Meet the MA Candidates

Fall 2023 MA Cohort

We are very happy to introduce you to the candidates called to be formed by the Christifideles program for service as lay ecclesial ministers. Together they will participate in the program’s offerings for human, spiritual, pastoral, and intellectual formation while studying for an advanced degree with one of our partner institutions. If would like to learn more about this program, send an Email to Dn. Eric Paige at eric.paige@seattlearch.org.

Kimberly Abadir

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Kimberly is excited to begin coursework in the Christifideles program! She and her husband Mark are joyful and busy parents of four children between the ages of 12 and 22. The Abadir family attends Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Seattle, where Kimberly and Mark are both active participants on the youth ministry team. Kimberly has served as the volunteer youth minister for the past several years, building middle school and high school programs and leading a team of dedicated volunteers. Over the last 12 years, you may have crossed paths with Kimberly at the Chancery, where she has served on various teams. Last year, she was thrilled to join Youth Ministry Services – she is honored to support the wonderful and dedicated youth ministers who accompany our young people throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle. She is joining the Santa Clara program and will focus on youth and young adult ministry.

Ryan Arneson

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Ryan Arneson is a parishioner at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Sumner. He is very excited to have entered this year's Christifideles cohort to be trained as a lay ecclesial minister for the Archdiocese of Seattle, in service to our local parishes and Archbishop Etienne. As a "revert" to the Catholic faith and as a middle school history teacher at All Saints Catholic School in Puyallup, it is Ryan’s hope that the Lord may use his experiences and current vocation as an instrument for the good of the Church in Western Washington. Know of his prayers for you and everyone in the Archdiocese of Seattle and he asks that you pray for him too!

Rebecca Burdullis

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Rebecca Burdullis has been a parishioner at St. Luke in Shoreline since she was five years old. She has spent almost twenty years in various roles of ministry, and for the past several years, she has been serving refugees and the homeless in the area. She and her husband, Jason, have six children whom they homeschool. They have a heart for mission and are the directors of Sanctus, a non-profit ministry which seeks to live as and form missionary disciples. Through Sanctus, they have participated in several Welcome Circles this past year. She is delighted to be part of the Christifideles program!

Dulce Casanova

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Dulce Casanova is longtime parishioner and lay minister at St. Anthony Parish in Renton. There she serves as a Pastoral Assistant for Hispanic Ministry and Outreach. She is the mother of three amazing adults who are her pride and joy. Dulce strives to imitate the way that Christ accompanies us in our lives by serving alongside her community whom she loves and has enjoyed working with for many years. She is very grateful and looks forward to this opportunity of academic and spiritual formation as way to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to share the knowledge and skills being cultivated in the Christifideles program with her community.

Dulce is also a Benedictine Oblate to Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon and enjoys painting, drawing, and writing in her spare time.

Holly Dodd

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Holly is employed as a Liturgist at St. Michael Parish in Olympia. She is a mother of eight, an Army wife, and a Coast Guard mom. Holly enjoys reading, writing, hobby farming, and weightlifting. Holly stays busy with her work in other ministries as the volunteer coordinator for the Seven Sisters Apostolate in the Archdiocese of Seattle and serving in her parish's seasonal homeless shelter with her family.

Gizelle Gando

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
Master of Science in Church Management

Gizelle Gando was born and raised in Seattle and grew up going to St. Peter. She attended the University of Washington and was active in undergraduate ministry with the Dominicans. She served as a Peer Minister in the 2016-17 school year. In 2020 she joined the Frassati Young Adult Council, working toward connecting Catholic young adults with each other. Her connection to the Dominicans and their spirituality is strong and became a life professed Third Order Dominican in 2022. As of March 2023, she was hired part-time to be the Assistant Director of the Seattle Frassati Young Adult Ministry.

Mary Hernandez

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Mary is thankful to the Archdiocese of Seattle, in partnership with Santa Clara University, for the formation she will receive as part of Christifideles. She is looking forward to growing in relationship with God, and deepening her knowledge of the Church, it’s teaching and mission. Mary serves in her home parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, as the Pastoral Associate for Parish Life and has a heart for ministering to families who have experienced a death, as well as leading others to God through the study of Scripture. God asks us, in the first letter of Peter, to be ready to give an explanation for our hope to anyone who asks. Mary believes the formation she receives through Christifideles will better equip her to give a reason for her hope, and she looks forward to diving into her studies. Mary would love your prayers along the way.

