Susan Barnes was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1989, after graduating with a Master of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She has been the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Baker City since July 2000.
Prior to coming to Baker City, she served as associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Medford, Oregon (1989-1992) and as pastor at The Federated Church in Weatherford, Oklahoma (1992-2000).
Susan's husband, Mike Ferguson, is a reporter with the Baker City Herald. They have been married since 1980 and have two children, Lucas and Eleanor. Since she moved to the beautiful Baker Valley, Susan has discovered the joys of watercolor quilting. She sews mountains into most of her quilts. In 2006 she completed a series of 3 quilts in honor of the Presbyterian celebration of the anniversaries of women's ordinations; 100 years  ordaining women as Deacons, 75 years as Elders, and 50 years as Pastors . 1200 churches sent her 2-inch squares in honor of their women Deacons and Elders and 400 additional squares were sent by clergy women . The first quilt was called "Blazing Trails", the second "Building Bridges" and the third "Opening Doors". These quilts were completed for the General Assembly Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama in June 2006. Following General Assembly, the quilts were displayed at the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women in Louisville, Kentucky and have been circulating around the US ever since. Susan also completed a quilt entitled “Revelation 22:2 – the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” for the Peacemaking offering banner in 2007. The quilt is now hanging at the Presbyterian Church (USA) headquarters.
Her other hobbies include listening to books on tape and reading newspapers and mysteries. Their whole family enjoys Harry Potter books. Susan enjoys playing games with her family and watching Mythbusters.
Also see Susan's Pastor's Message.
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 Phoebe Wachtel has been our church secretary since 2006. She is the master crafter and printer of all church publications (the Grapevine, Sunday morning worship bulletins, congregational letters, and various annual reports) and handles mail, email and phone correspondences. As a wife and mother of 3 young children, Phoebe is a great multi-tasker and is amazingly well organized.
Prior to her current position, Phoebe worked as a bank clerk in Twin Falls, ID. In addition to  her extensive duties as the Wachtel Family "CEO", she is a troop leader for Jr. Girl Scouts, participates with her children in the Young Families Group activities at church, and is active in the Partners in Education group at her children's elementary school.
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| Arlita Jewell, Parish Health Advocate |
 Arlita Jewell has been our Parish Health Advocate since 2007. Her job is to champion good health practices and serve as an information contact for health-related questions for the congregation. Arlita also makes home, hospital and care center visits to those who need her care and expertise.
Arlita has a wide range of work experiences that provide  excellent background for her work as our Parish Nurse. She had previously worked as a Certified Nurse's Assistant for St. Luke's Home Care and Senior Life. She conducted home care visits to clients of MISTI Hospice for four years, and spent 11 years working at Community Home Health, Beehive Hoomes and an Alzheimer's unit at a nursing care facility. Her job prior to this position was as Program Coordinator for the Alzheimer's Association in Boise, ID.
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| Judy Trohkimoinen, Music Director |
Judy Trohkimoinen has served as the highly talented Music/Chancel Choir Director at First Presbyterian Church of Baker City since March of 1994. She also sings in the Folk Choir and has performed many beautiful solos and hymn descants.
Ms. Trohkimoinen holds an AA in Music from Casper College, a BME from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, and an  MST from Portland State University. She has been the music teacher at South Baker Elementary School since 1989. Locally she has worked with community musicians and other choir directors to produce the semi-annual "Sing-it-Yourself" Messiah, which she founded and conducts at First Presbyterian Church.
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| Lindy Cloyd, Pianist/Organist |
Lindy Cloyd moved to Baker City in 1995 after earning her Bachelor's degree from Oregon State University. She grew up in Salem, Oregon where she studied classical piano for 11 years. She has been an invaluable and much appreciated component of the music at First Presbyterian Church since January 2001. Lindy was also the organist at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Baker City from 1997- 1998.
Throughout her life, Lindy has performed as accompanist for a variety of churches, school choirs and orchestras, community theatre productions, and community choirs. She has been the accompanist for the Baker Community Choir since 1998.
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