About
St. John’s is a Christ-Centered, Bible Based, Anglican Church with a deep love for God and his people.
Leadership
The Rev. Josh Miller
Rector
Josh became the Rector (Senior Pastor) of St. John’s in 2025. He studied Bible and Theology at Wheaton College (B.A.) before attending seminary at Regent College (MDiv.). He comes to St. John’s after serving as Youth Pastor at St. Mark’s Church (Geneva, IL), Associate Rector at Church of the Ascension (Pittsburgh, PA), and Rector of St. Thomas Church (Fort Collins, CO). Josh is passionate about preaching and loves visiting one-on-one with parishioners. He and his wife, April, are delighted to call Petaluma home. They enjoy being outside, spending time with friends and family, and experiencing different cultures.
Helen Schneider
Ministry Coordinator
A long-time member, Helen joined the staff in 2025. She studied Linguistics at UC Santa Cruz (B.A.) and then teaching at Sonoma State University. Helen taught in local schools before having her family, and now works part time in a school library alongside her work as Ministry Coordnator at St. John's. She grew up in Sonoma County, lives in Petaluma, and is glad to continue to invest in this community. Helen is married to her husband Dave and they have two adult children. They enjoy travel, never-ending home projects, their numerous pets, and spending time with family and friends. Her gifts for organizing things and people help St. John’s flourish.
Vestry
The Vestry works with the Rector to carry out the mission and ministry of St. John’s. Vestry members are elected to 3-year terms. For a helpful overview of Anglican Polity, here’s a 1 page summary.
Current Vestry Members:
James Liguori (Sr. Warden)
Claudi Unruh
Herve Gomez
Jessica Byerley
Leah Cameron (Jr. Warden)
Lindsay Gann
Lisa Slight
John Miller (no relation to the Rector)
History & Beliefs
St. John’s is a member of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
Our history as Anglicans goes all the way back to the earliest days of Christianity. Our core beliefs were solidified during the Reformation. The great continental reformers of the day, Martin Luther and John Calvin, together with English bishops, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley and others, were deeply concerned about the state of the church.
They desired to see the church reformed with a renewed focus on the centrality and authority of the Bible. Essential doctrines gained renewed clarity during that time, namely that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus. This is the truth we long for everyone to know.
There are essential elements of Anglicanism which visitors will experience at St. John’s:
The Bible is our guiding authority and contains all things necessary for salvation. Solid biblical teaching and preaching is central at St. John’s.
Our worship is also sacramental. All baptized believers who come on Sundays are invited to join in the celebration of Holy Communion.
As Anglicans, we are firmly planted in a rich soil of historic roots and a global fellowship of other Christians. Our liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer, unites us with other congregations who pray the same prayers we do. We are also accountable to, and supported by the larger church through our bishop (The Rt. Rev. Eric Menees) and our diocese.
Theological charity in secondary matters is another hallmark of Anglicanism. We are grateful for our Anglican heritage. We also recognize that we are part of a much larger family of faith that comprises everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.