Carla Mayuri

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Carla serves as a Liturgical and Eucharistic Minister to the Homebound at St. Madeleine Sophie Parish in Bellevue and works at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in West Seattle. After spending 20 years in the world of luxury hospitality, specifically in the areas of Operations, Sales and Human Resources, Carla finally had the courage to leave that world behind and say yes to God’s call. While this new journey may not necessarily be always smoother, even the “tough days” can be filled with joy and love, as the work you do is no longer just a job, but a mission of love. Whatever the specific path He may now lead Carla on through the Christifideles Program, her hope and prayer is that He allows her to dedicate the rest of her life to the service of God and others.

Amy Nash

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Amy Nash has served within the archdiocese as a parish youth minister the past 20 years, but this past year, moved into Immigrant & Refugee Ministries. She travels throughout the Archdiocese equipping parish groups in sponsoring and assisting refugee families who are seeking safety and peace in the Northwest. She is the coordinator for our Welcome Circles Ministry of the USCCB. She's joined the Christifideles program and is pursuing a Masters in Pastoral Ministries with an emphasis on Restorative Justice and Chaplaincy, with the desire to better accompany and connect local immigrants & refugees to the assistance and care of the Catholic Church & to better equip parishes to do the same. Amy is also a homeschooling mother of three and they are parishioners of St. Luke Parish in Shoreline.

Caroline Okello

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Caroline Okello works at St. James Cathedral parish as the Welcome and Volunteer Coordinator and the Safe Environment Coordinator, as well as being a parishioner of the cathedral. Caroline is so happy and much blessed to be enrolled in this program! Her main goal is to be formed and to deepen her understanding of the Faith and the Church; and as a lay ecclesial minister, to hearken to the call of Christ the Lord, to work in His vineyard; “You go into the vineyard too“(Mt 20:6-7).

Jessie Sanchez Guzman

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Jessie Sanchez Guzman is the second child of Francisco and Carmelita Guzman. Jessie has three sisters; Judith, Jacqueline and Lourdes who are also her best friends. In 2012, Jessie had a profound encounter with Jesus that led her on a journey to continue to learn more about her faith, and eventually to work for a Catholic church in the Portland, Oregon area. In 2018, Jessie began to work as an office assistant at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Vancouver, Washington where she is also an active parishioner along with her husband Jose and two sons, Aaron and Israel.

Patrick Sharkey

AVILA INSTITUTE
Graduate Program in Spiritual Theology

Patrick Sharkey has ministered in the archdiocese since 2016, serving first as the Director of the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center in Federal Way and now as Pastoral Assistant for Administration at St Nicholas Catholic Church in Gig Harbor. He is particularly interested in the Catholic mystical tradition and in helping others develop their interior lives. He will soon be a certified spiritual director and hopes that the Christifideles program will further equip him to help others hear and recognize the voice of God in their lives. In addition to ministry, Patrick is the proud father of five children. He and his family live in Puyallup WA.

Jackie Shirley

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
Master of Science in Church Management

Jackie Shirley currently serves as the Steward for Faith Formation at St. Michael Parish. She has been in the position for three years and has a passion for accompanying both the young and old on their journeys toward loving and knowing Christ. In addition to managing the Faith Formation team, Jackie oversees the Marriage and Women’s Ministry programs at her parish. Jackie considers herself a 'revert' since she left the church for fourteen years in her youth. An encounter with Christ led her back and she considers it a blessing to serve the Church. Jackie lives in Olympia with her husband and their three children. Jackie will be attending the Master of Science in Church Management program at Villanova University. She hopes the program will help her gain the knowledge to better serve the Church. She is also excited about the prospect of journeying with other Christifideles participants and networking with other stewards across the archdiocese.

Kim Walker

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Master of Art in Pastoral Ministries

Kim Walker is the Pastoral Assistant for Faith Formation at Sacred Heart Parish in Bellingham. She runs the adult faith formation programs, RCIA, and children’s religious education up to the 5th grade. Kim is a wife, mom of two, and a grandma of five wonderful grandkids. She is grateful for the opportunity to join this program and has already been greatly blessed by the journey thus far.

Why Candidates?

The individual members of the Christifideles cohort are called candidates, not because their acceptance in the program is contingent, but because at the successful completion of their spiritual and academic program each will be called forth by the archbishop to be commissioned as Lay Ecclesial Ministers for the Archdiocese of Seattle. They are fully students, studying in three different graduate programs, but they are offering their knowledge and skills in service to His Church and as such are candidates to be commissioned formally to faithfully serve Christ with the blessing of the archbishop.

Learn more about the Christifideles program

Questions? Contact Deacon Eric Paige via email or call 206-382-4864.
Lay Ecclesial Minister Formation