Episcopal Community Services of Northern California

Megan M. Traquair was ordained and consecrated as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Northern California on June 29, 2019, at the Mondavi Center in Davis, California. Traquair became the first female bishop in the 109-year history of the diocese.

Traquair grew up in Santa Barbara, California. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and public policy analysis from Pomona College. She earned her Master of Divinity at Seabury Western Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Traquair and her husband, Philip, have two grown children: Hannah who teaches high school in Tucson, and Benjamin, who is an engineer in Colorado.

Her interests include gardening, genealogy, hiking, and history.

Betty has been a member of All Saints’ Redding for over 45 years.  She is currently the Outreach Coordinator for All Saints’, being a member of the Ministry Council. She is the Chair of the Pastoral Care Team.

Her local community activities include being a 20-year member of the local elementary school Board of Trustees.  She is a member of Redding Rotary, and the current Chair of the Shasta County Commission on Aging. 

She was an instructor at Shasta College for almost 25 years, and an instructor at National University for 8 years.

Betty has experience working in partnerships with local government agencies and economic development groups.

She is a retired chaplain with the Redding Police Department.

I have been married to my husband Philip for 43 years.  We have 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren.

I have worshiped at St. Luke’s, Auburn since the early 1980’s.  For over thirty-years I have been an active member of St. Luke’s and the Diocese of Northern California.  I was ordained to the order of Deacons in 2016.

Over the years, I have been involved with, Education for Ministry, Prosper Placer, Cursillo, and many other Church and Diocesan activities.

I am now retired but spent 25+ years with accounting and office work, so I have spreadsheet and computer skills.  I enjoy gardening. I am highly creative; love to Cook from scratch, sew, and create quilts.  I also enjoy small group activities.

Maria, our treasurer, lives in Davis and last year retired as Operations Manager at Mercy Housing.  She currently serves as Senior Warden at St. Martin’s in Davis. Maria is a member of the Society of Companions of the Holy Cross where she has served as sacristan and hostess at the Society’s retreat house in Massachusetts.  She is also an Associate with the Sisters of Mercy, Auburn Region.  When her son as young, she served as administrator of the Davis Waldorf School.  In her free time, Maria enjoys crossword puzzles, quilting for Project Linus, sewing, knitting, traveling, and ice cream.

Liz has been a lifelong member of St. Mary’s, Napa, active in various ways over the years. She is currently a member of the choir, serves on the Vestry, is a delegate to convention, is involved with Cursillo, does work on the website and social media, participates on the tech team, and is a member of the Invite, Welcome, Connect Ministry team. She has provided customer service for over 15 years in the packaging industry, focused on wine packaging. She loves animals and has a dog and 5 cats (several of them “foster fails”). She has one daughter, Josie, who is currently away at college.

Steve Mershon is certified as a Project Management Professional® from the Project Management Institute® and certified Scrum Master with a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration. He holds a Six Sigma Black Belt. Steve has over 25 years of experience in the Silicon Valley Semiconductor Industry working in new product development and introduction for Applied Materials, Silicon Valley Group, and Kulicke and Soffa as an Engineering Manager, Technical Support Manager, and Marketing Engineer. He traveled extensively throughout the US, Europe, Japan and Korea for these new product development and introduction efforts. In other career path endeavors Steve had the opportunity to manage resources from Price Water House Coopers, Accenture, and KPMG collaborating on business process development, information technology and organizational change management projects. He has led and/or contributed to strategic planning in public and private sector organizations.

Upon moving the family to the Sacramento area in 2003 he applied his project management, business process development, information technology development /implementation and organizational change management skills to a variety of projects in support of a number of state agencies. These organizations included the California Department of Public Health, California Department of Transportation, California Public Employees Retirement System, California State Teachers Retirement System, California Correctional Health Care Services, and California Department of Health Care Services. In addition, Steve managed projects for Aetna Health and Dignity Health Medical Foundation.

Steve is dedicated to balancing his energies in support of community volunteer work. He is a former Communications Leader for the Sacramento Valley Project Management Institution Chapter and the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, a former spiritual care volunteer for Kaiser Hospital, and a six-year member of the Advisory Council for the Kairos Prison Ministry for California State Prison in Folsom. He was the Senior Warden for St. Augustine for four formative years as the church transitioned from the warehouse on Cincinnati Blvd to MMCA school. He led the effort on that transition and assembled the team and structured the vision (as a gift from the Spirit) to build St. Augustine’s first church building. Steve led the effort to become a parish. He has been involved in congregation development efforts including Natural Church Development, missio:Engage!, the College of Congregational Development, and ASU Best Skills, Best Churches. He is a current member of the St. Augustine Vestry.

Susan is a retired registered nurse who has served as the Coordinator of the Diocesan Partners in Ministry of Health for nearly 30 years. Her passion is integrating body, mind, and spirit—with Jesus at the center—into the healing process.

She began her healing ministry as a parish nurse, a role she held for 13 years. Susan is also a trained Episcopal spiritual director. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, spending time in nature, and playing with her grandchildren.

Stacy Duval resides in Sebastopol and worships at Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa. She is a web designer and a private tutor. Her hobbies are gardening, hiking and skiing.

Rev. Rick Laughman serves as Priest-in-Charge at St. James of Jerusalem in Yuba City. He was ordained on All Saints’ Day in 2013.

Before his ordination, Rev. Laughman served St. James as Senior Warden, Eucharistic Minister, Eucharistic Visitor, and lector. He has been active in community outreach, including serving on the Sutter County Homeless Team, volunteering at the Hands of Hope homeless intake center in Yuba City, and serving on the Senior Legal Center board for Yuba and Sutter counties. He also volunteers with the St. James garden, which provides fresh produce to local food pantries.

Rev. Laughman served two terms on the ECS Board. He also served as Central Deanery Dean and, in that capacity, as a member of the Board of Trustees.

In addition, he has served as a visiting celebrant at Grace Church in Wheatland, St. Stephen’s in Colusa, and St. Augustine’s in Rocklin. He has offered invocations at Sutter County and Yuba City Council meetings, as well as at Memorial Day services at Sutter Cemetery.

Michael lives in Crescent City and is a retired cabinetmaker who has spent nearly his entire life woodworking, aside from four years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard. Michael is an active member of True North, an affiliate of PICO California, a faith-based community organizing network. He previously served for eight years on the Del Norte County Solid Waste Board and remains committed to serving his community. Licensed by the Diocese as both a lay preacher and lay worship leader, Michael occasionally leads services at St. Paul's. Whether serving his church, volunteering in the community, or creating fine woodwork, he brings a lifelong dedication to craftsmanship, service, and faith. You can view examples of Michael's woodworking on his Etsy shop.