Get To Know Us

Bill served 14 years as President and Professor of American Religion at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. He retired from that position in 2010 and is currently active as a consultant, teacher, and writer.

Bill has held several volunteer positions, including 12 years as a trustee of the Alban Institute. He has also served as Vice President of the Interfaith Alliance Foundation and member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

Bill and Linda McKinney met in the 1960s on the summer staff of the Craigville Conference Center. They married in 1968 and purchased a summer cottage in Craigville in 1980, where they now live. Both have been active in the Christian Camp Meeting Association, which owns the Craigville Retreat Center. Bill is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.

Peter has long had an affinity for environmental protection, nonprofit support, and volunteer work. A University of California, Berkeley graduate, he earned a law degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

A chance meeting in Federal court with a Sierra Club attorney led him to become general counsel for Earth Island Institute and then a board member. His understanding of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations enabled him to form and represent many groups. Having dipped a toe in many areas of law, he has winnowed his practice down to business and real estate law.

Peter is German. He was born in London and moved to California at age 7. He first went to the YMCA camp at age 8. He resides and practices in Marin County. He has two grown, very successful, and confident daughters. He swims, hikes, bikes, canoes, car camps, and backpacks in his spare time. He has camped in the backcountry of Death Valley some 30 times.

Jared is a native of Sonoma County. Born and raised in Windsor, Jared attended Cardinal Newman High School before attending the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.

After school in the Central Valley and a short stint in Southern California, Jared moved back to the area in 2010, where he has been an active member of the business and non-profit communities.

Jared is a loss control consultant for George Petersen Insurance, working with clients on OSHA compliance and workplace safety. When he is not working, Jared enjoys spending time with his wife, Sarah, and camping along the Sonoma and Mendocino Coasts.

Jared also keeps busy with the Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa, working to promote and oversee fundraisers and community engagement events and serving on the Board of Directors. Jared and his wife, Sarah, currently reside in Sonoma, CA.

Mike currently serves as the President & CEO of UCCR and has been with the organization since 1998.

Mike worked with the California State Park Blue Ribbon Commission—Parks Forward, assisting in the areas of purpose-driven partnership, revenue generation, and lodging design. For the latter, Mike co-taught a class of graduate students studying architecture at Cal Poly Pomona. The class designed several cabins, one of which was chosen by California State Parks as a model to be used at state parks. That design was called “The Wedge.”

Mike received his B.S. in Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation from Humboldt State University.

As a member of the Board of Camping & Retreat Ministries, I have represented the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church for over ten years, first on the UCCR Board and then transitioning to the Owners Council.

It is essential to have an active voice representing the Owners Council to the UCCR board and vice versa.

I am a retired Congregational Care Minister with a lifelong passion for church camps—in fact, it was at such a camp that I received my call to ministry.

As we somehow move on from pandemic to endemic, our camp and retreat properties are needed more than ever as a safe and stimulating place for people to gather.

Mike is an experienced commercial real estate professional with extensive public and private sector experience. Since January 2013, he has worked with Cornerstone Properties, a Petaluma-based owner, manager, and development company, coordinating and closing leasing, acquisitions, financings, and other transactions.

Before working for Cornerstone, Mike served as the Real Estate Manager for the County of Sonoma. Mike attended UC Davis and enjoys swimming, snowshoeing, and drumming with his family.

Sam is an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ. Sam was ordained in 1988, served three churches in Northwest Ohio, and is currently ministering at Bethel UCC in Evansville, Indiana (Southwest Indiana).

Sam served as the treasurer on the board of directors of the Ohio Conference UCC (Currently the Heartland Conference), where he was instrumental in the Ohio Conference's contract with UCC to manage their two camps. As a volunteer,

Sam served as a counselor and directed church camps for over 15 years. For many years,

Sam and his wife Ellen have spent vacations exploring National Parks across the country. These trips often involve hiking backcountry trails and backpacking.

Alice actively supports several non-profits, including UCCR and its outdoor science camp, WOLF School.

Her work as a product design engineer in the tech industry brings unique skills to her role as a UCCR Board Member.

Alice has an active family life and enjoys time on the slopes in the Lake Tahoe region.

Her definitive introduction to the outdoors was a summer as an SCA (Student Conservation Association) intern at Olympic National Park.

Born and raised on the East Coast, her exploration of the West Coast continues.