Megan Cochran
Pastor
Rev. Megan Cochran comes from the land of hotdish and snow piles much taller than her commonly known as Minnesota. After graduating from Macalester College with a joint degree in Psychology and Religious Studies, she spent a year in Cameroon, Africa doing counseling with people living with HIV/AIDS. When she returned from Cameroon, she loaded up her car and drove to Chicago to begin the Master of Divinity program at McCormick Theological Seminary.
After graduating from seminary, Megan began working at Lake View Presbyterian Church in Chicago. While there Megan led the Christian Nurture areas of the church: Sunday School and Bible studies for all ages, youth groups, young adult groups, and managed a daily senior citizen lunch program. She also taught art to preschoolers, co-founded Creation Lab (an art studio where art and faith intersect), led worship weekly and participated in whatever other exciting stuff came up during the week. Social justice, creativity, finding God in the midst of this wild world, and building community are a few of her deepest passions.
When Megan isn’t dreaming up artistic new ways to be the church she is spending time with her curious daughter, Clarus and her wise husband, Alex (who also happens to be a pastor). Some of their family hobbies are reading books, having dance parties and exploring the world together. Once Clarus is asleep, you can usually find Megan knitting scarves, sewing stuff, or watching movies. Megan and her family are beyond thrilled to begin this journey with Westminster Presbyterian Church and can’t wait to see the amazing things that God will do in this place!
Catie Brown
I am so excited to be welcomed as the new Office and Welcoming Manager at Westminster Presbyterian Church. I have been working with The Animal Pad for the last 5 1/2 years, and have really enjoyed being able to grow as a person both professionally and personally within their organization. I am married and we have 3 wonderful children, who have also helped shape the woman I am today. I don’t have a lot of free time but when I do I enjoy filling it with volunteer work. I look forward to being able to bring my experiences as well as to learn from the very passionate people that are Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Leigh Akin
Creativity Manager
Leigh is very lucky to to call herself the Creativity Manager at Westminster Presbyterian! As such, she is the one behind all of the illustrations, animations, images, graphics, hand-outs, bulletins and video-editing at Westminster. She also answers the phone, sends colorfully-typo-ridden emails, and opens everyone’s mail.
Leigh holds two degrees in Classical Vocal Performance and thus you can occasionally find her singing in worship. One of Leigh’s favorite jobs at Westminster is helping to pick hymns for worship because it proves that years of ear training and sight singing classes paid off.
When she is not at Westminster she is also the Operations Manager of Scripps Ranch Theatre and is a professional singer and actress at various companies around town.
You can find out more by visiting leighellenakin.com
Lesi Mei
Music Leader
Lesi Mei has been involved in many fields—such as bioengineering and kinesiology—but piano and classical music have molded her into the person she is. In front of the keys, her background and personality manifest in dazzling virtuosity and stunning musicality.
She was the first call pianist for Beijing International Orchestra before traveling the U.S. from coast to coast, performing in such festivals as the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City, and Olympiad Piano Festival in Colorado Springs, where she was a semifinalist in the concerto competition. Lesi has also been invited by the Composers Concordance to New York City to premiere works by Gene Pritsker, Seth Boustead, Peter Jarvis, etcs. As an in-demand collaborator, Lesi has performed with ensembles such as American Modern Orchestra, La Jolla Symphony, the Hausmann Quartet, to name a few. Her performance diploma hails from the European Music Institute in Vienna, under the tutelage of the esteemed Professor Martin Hughes. Currently Lesi is faculty member of School of Music and Dance at SDSU, and of San Diego Piano Academy.
Lesi holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance from San Diego State University, a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology from Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Biological Engineering from the Beijing Institute of Technology.
Alex Wirth
Campus and Community-Care Coordinator
Alex Wirth wants to build community wherever he goes and he’s been known to flip over a wiggly chair mid-conversation to fix it. In addition to his park ranger and groundskeeper duties, Alex is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing through UC Riverside Palm Desert. He’s submitting poems to literary mags and working on a novel addressing climate change where whales leave earth in space ships! Alex is husband to Megan and father to Clarus and collector of typewriters and carver of wooden spoons.