Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

Pastor Jill Ross is a retired ELCA pastor who continues to serve the church as a Bridge/Interim pastor. Before coming to Shepherd of the Hills, Vacaville she served at Christ the Good Shepherd in San Jose.

Pastor Jill has served the ELCA since 1994, first as a theologian and educator at the Lutheran Center in Mexico City, where she also was the Director, then as a Mission Developer for seven years in the Yakima Valley. From there she worked as a Hospice Chaplain and as a congregational pastor in Washington state. In 2021, Jill returned to her hometown of Napa to retire. She is also a visual artist and spiritual director and runs a project from her home studio called “Making Wholeness from the Broken Bits.” Her medium is mostly glass mosaic.

Most of you already know me; my name is Tiffani Lanting, and I am the new Youth Director for Shepherd of the Hills. I've been at Shepherd of the Hills my entire life. I was baptized at SOTH and went through Sunday school, confirmation, KFC, GAS, and SHY. I actually met my husband, Kenny, in confirmation class; we have three children. I have so many great memories and lifelong friendships that started here at Shepherd of the Hills. I am very excited about this new adventure.

Our youth ministry will have three groups: Kids for Christ (KFC) for children in 3rd-5th grade, God's All Stars (GAS) for children in 6th-8th grade, and Sr. High Youth (SHY) for teens in 9th-12th grade. KFC will meet the 2nd Sunday of the month from 11:45-2 pm starting August 13th. GAS will meet every 2nd and 4th Sunday from 11:45-2 pm starting Aug.13th. KFC and GAS will combine on the 2nd Sunday of the month. SHY will meet Sunday nights from 7-9 pm.

Chris Holmes has been a professional musician for 40 years.  He attended Solano Junior College, majoring in music, and was then employed there as an accompanist for choirs and voice classes.  He has been in various bands since the 8th grade, including a video on MTV with Laserboy, and a record deal with CBS with the band Workforce.

His ability to program and sequence all instruments with a keyboard has seen him employed by studios and musical theaters, doing orchestrations of everything from "Wizard of Oz" and "Into the Woods" to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." 

He has used his abilities at Shepherd of The Hills Lutheran Church since 1995. He loves what he does and who he performs with. In addition to serving as Director of Music Ministries and Shepherd of The Hills, he plays and sings with the Rhythm Method Trio, and teaches piano, beginning guitar, and voice.