The Reverend Barnabas E. Pusnur
Associate Rector
Barnabas Pusnur is originally from Delhi, India, where he served as a pastor for a few years. After finishing his Bachelor of Science, he attended seminary, where he completed a Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology. Barnabas has extensive experience in preaching, pastoral care, and children’s ministry. Barnabas lives in Hyde Park with his wife, Padma, and daughter, Khushi. He loves the church and desires that the church continually be salt and light in the world.

pusnur@sprchicago.org |(773) 624-3185 x221

The Reverend Jack Seymour
Deacon
Jack joined St. Paul & the Redeemer as a vocational deacon in 2003. He previously served in the Diocese of Springfield. He attended Chicago Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity, and also holds an Advanced Certificate from the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy of Chicago. He recently retired as the CEO of the ReVive Center for Housing and Healing, an agency working to end homelessness. Jack has two children, Bobby and Kelen. He lives on the near Northwest Side of Chicago.

jack_seymour2000@yahoo.com | (312) 523-4348

Mark Bilyeu
Director of Music
Before joining the St. Paul & the Redeemer staff in 2022, Mark spent ten years in Minneapolis, where he served as the Director of Music at Calvin Presbyterian Church, Artistic Director of the South Metro Chorale, Associate Conductor of the Calliope Women's Chorus, and was the founding Artistic Director of Source Song Festival. Trained as a pianist who specializes in working with singers, he holds degrees from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and the University of Minnesota. He has a deep love for joyful community music-making, the Muppets, and his many houseplants.

bilyeu@sprchicago.org |(773) 624-3185 x223

Lindsey Strieter
Director of Children's Formation
Lindsey has 18 years of teaching experience, both as an elementary school teacher and as a higher education instructor at Loyola University Chicago and at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to her work with children and families at SPR, she runs the UIC Children's Health and Wellness Academy, where young people learn about nutrition and exercise through hands-on experiences. Lindsey has expertise in curriculum building and implementation for a wide variety of age groups. With her family (Micah Prochaska and their children, Layla, Mattias, and Marek), she has been a member of SPR since 2015. In her spare time, Lindsey loves to stay active by running along the lakefront, playing volleyball with her daughter and soccer with her sons, and working out at the YMCA.

strieter@sprchicago.org

Megan Cather
Children's Music Assistant
Megan is originally from Mountain View, CA, but has been living in Chicago for over 15 years. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Maryville College, and a Master’s in Education from Northern Illinois University. She has also taken guitar lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Megan has been an elementary school teacher for 15 years, and currently teaches in the middle school at Urban Prairie Waldorf School. She loves to incorporate music and song into her teaching, and is excited to lead the St. Nicholas Choir at SPR!

cather@sprchicago.org

The Reverend Roger Ferlo
Priest Associate
Roger Ferlo is the president emeritus of Bexley Seabury Seminary, scholar in residence at the Newberry Library, and president of the Anglican Theological Review. Previously, Roger served on the faculty of Virginia Theological Seminary, was the rector of St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich Village, and taught literature at Yale. He has been a parishioner at SPR since 2012. Roger is married to Anne Harlan, who is an established leader in this parish. They live in Hyde Park.

Patricia J. Lanfair
Nursery Teacher
Patti grew up on the South Side of Chicago and has been back in her original home of Hyde Park for 12 years. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and works for Northwestern Medicine as a philanthropy gift coordinator and finance support associate. Patti loves reading, writing, her family (especially her granddaughter Jameela), and her whippet dog Dakota, who is her shadow.

Sabrina Foster
Nursery Teacher
Sabrina is a 2021 graduate of the University of Chicago. During her time at the university, she was involved in various forms of childcare, such as tutoring, babysitting, and volunteering at Comer Children's Hospital. She is originally from Kansas City, MO. In her free time, Sabrina enjoys cooking, working out, and going on walks.

Ashley Lanfair
Nursery Teacher
Ashley has been an elementary school teacher for 12 years. She has taught kindergarten through 6th grade and currently teaches 4th-grade English/language arts and 1st-to-3rd-grade math intervention. She is a graduate of Knox College, Johns Hopkins University, and National Louis University. In her free time, she loves to read, do yoga, and adventure with her daughter Jameela.

Ariana Strahl
Staff Singer
Ariana is a soprano and arts advocate whose career has spanned opera, art song, and oratorio repertoire in the United States and Europe. Their work with arts communities seeks to foster a sense of belonging across creative endeavors. She is an avid runner, and fundraises for Chicago Women’s Health Center every year as a marathon participant. Ariana lives in Hyde Park with their wife and two cats, Rudy and Karl.

Wesley Krist
Staff Singer
Wesley grew up in Niceville, FL, and completed his undergraduate music studies at Stetson University in DeLand, FL. He has performed in choirs and as a tenor soloist at the 2022 Southern ACDA conference, the Florence International Choir Festival in Italy, and the FMEA conference. He moved to Chicago in 2022 to pursue his M.M. in Voice from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. When not singing, Wesley loves to read and hang out with his two cats, Nutmeg and Jason.