.png)
Clergy and Staff
Rector
The Reverend Celeste Geldreich
The Reverend Celeste Geldreich was born and raised in California and is so happy to be back on the west coast after sojourning in North Carolina and Texas for nearly three decades. She brings a love of liturgy to her role as a priest. "I'm fascinated by the way that actions in time and space help us transcend time and space," she says. She spent many years as a mentor and trainer in the Education for Ministry program and hopes to nurture each member of the community to a mature sense of their own call to ministry as baptized followers of Christ. Mother Celeste and her husband David Frauenfelder have four adult children spread across the states and one maltipoo named Alfred.
Associate Clergy
The Reverend Janet Campbell
The Reverend Janet Campbell served in parishes and cathedrals in the dioceses of New York, Chicago, and Olympia (Western Washington) from 1988 until her retirement in 2022. Much of her ministry focused on worship planning, preparation, teaching and training at the parish, diocesan and national church levels. She finds joy in presiding in liturgy, writing sermons and preaching, helping a community develop its liturgical practice, and leading quiet mornings and retreats. She moved to Portland in 2022 to live near her son Jamie and is happy to have found a church home with the community of Saint Barnabas.
Associate Clergy
The Reverend Jeff Frost
The Reverend Jeff Frost is a retired priest, previously serving in Oregon, Texas, Idaho, and California. During his diverse ministry of 30 years, he served small and large congregations in rural, suburban, and urban areas. His experience and training include: congregational development, transitional/interim ministry, and spiritual direction for groups and individuals. He and his wife, Ellen, love being a part of the Saint Barnabas community.
Bennett G. Edwards
Music Director
Bennett G. Edwards is a fourth-generation Oregonian who at age four refused to go downstairs to Sunday School lest he miss out on all the hymn singing. He most recently served as Music Director at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Portland for the past 31 years. He has a deep love of hymnody, ancient and modern chant, and especially the Ordinary of the Mass.
He hold a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Portland State University, a B.A. in Organ Performance from Lewis and Clark College. He also studied at Willamette University (Computer Science) and Ludwig-Maximillians Universität in Munich (German Language, History and Literature). He serves as the Tonal Director of Bond Organ Builders.
Bennett enjoys cooking, poetry, linguistics, The New York Times crossword, and singing, including in several vocal ensembles. He is an avid composer of choral and other vocal music.
David Wills-Ehlers
Organist
David played piano and organ in his youth and studied music while attending Reed College. The Episcopalians have always been close to his heart because of their commitment to music and liturgy, and he naturally finds St. Barnabas a nurturing home.
David and his wife, Ashley, were married in 2016 and moved to Gales Creek in 2020. They run an organic farm and are parents of two children.
Communications & Business Manager
Kari Scheie
Kari served as the parish administrator at St. Bede’s in Forest Grove for a number of years. There, she lived in a monastic cell inside the church, which used to be a Roman Catholic convent prior to St. Bede's acquisition of the building. Kari has also worked for an accounting practice, and she continues to serve as a remote assistant to a holistic medical doctor and dance performance artist. She also enjoys house and pet sitting all over the Portland metro area.
Outside of work, Kari enjoys creating art and exploring new parts of town. She is a postulant in the Third Order, Society of St. Francis, a dispersed Anglican/Episcopal religious order. She finds great joy and purpose in creating beautiful and accessible communications, keeping things organized, and connecting with the church and wider community.
