Rev. Amalia Vagts - Lead Pastor
Pastor Amalia (she/hers) is passionate about helping others live freely, sharing God’s love with neighbors and creation. Drawn to ministry among believers, skeptics, and seekers of all ages, she seeks new ways of telling the true story of God’s love in Jesus Christ for the world. Amalia believes Christ-centered communities see us for who we are, freeing us to live transformed lives with love for ourselves and others. As a publicly-identifying bisexual person, Amalia is committed to authentic hospitality, celebrating diversity, and seeking justice and belonging for all people.
Pastor Amalia earned an M.Div at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and a B.A. in English and Religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Prior to pursuing a call to ordained ministry, she spent a decade working on public policy for Planned Parenthood and a decade as the director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, a nonprofit ministry affirming and equipping LGBTQIA+ Lutheran rostered ministers and seminarians.
Pastor Amalia and her spouse David Lester moved from Decorah, Iowa with their "chillhuahua," Cholla. They co-parent three adult humans from David’s first marriage - Oran (he/him), Aidan (he/him), and Finn (she/hers), who live in Decorah, Portland, and Chicago. Amalia and David enjoy exploring Tucson, hiking, talking to their dog in ridiculous voices, checking out breweries, and hosting visiting family and friends.
Pastor Amalia began at Our Saviour's on November 1, 2021.
Steve VanMeter - Parish Coordinator
Steve joined the OSLC staff in February of 2018, originally as Publications Coordinator, in December of 2021 he took on the Parish Coordinator position. He was born and grew up in Las Vegas, NV, graduating from UNLV in 2005 with a BA in Advertising. He moved to Tucson in 2013 to marry his husband, Darren. He spent the previous decade before joining the OSLC staff in various positions within the banking industry, but is very happy to be back doing what he most enjoys. Steve travels back to Las Vegas monthly to oversee and perform in a successful show he’s run there since 2001. He enjoys traveling, films, books and spending time with his family and terrier, Jack.
Gréta Pásztor - Director of Music Ministry
Gréta Pásztor is entering into her second year as a DMA student, pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Arizona in Piano Performance, and studying with Dr. John Milbauer. She has previously earned Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance and Choral Conducting from Kent State University (2021), as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Keyboard Performance and Music Theory from Baldwin Wallace University (2018). Her passion for music has started at an early age and has grown since. Gréta was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and started playing the piano at the age of 6, and the organ at the age of 16. To date, she has participated in several local and national piano competitions and has been awarded for her academic and musical achievements. Gréta and her piano duo partner, Alexandre Marr recently won 1st Prize in the 2021 Gloria Artis International Music Competition. In addition, she won the 2021 Concerto Competition at the Fred Fox School of Music, and received 2nd Prize in the 2022 Lois Trester Piano Competition. Gréta Pásztor grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian family, and has been involved with church music in different capacities since childhood. She has served as pianist, accompanist, organist, choir director, and music director in Seventh-day Adventist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian church congregations. Her goal is to use her talents to praise God and be a blessing to the people around her.
Sophia Rankin - Minister of Community Engagement
Sophia has been working at Our Saviour's since 2016 as an accompanist and cantor. She began her new role as Minister of Community Engagement in August 2022. In this role, Sophia will engage the congregation in building long-term relationship with one another and our surrounding community. She will work across the generations, intentionally focusing some of her time on young people (12-18) and young adults (20-30-somethings). She will also help explore and support regular intergenerational activities that serve our neighboring communities. She also will continue as part of our music and worship team.
Sophia seeks to deepen our bonds to one another through music, faith, and family. She works to explore ways the congregation can reach out and connect with the world around us, as well as forge deeper connections with one another.”
In addition to her work at OSLC, she is a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter with a diverse repertoire that spans the musical genres of folk, pop, rock, and Americana. She has released three original albums and graduated with a BA in Music from the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music Outside of the church, she performs nearly every weekend at local live music spots around Tucson and is also a private music teacher providing lessons to children and young adults with focuses in guitar, piano, and voice.
John Perez - Caretaker
John was born and raised in Tucson and has been in building maintenance for over 30 years. He enjoys hunting, camping and his trucks. John has three adult children, eight grandchildren, and is pleased to be working for Our Saviour's.