commercial clients. He and his very talented wife Kristine run a performing arts program, academy-deturk.com, and make their home in San Rafael. 

           Click here to read a lovely article in our local newspaper about Scott and his work.

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Walter Ortega, our wonderful custodian,  was born in Callao, Peru.  He’s the oldest of five brothers and one sister. In Peru, he worked as a merchant marine from 1969-1990, traveling around the world. He came to know many U.S. cities and fell in love with the Bay Area. He had friends in San Rafael, and that’s how he settled here in 1992. Along with being CCC’s custodian, Walter is currently working as a caregiver for an elderly gentleman who has cancer. The man had been given six months to live, and four years later he and Walter continue to have a fun time together! Walter also works as a supervisor for a cleaning company. What he loves about CCC is that it feels like family to him. Walter says that when he is feeling down, he comes in, stands in the Sanctuary near what he calls the “sacred robe,” and always feels God’s love. His worries never fail to be lifted from him. We are very fortunate to have Walter here at CCC. He does a wonderful job setting up the space for worship, weddings, and other events, preparing the coffee on Sunday mornings (no small task, as we have two very large coffee makers), and keeping the church clean and neat. And no doubt there are other things he does for us that no one even knows about! Thank you, Walter.