Staff

Pastor David R. Mattson was born in Kenora, Ontario, Canada and raised in the Midwest. After attending Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa) and Luther Seminary (Saint Paul, MN), he became ordained in June 1987. He has served the following congregations as pastor: Associate Pastor at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Fountain Valley, CA (1987-1992); Pastor at Living Christ in Flagstaff, AZ (1992-2000), and as Senior Pastor at Gloria Dei. Pastor David is married to Kimberly (Elementary School Teacher) and they have two children: Emma (b.1994) and Anders (b.1997). He enjoys family time—especially vacation trips, tennis with Kimberly, running (5 marathons so far), sports and outdoor recreation of all sorts, reading, music, and recently surfing.

Pastor Sabrina Vasta,  was born and raised in New Jersey but has been living in California for the past two years.  She received her MA from the University of Warwick (UK) in international economics and an MA in archaeology from the University of Chicago before going to seminary at Princeton Seminary and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, which is what brought her to California.  Sabrina loves working with the senior high youth at Gloria Dei, as well as anything that has to do with education, including Bible studies and adult and youth education.  In her free time, she enjoys being outside, going to the beaches, hiking, and running.

Betsy Dubow (Administrative Assistant), along with family, joined Gloria Dei in 1989 and joined the staff in 1997 as Administrative Assistant managing the office. Prior to Gloria Dei, Betsy worked at Mount of Olives Lutheran Church in Mission Viejo.

Shelli Parajeckas (Preschool Director)..........................................................................................

Dave Sleighter (Youth Director, P/T) was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He attended Concordia University in Irvine, California and received a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Sport Science (2005). Dave played baseball at Concordia for three years. Dave started working as the youth director at Gloria Dei during the summer of 2005. Presently enjoying the best job in the world; hanging out with teenagers, watching their faith grow, and traveling on mission trips, Dave plans to become a full time teacher at a Lutheran school teaching physical education and coaching baseball.

 Steve Sivcovich (Music Director) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Sacramento, California. He began his piano studies at the age of six and appeared in recital for the first time at age 10. During his formative years he studied with Dorothy Noonan of Sacramento and continued his studies at the Julliard School and the Peabody Institute. As a solo pianist and accompanist he has collaborated with conductors Carmen Dragon, Maurice Allard, Paul Salamunovich, Sergio Commissiona, Carmine Coppola, and Harry Newstone. He has worked as a coach/accompanist for Opera-by-Sea, opera Pacific, San Diego Opera, and Lyric Opera San Diego and was on the staff at Saddleback College. He has been organist/pianist for Gloria Dei since February of 1990. In his spare time, Steve has a variety of hobbies including photography, traveling with his wife, Patti, collecting old books, miniature pianos, and videos and dvds of classic movies and opera performances.