CHURCH STAFF

I am Tanja, the vicar at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, where I am completing my year of pastoral formation under the mentorship of Pastor Mark. In the Lutheran tradition, a vicar is a pastor in training, and this year is a crucial part of my journey toward ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament.

I was born and raised in Southwest Germany near the borders of France and Switzerland. I began studying theology at the University of Heidelberg in 2017 before being accepted as an exchange student to Yale Divinity School in 2021. What began as a year abroad became a permanent move when I decided to pursue Yale’s full Master of Divinity program, which I completed in 2024. During my time at Yale, I officially joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, pursued a long-held passion for the intersection of religion and medicine by becoming an EMT, married my husband Patrick, and adopted Scholar, our beloved cat.

My husband Patrick and I moved to Santa Barbara in 2024 when he was accepted into the PhD Program in Religious Studies at UCSB. For the past year, I have been working with New Beginnings Counseling Center, serving people experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara County, and I am excited to now join the staff at Trinity Lutheran. I am particularly interested in the visionary aspects of church, and asking questions about the role of the church in society, community engagement, and social justice.

You can find me at the church office most weekdays, on Sundays at the worship service, or always at vicar@telcsb.org.