Pastors & Staff
Lead Pastor — Erika Gara
Rev. Erika Gara is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church with over 25 years of experience serving local congregations. Rev. Erika grew up in Southern California, spending formative years in the Antelope Valley and Huntington Beach. She received her B.A. in Religious Studies (with a minor in Anthropology) from California State University, Long Beach, where she was very active in the campus ministry and the United Methodist Student Movement. She attended Boston University School of Theology where she earned her Masters of Divinity degree. She’s also received a certificate in Faith Based Community Organizing from San Diego State. Rev. Erika was a Lewis Fellow at Wesley Seminary and graduated from the Upper Room’s Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation.
Rev. Erika served as Associate Pastor at Garden Grove United Methodist Church, and as Lead Pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Redondo Beach, Hope United Methodist Church in Torrance, and most recently at First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach. She started a new worship service, built community among different language congregations, led a non-profit food ministry, as well as was the spiritual leader for Strength for the Journey, a retreat for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Rev. Erika believes the power of the local church lies in its ability to create sacred community that allows for all– from cradle to the grave– to grow in faith and service together. Her vocational interests include preaching and worship leadership, teaching, using technology in ministry and worship and equipping the church to serve beyond its walls in the community.
Rev. Erika is married to Joel, an elementary school teacher in the Redondo Beach School District. They have two daughters, Katherine (Kat) and Emily. Rev. Erika loves to spend time with her family, spend time in National Parks, cook/bake, and is a big fan of LA’s new women’s professional soccer team, Angel City Football Club.
Erika Gara
Melinda Teter Dodge
Pastor of Community & Connection — Melinda Teter Dodge
With a passion for Christian ministry with today’s young people and families, the Rev. Melinda Dodge has served the Los Altos United Methodist Church under appointment since July 2011. She has a heart for welcoming all of God’s people into relevant ministries that empower gifts and nurture spirituality. Previously, Melinda was the founding Executive Director for The Work of Angels Group, a 501(c)3 serving transitional-aged foster youth; the Community Youth Pastor for the First United Methodist Church of Canoga Park and the Director of Youth
Ministries for both the Atascadero and Westwood United Methodist
Churches. Additionally, Melinda has worked in international theatre and
opera production on all sides: administrative, creative/productive and
technical. She has experience onstage with the Los Angeles Opera, San
Francisco Opera and Houston Grand Opera, among others, producing
well over 350 performances of some 70+ operas. Melinda holds a Master
of Divinity from the Claremont School of Theology and a Master of Arts
in Theatre from the University of Michigan. She resides in Long Beach
with her husband, the Rev. Johan Dodge, and two children. She is fond
of a good cup of coffee, yoga, baking, and is always up for an adventure!
Lillian Mitrovic
Church Administrator — Lillian Mitrovic
Our Church Administrator, Lillian Mitrovic, was born in Torrance, CA to an Italian father and Nicaraguan mother. She is fluent in Spanish, has lived abroad and worked in Peru in office management. She most recently worked as Administrator at Christian Outreach in Action in Long Beach. She enjoys music and traveling. Lillian brings over 15 years of experience in management, customer service, and international sales experience. She has a B.S. in Multinational Business degree from Florida State University.
Alan Wellman
Director of CHORAL Music- alan wellman
Alan Wellman is excited to be a part of the ministry team at LAUMC. He is a versatile conductor, singer, and teacher. As an innovative conductor, he has been responsible for the founding of one chorus, expanding and enhancing the vision of several community choruses, and collaborating with peers and colleagues for the benefit of music appreciation. Alan joined the Claremont Chorale as Artistic Director in 2018. Wellman previously served as Artistic Director of the Northwest Choral Society from 2010 to 2017, has directed choirs at several churches in Chicago, and recently at the First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, CA. He joined the performing arts faculty at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA in the fall of 2017. Dr. Wellman's degrees include a Doctor of Sacred Music from the Graduate Theological Foundation (Mishawaka, IN), a Master of Music Education from San Jose State University, a Master of Music in choral conducting from California State L.A., and a Bachelor of Music—vocal/choral emphasis from Roosevelt University. Dr. Wellman is pursuing an M.Div. through Mercer University, specializing in Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy.
collaborative artist — henri venanzi
Henri Venanzi
Henri Venanzi has been Chorus Master for Cincinnati Opera since 1974, was Chorus Master at Opera Pacific from 1989-2009, and Chorus Master at Arizona Opera from 2010-2021. Venanzi is also currently Music Director of the Cincinnati American Arts Program. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Maestro Venanzi has toured with and accompanied Metropolitan Opera stars Martina Arroyo, Jerry Hadley, Mignon Dunn, Kathleen Battle, Italo Tajo and Sandra Radvanovsky in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Tonight Show and The Châtelet (Paris), among others. He has worked with Michigan Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Omaha Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, and Fort Worth Opera. Henri also was the head of the Opera program at CSULB from 2000-2005.
worship band leader — Paul Smith
Since 2015, Paul Smith has been a freelance guitarist in the Orange County and Los Angeles area, performing in venues such as The Carpenter Performing Arts Center, The Wray Theatre, The Fox Performing Arts Center, and more. He graduated in 2019 from California State University, Long Beach with two Bachelor of Music degrees in Jazz Studies and Music Composition. In his time there, he received a merit scholarship from the composition department. He also began teaching at California School of the Arts in 2019, and is currently their Guitar Program Coordinator. Paul’s music reaches beyond the Los Angeles area—in 2017, his arrangement of 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman was premiered by Malburn High School’s orchestra in Darjeeling, India. In 2019 he co-founded and wrote for a jazz combo called The New Gnus. The same year they toured California and were featured artists in the 2019 San Joaquin Valley Jazz Festival. He also partnered with WorldPride NYC to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots by editing the music for QUILT, A Musical Celebration.
Paul Smith
preschool director – wendy FLINT
Wendy has served as the preschool director at Los Altos UMC since 2008. She has 36 ECE units, a Certificate in ECE and nine Adult Administration units. She spent six years teaching ages 1-4, two years as a private nanny, one year as a Kindergarten teacher, and one and a half years as an Assistant Director. Wendy has an amazing mom and dad; and three brothers that she enjoys spending time with! She was born and raised in this great city of Long Beach. She enjoys watching movies, traveling the world, creating new ideas, organizing things and taking pictures!
Wendy Flint